LIF already taking its toll on adviser revenues
Life/risk advisers are already adjusting their business models in the face of the Life Insurance Framework (LIF), according to new data released by Investment Trends.
The research house noted that while the commencement date for the proposed LIF remained unclear, many planners had already begun adjusting their business models in anticipation of the reforms.
It found that the average planner had seen risk advice fall from 35 per cent of their total practice revenue in 2015 to just 28 per cent, the lowest since 2013.
Investment Trends noted that a number of planners had even stopped providing risk advice altogether, with 12 per cent not writing any new risk business in the last year, up from 10 per cent in the previous study.
Commenting on the outcome, Investment Trends senior analyst, King Loong Choi, said the LIF reforms were already testing the business models of financial planners across Australia.
"Not only are they already reporting a fall in risk business, more than two in five planners expect their practice's profitability to decline if the LIF reforms are implemented," he said.
Investment Trends said the research showed that if the LIF reforms were implemented, planners would look to provide insurance advice as part of a broader holistic package more often, charge more for holistic advice and focus more on higher balance clients.
"This shift is already underway, and planners intend to continue adjusting their business models in this way if the reforms are implemented," Choi said.
Recommended for you
The Federal Court has dismissed a conflicted remuneration case brought by ASIC against the director of life insurance distributor Freedom Group, where Bali holidays and Vespa purchases were among sales incentives.
Policy and advocacy specialist Benjamin Marshan has left the Council of Australian Life Insurers after less than a year, having joined in March from the Financial Planning Association of Australia.
The declining volume of risk advisers meant KPMG has found a rising lapse rate for insurance policies arranged by independent financial advisers, particularly in the TPD and death cover space.
The Life Insurance Code of Practice has transferred from the Financial Services Council to the Council of Australian Life Insurers.
