Hello

Welcome to Cover Notes. An ongoing story we are covering is reaction to the AIG changes. It seems other carriers are looking to encourage advisers to transfer books of business away from AIG. This raises issues around ethics and best practice. Also this week we have a story about how Sovereign is encouraging mortgage brokers to sell insurance.

Included in Cover Notes is the latest update on the health insurance market. The numbers for the latest quarter are a little surprising.

Insurance news

AIG transfer offers stir controversy
Insurance advisers considering moving books of business away from AIG, or any other provider, must be able to show in a 'good, clear and justified' way that it is in their clients' best interests, according to Vance Arkinstall, head of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association (ISI). More

Sovereign shakes up structures on commission
Leading non bank lender Sovereign has dramatically reorganised its commission structure for brokers, axing trail commission payments on new business for those who do not produce a certain amount of income from cross-selling of insurance. More

Health coverage up - slightly
In tough economic times there is an expectation that health insurance coverage decreases, however the opposite is happening More

Sale of Suncorp assets stopped
The immediate sale of Suncorps' banking and wealth management assets has been put off due to changes in the Australian and New Zealand financial services sector. More

Leave the Super fund alone I've held off commenting immediately on National's plans to invest 40% of the NZ Super Fund into New Zealand assets so the idea can have more thought. [more]

Mortgage News

This morning the Reserve Bank chopped 100 basis points off the official cash rate, resulting in a fall in mortgage rates. To see what is happening and to keep up with all the latest rate changes go to the Good Returns Mortgage Centre.