In a new report commissioned by ClearView, corporate whistleblower Jeff Morris has called for the banning of life insurance APLs.
Approved Product Lies: Combating the manipulation of advice details the history of APLs and their origins as the preferred product lists which emerged from life insurance research in the late 1980s. In the paper, Morris argues that institutionally-aligned licensees continue to use APLs to “funnel new clients into in-house products, potentially in breach of the best interest duty obligations.”
In a statement announcing the paper, Morris said “it became clear that institutionally-aligned AFSLs knew all the right things to say and how to look remorseful but scratch the surface and there have been no real changes to the culture and practices inside these organisations.”
He continued: “Heavily restricted life insurance APLs are still the norm and not even heat from the recent Financial Services Royal Commission has been enough to compel them to apply higher standards and put their clients first.”
In a post-FoFA and Royal Commission world, where reforms are supposedly aimed at lifting advice quality and mitigating conflicts of interest, Morris doesn’t see how restricted APLs can continue to go un-addressed.
“APLs are at odds with the government’s agenda and changing community standards,” Morris said, “and it is time for unrestricted choice of life insurance provider to be mandated.”
You can read the full report here.
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