Meet NZ’s new life insurer

Chief executive discusses the journey of PPS Mutual landing in New Zealand.

Thursday, September 4th 2025, 9:41AM

by Ksenia Stepanova

For the first time in 14 years, New Zealand has a new life insurer. PPS Mutual officially launched in August, introducing a mutual model designed specifically for professionals. It is also the first mutual to land in New Zealand since FMG in 1978.

PPS chief executive Billy Lynch says that ideally, things would have happened quicker. In 2018, he completed a global analysis identifying markets with strong professional populations and good downstream infrastructure - hospitals, universities, etc. New Zealand was one of five countries that fit the criteria.

Lynch landed in New Zealand that same year to meet with regulators, advisers, and other market players. However, the heat of the regulatory changes meant that timing was less than ideal.

"This was right around the Australian Royal Commission and New Zealand’s conduct and culture reforms," he says. "Not the ideal time to think about starting a new business."

Still, New Zealand was an attractive place for a niche mutual to move into, particularly as the current bancassurance models have been underwhelming. Lynch says that these models aimed to cater to under-served segments of the market, but they haven’t quite done that. In contrast, the mutuals catering to specific segments have thrived.

He says the launch is also a vote of confidence for New Zealand’s regulatory and economic environment, which has been dominated by words like “sluggish” over the past few years.

“New Zealand has got a really strong, longstanding mutual operating environment,” Lynch says. “You have mutuals that have been around for over 100 years and are well regarded.

“The regulatory environment is good, it’s well-run by the FMA and RBNZ for the insurance sectors. You can see from the M&A activity over the last five years that there’s value here. Nippon Life’s acquisition of Resolution Life is a good example.”

Advisers central to distribution

Now that PPS Mutual is trading, Lynch says it’s betting entirely on the independent adviser market for distribution. It ran an accreditation process for advisers nationwide and has already established a team.

Lynch says there has been a lot of interest from the adviser space, though PPS has currently put onboarding of new advisers on hold. It is planning to grow the network further next year. There are no plans to go direct-to-consumer.

“The segment of the market that we go after - their needs are much more complex, and we believe they can only be met through the experience of other independent advisers,” Lynch said.

“This product is very modular, and because of the unique requirements of the professional market, we’ll only operate through the independent adviser model. We want to work with people who work with the professional market.”

Overall, Lynch says PPS Mutual is feeling “very positive and encouraged” by adviser feedback so far. It is not aiming to be the cheapest offer on the market, but instead to put together a package that is attractive to specialists and professionals.

It is planning to do its first profit share allocation in March 2027.

Tags: PPS Mutual Resolution Life