Leave good client outcomes to advisers: Whyte

David Whyte, industry commentator and director, said the recently-released options paper proposing insurance reforms had some "strange proposals", including some that would interfere with the advice relationship by requiring insurers to take more responsibility for clients' outcomes.

"I don’t believe this is what officials intend when they seek to increase a life insurer’s responsibility for ‘good client outcome’ but that’s what the consequence would be if adopted," he said.

"And for me, this is the piece that is missing from much of the regulators and Ministry officials thinking – the existence of the axiomatic relationship between clients and advisers.

"Independent advisers don’t live or die on the merits of one company’s products or another – but they survive and thrive by building trust with clients throughout the process - with the addition of claims advocacy.