ING and Asteron have emerged as the most popular life insurers amongst planners, according to new research released by Investment Trends.
The research also revealed that the National Australia Bank’s acquisition of Aviva had seen it emerge as the largest player in the insurance space for advisers.
However, one of the most significant findings from the research was the degree to which advisers had returned to writing risk and the manner in which they were doing so, with Investment Trends pointing out that almost 80 per cent of advisers now write some form of risk advice via a platform, with CFS First Choice and MLC Masterkey dominating.
Commenting on the research findings, Investment Trends Advisory board member Tim Cobb (pictured) pointed to the level of competition between insurance companies in the adviser space and said it was healthy for the industry.
“Competition is set to remain intense regardless of the current round of takeovers,” he said.
The Investment Trends research found that average life insurance premiums written by planners in 2010 rose by 37 per cent to $99,000 with risk advice now contributing 32 per cent of average practice revenue.
Cobb said the research indicated life insurance continued to be a strong growth story with advisers optimistic about growth in the next 12 months regardless of forthcoming regulatory changes.
Looking at the software underpinning for the sector, the Investment Trends research found that IRESS Market Technology dominated the area of risk advice software with four products in the top eight used by advisers, including Xplan IQM being the software most widely used for risk advice.
It found that Coin and Xplan Risk Researcher had showed the greatest growth in usage.
