AIA NZ/Sovereign to cease overseas recognition trips

AIA New Zealand / Sovereign to cease overseas recognition trips

Auckland 22 November 2018

AIA New Zealand / Sovereign, New Zealand’s largest life insurer, will cease overseas recognition trips for advisers beyond 2019. The decision forms part of a wider review AIA / Sovereign is proactively undertaking to support good customer outcomes.

Commenting on the decision, AIA New Zealand / Sovereign CEO, Nick Stanhope says: “Our aim is to ensure our relationship and responsibilities with advisers remain closely aligned to supporting best practice and promoting good outcomes for customers.

“As the largest life insurer in New Zealand we take the responsibility of earning and maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers very seriously.

“We are actively engaged in the current regulatory reform process and support the work of the FMA and the Reserve Bank to improve transparency and to ensure that customers continue to have every confidence in New Zealand’s life insurance sector,” said Mr Stanhope.

“We have briefed our staff and advisers on the decision. The reaction has been very encouraging,” he added.

AIA New Zealand / Sovereign will be in a position to apply its new policy on overseas recognition trips from late-2019. Next year it has an existing contractual obligation to complete one last overseas recognition trip.

AIA, as one of the world’s largest life insurance companies, believes that there is significant benefit in giving its advisers the opportunity to learn from AIA Group best practice. Any additional adviser travel from 2019 onwards will be limited to education and training programmes that support our partners in continuing to deliver best in class services for the benefit of their customers.

ENDS

© Scoop Media