Three to five-year horizon for MLC group insurance

MLC Life Insurance is looking to cement its position in the group insurance market in the next three to five years, with its majority owner, Nippon Life taking a long-term view, according to the firm.

Chief customer officer, group insurance, Suzanne Smith, said that while two-thirds of the firm’s portfolio was currently in retail and it had $600 million in group insurance in superannuation, the firm hoped to grow considerably in the group space over the coming years.

“I think 70 per cent of Australians get their insurance through superannuation and a large part of that is through the group insurance segment so as a diversified life insurer and life specialist in this market, we see that providing the benefit of great life insurance to Australians through all channels is really important,” Smith said.

“It’s a relatively low-cost alternative to retail and in reality, if people didn’t have insurance cover through superannuation many people would not be insured.”

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Smith noted that with low levels of engagement with super already an issue among members, engaging members with insurance in super would be a greater challenge.

“I think there is more work to do. I think the Insurance in Superannuation Working Group is trying to address things such as the right level of insurance cover so there’s not undue erosion of balances,” she said.

“We need to simplify the language that we use and we need to look at whether the right levels of cover are there for people. But I think what we also need to be mindful of is that blanket decisions are not always appropriate because different superannuation funds have different member profiles and different portfolios.”

MLC Life was acquired by Nippon Life a year ago from National Australia Bank (NAB), with Nippon Life taking 80 per cent ownership. MLC Life was 12 months into its transition off NAB systems, with Smith saying it could take another two years to complete the transition.

This included transitioning off legacy platforms and refreshing backend systems.