A commitment by superannuation funds to engage and educate their members has set the wholesale insurance market up for strong growth over the next 15 years, according to a new Rice Warner report.
Rice Warner director and head of life insurance Richard Weatherhead said the growth was likely to come from individual member increases rather than increases to default cover levels.
"The growth we're seeing is the result of a continued commitment by funds to engage and educate members, in particular through the increasing use of improved member analytics that help in tailoring insurance solutions to the needs of individual members," said Weatherhead.
He added that the increased availability of insurance online was contributing to growth in the sector, along with the regulatory changes that Weatherhead predicted would prompt advisers to recommend wholesale insurance arrangements in the future.
The Rice Warner report also found that technological developments and service levels needed to be addressed.
"Automated underwriting is becoming a prerequisite for insurers to be considered, at least for larger funds. There is also increasing demand for online claims lodgement and assessment and case workflow reporting," Weatherhead said.
The insurance company has joined this year’s awards as a principal partner.
The $135 billion fund has transitioned away from TAL Life Insurance following an “extensive tender process”.
The $80 billion fund is facing legal action over allegedly signing up new members to income protection insurance by default without active member consent.
In a Senate submission, the Financial Services Council has once again called for further clarification that the government will assess the consumer outcomes of group insurance against the enshrined objective of superannuation.