BT Financial Group has bowed to pressure from dealer groups and made it easier to sell life insurance through its investment platform.
The new offering from the Westpac-owned group, tagged Life on Wrap, will give its platforms a competitive edge as many other platform providers have limited life product functionality on their menus.
It follows Macquarie Bank’s launch of Macquarie Life on its wrap platform in March.
However, financial advisers need to sell BT’s in-house life insurance to make use of the service, as they do with Macquarie Life.
There are no plans to offer insurance from other providers at this point in time, BT Head of Wealth and Wrap Solutions Chris Freeman said.
“It’s the first step in a continual journey,” Freeman said.
He said banking products including mortgages were next in line to be considered for inclusion on BT’s platforms, which hold $36 billion in funds under administration.
BT ran a pilot scheme with 50 dealer groups who have badged BT Wrap to test the offering, not all of whom currently use BT’s insurance.
Advisers can now get access to various forms of life cover for their clients, such as death cover, income protection and disability insurance though the BT Investment Wrap.
For the first time, BT’s SuperWrap clients can get income protection in addition to death and disability through their superannuation accounts.
Other improvements include the introduction of short-form applications’ with limited questions and fast-track underwriting, available for some clients up to age 55.
Count Financial Group, the largest user of BT Wrap, has been involved in trialling the new functionality from both BT and Macquarie.
The groups are moving in the right direction but a total solution won’t be found until they offer more than their own products, Count chief executive Marianne Perkovic said.
“We’ve been talking to both of them about opening it up,” Perkovic said.
