It's time to celebrate insurance and Christmas

The biggest change has been to the ownership of life insurance companies. Who would have guessed there would be so much change in a year; the AIA/Sovereign deal was completed, ANZ sold OnePath to Cigna, for what some suggest was a rather rich price, and AMP is being sold to Resolution Life.

It's a story of conflicting outcomes. On a sad note, AMP, a brand which has been prominent in New Zealand for 160 years is dead and soon to be buried. The new owners won't be writing any new business and will gradually wind up the company.

At the other end it's an exciting time for OnePath which gets an owner who is really interested in growing the business and making it thrive. 

The AIA/Sovereign deal is going to be fascinating to watch. As the biggest player in the market it has to defend its position while at the same time going through a massive corporate mission of bringing the two firms together.