Partners collects another accolade

Partners Life has been named the Insurance Provider of the Year at the PAA Excellence Awards for the second time in the company’s four-year history.

Friday, June 12th 2015, 3:20PM

Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne says to receive the award twice in three years is profoundly gratifying for her company and its partners. “We thank the adviser industry for their acknowledgement, which I believe reflects our value proposition. We see advisers as being on the side of the customer – as the advocates and spokespeople for those who buy insurance – and we treat advisers as part of our team."

“In turn, advisers trust that we will do what we say, so they have confidence in recommending Partners Life to their customers. The advisers do see the people behind the Partners Life brand, and this is critical to their support of us.”

Ballantyne says has significant growth plans centred on finding innovation and valuable ways of insuring a larger group of customers among all demographics.

"We’re determined to be the company that closes the insurance gap in New Zealand,” she says

The award comes at a "somewhat mutable time in the advisory industry" with the review of the Financial Advisers Act under way.

Ballantyne says a review of the FAA “will help make life easier for good advisers, because it helps customers understand all the terminology and what it means for them. The upshot is that good advisers will continue to do a good job for customers regardless of the findings of the review.”

PAA board member Geoff Peterson says the nod to Partners Life is a true reflection of advisers’ view of the company’s service to the industry. “It’s voted on by our members, who are advisers in the New Zealand market who are selecting the provider they believe is offering the best solutions for their customers. The insurers who have received this award historically are those who appreciate that the best advisers are focused on what each customer needs rather than loyalty to a particular company.”

This latest recognition of Partners Life follows a 5-star rating for the company in the annual Beaton Survey of Independent Advisers last year. The 2014 survey marked the fourth year in a row the company received a 5-star rating (the only such rating that year), and Partners Life scored an overall satisfaction rating of 85%, up from its 2013 rating of 82% and compared with an industry average of 71%.  

Tags: Naomi Ballantyne PAA Partners Life