The FSC conference: The highlights

There was plenty to take in across this year's conference over the two days. Here's what stood out as most relevant for you and your business.

The underinsurance reality: the FSC released a report by Martin Jenkins taking a hard look at insurance coverage across New Zealand. The numbers reinforced what we already know. Only 33% of New Zealanders hold life insurance, down from 35% just a year ago and our life insurance penetration as a percentage of GDP sits at just 0.8%, against an OECD average of 3.5%.

Health insurance tells a similar story, with around 35% of adults holding private cover and cancellations rising as premium costs increase. The protection gap is real and it's widening,  and as Advisers, you're exactly the people best placed to help close it.

But the 'how' is changing.

AI: Opportunity and threat The AI sessions were a useful reality check. 61% of Kiwis want AI support, but only 35% trust it to make decisions, and 70% have privacy concerns. Customers want AI in their corner, they just don't want it in the driver's seat.

Mastercard's presented a demonstration of agentic commerce showing where things are heading. AI does the legwork – the research and the recommendation, then hands control back to the human to make the final decision. 

The threat side is just as real. Deepfakes and AI-generated fraud are operating at a speed and scale that traditional security simply can't match. The phrase doing the rounds summed it up well - we'll need AI to protect us from AI. We're going deeper on this in our article on AI. [Read more]

Trust really is the strongest currency:  What ties all of this together is trust, and that won't surprise anyone reading this. The organisations that win won't be the ones with only the most sophisticated technology; they'll be the ones customers trust to use it wisely and with their best interests at heart.

That's what you bring to every customer conversation, every day. It's what we've always tried to do at Chubb Life too and one of the reasons we were named a Highly Commended Trusted Brand for Life Insurance in the 2024 Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Awards.