Tax ruling delivers insurance win to ING

ING has announced a breakthrough tax ruling affecting its OneCare life insurance products at the same time ING Investment Management said it still has one of the largest Australian equities teams in the marketplace despite the loss of three members of its small caps section to Credit Suisse last week.

Responding to reports of the three departures, ING Investment Management said the three men had been responsible for analyst research for small companies and had left effective from May 3.

It said as a result of the departures, responsibilities had been re-allocated across the Australian equities team.

The ING Investment Management statement came ahead of the company’s insurance arm announcing it had received a key tax ruling relating to the status of its OneCare life insurance products.

ING said it received an industry-first Australian Taxation Office ruling that customers of its OneCare life products had received confirmation that the distribution of life, total and permanent disability (TPD) and trauma benefits paid as monthly instalments would not be assessable as income.

It said ING was the only insurer in the Australian market to offer monthly instalment benefit payments for life, TPD and trauma cover outside of superannuation.