Zurich’s parent company has made a statement to the Swiss Stock Exchange announcing it will acquire ANZ’s life and consumer credit business for $2.85 billion.
The announcement follows the sale of ANZ’s pension and investments business to IOOF in October 2017 for $975 million.
The sale of OnePath will see a 20-year distribution arrangement whereby Zurich will distribute insurance products through the ANZ bank channels and also IOOF’s financial advice network.
IOOF recently announced it will acquire ANZ’s financial advice licensee and superannuation businesses, leaving only the life insurance assets within the OnePath stable.
“In Australia, this acquisition will enhance our scale and capability across the retail, group and direct segments, and opens up important new distribution channels for us,” said Zurich life and investments chief executive Tim Bailey.
“Securing a long-term partnership with one of Australia’s largest banks and an opportunity to establish a strategic alliance with the second largest advice business in the market will provide us a fantastic base for continued growth and reflects our ongoing belief in, and commitment to, the value of financial advice.”
Big Business screws everyone yet again with complicit help from our pro big business pollies.
Great. Another good insurer goes to a company that is poor with handling claims. Not good.
Personally, I’ve found the opposite to be true. Never had an issue with Zurich’s claims.
The key here is ” will see a 20-year distribution arrangement whereby Zurich will distribute insurance products through the ANZ bank channels and also IOOF’s financial advice network.” So what has happened is that the ANZ via LIF has increased the value of OnePath that they have then sold off to Zurich. Zurich knowing that Risk Advice outside a Bank is doomed have rushed to secure distribution before January 1, 2018.
I think that ‘Commitment to advice’ is more like commitment to themselves.
How curious that the sell-off of ‘bank owned’ insurance companies have all happened so recently.
With the amalgamations of life insurance companies competitiveness has withered on the vine but ASIC has been party to the reforms on the basis that they were in the ‘best interests of consumers’. However I am at a loss as to how consumers are any better off. Only the Banks and the FSC have derived any benefit.
Coincidental with LIF ‘reforms’…hardly.