Financial Advice Disclosure Statement
Prepared on 25 March 2024
Licence status and conditions
New Zealand Seniors is a trading name of Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited, NZBN 9429047013582 (We, Us or Our).
We are registered on the Financial Service Providers Register and are licensed by the Financial Markets Authority to provide a financial advice service.
We engage our staff as Nominated Representatives to provide financial advice on our behalf.
We are a distributor and promoter of insurance products that are issued by Pinnacle Life Limited, NZBN 9429030397248 (the Insurer). Neither we nor our staff provide any financial advice on behalf of the Insurer.
Limitations on the nature and scope of our financial advice
Our staff can provide financial advice only on whether the insurance products we offer may be suitable for you.
Our staff cannot provide you with financial advice about financial products and services offered by other providers.
Our staff will not compare the insurance products we offer with any other insurance products or services in the market.
Any financial advice provided by our staff will take account only of the information that you provide.
Our staff:
- can only advise whether you fit within the target markets for the insurance products we offer, having regard to information about your general circumstances (such as, gender, age, smoking status, and health history) that you provide; and
- will not consider whether the insurance products we offer meet your specific financial needs and goals, including whether you require insurance and whether the premiums are affordable for you.
If you do not provide us with the information we request, or the information you provide is incomplete or incorrect, our staff may be not be able to provide you with financial advice or that financial advice may not be suitable for your needs.
Fees or expenses
We do not charge a fee or other amounts for any financial advice provided to you.
Our staff will inform you of the amount of the premiums if you decide to purchase one of our insurance products.
Conflicts of interest, commissions and incentive payments
The Insurer pays us a commission of up to 62% of each premium and is paid on a level basis throughout the life of the policy.
Our staff receive their remuneration directly from us and not the Insurer.
In addition to their salary, our staff may also receive additional remuneration in the form of commissions, bonuses and non-monetary incentives based on performance criteria paid by Greenstone. Any commission received by an employee will not exceed 5% of the first year’s premiums.
We have practices in place to ensure that our staff are not incentivised to sell inappropriately, for example, by engaging in pressure selling or selling to vulnerable customers. This includes a Code of Conduct that sets out rules to be adhered to when selling policies, and a Quality Assurance program that measures adherence to those rules. Significant failures will result in forfeiture of commission and bonuses. We have also implemented claw-back procedures so that our staff will lose any commission they have received for any policy that ends within a short period of time.
We also have a Conflict of Interest Policy which requires conflicts of interest to be managed with integrity, honesty, transparency and fairness.
Complaints handling
If you have a problem, concern, or complaint about any part of our service, please let us know by contacting us:
- Customer Service Complaints - New Zealand Seniors
- Address: Reply Paid DX Box EP71505, Penrose, Auckland
- Phone: 0800 400 290
- Email: support@nzseniors.co.nz
We have a complaints process in place to handle any complaints you may have. You can find out more information by referring to our Policy Document.
When we receive your complaint, our internal complaints process will be engaged.
We will seek to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction at the first point of contact.
If this is not reasonably possible, we will acknowledge your complaint in writing, and provide you with information about our internal complaints process, within 2 working days or, if not practicable to do so, as soon as practicable after.
We will then consider your complaint and, if necessary, investigate it. We will handle your complaint in a fair, transparent and timely manner. If we require further information, we will contact you.
You will receive our response by email, telephone or letter, whichever is the appropriate medium. Our response will inform you of the decision we have made with respect to your complaint, including explaining our reasons and detailing any action taken.
Dispute Resolution Process
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction using our internal complaints process, you have access to a free, independent dispute resolution service, and that service may help investigate or resolve your complaint.
We are a member of the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman, which you can contact at:
- Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman
- Address: PO Box 10-845, Wellington 6143
- Phone: 0800 888 202
- Email: info@ifso.nz
- Website: ifso.nz
Our duties
We, and our staff who give financial advice on our behalf, have duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way that we give advice.
We are required to:
- meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services;
- give priority to your interests;
- exercise care, diligence, and skill; and
- meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services.
Our statutory fund
When you purchase an insurance policy through New Zealand Seniors, the insurance will be issued by Pinnacle Life. All payments that we receive from you, or pay to you in relation to that policy will be transacted through Pinnacle Life’s ‘Rimu Statutory Fund’. Pinnacle Life is required under New Zealand law to have such a fund for the purposes of protecting your interests and ensuring accounting transparency.
Our solvency margin
As required under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010, Pinnacle Life is required to meet certain solvency standards, the table below shows the capital that Pinnacle Life holds. The “Adjusted Prescribed Capital Requirement” is the amount of capital the RBNZ requires us to hold under the RBNZ Solvency Standard. The Solvency Margin is anything above that amount.
At 30 September 2024 Pinnacle Life's Solvency Margin is $8.389m. This is made up as follows:
| Pinnacle Life Total $m | Rimu Statutory Fund $m | Shareholder Fund $m | |
| Actual Solvency Capital | 73.792 | 73.559 | 0.233 |
| Adjusted Prescribed Capital requirement | 65.403 | 65.402 | 0.001 |
| Adjusted Solvency Margin | 8.389 | 8.157 | 0.232 |
| Adjusted Solvency Ratio | 112.8% | 112.5% | 23300% |
Our rating
A.M. Best rates Pinnacle Life Limited ‘B+’ financial strength (Good) and a bbb- issuer credit rating (outlook ‘stable’). The financial strength rating scale used by A.M. Best is:
- A++, A+ (Superior);
- A, A− (Excellent);
- B++, B+ (Good);
- B, B− (Fair);
- C++, C+ (Marginal);
- C, C− (Weak);
- D (Poor);
- E (Under Regulatory Supervision);
- F (In Liquidation);
- S (Suspended).