Product Development Philosophy
Policy last updated 10 July 2024
Assetinsure’s Product Development Philosophy
Assetinsure’s approach to the Development and Distribution of insurance products for appropriate target markets.
Assetinsure Pty Ltd (Assetinsure) is committed to having a customer-centric approach to the development and distribution of our insurance products. We manage our products via a three-stage iterative process:
Design and Development
We design and develop our products via a number of steps, including;
- Identifying the likely needs, objectives and financial situation of a class of customers through market research, internal and industry data, and internal experience and expertise.
- Developing a target market for our product and evaluating whether the product will likely meet the identified needs, objectives and financial situation of the target market customers.
- Understanding current market offerings and how our product fits within the competitive landscape, including market performance data and its sustainability, product features and customer feedback.
- Considering Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, as well as the regulatory environment as related to the product and customer segment.
- Considering how the product will be distributed and what impact this may have on ensuring the product meets the needs of the customer.
- Considering how to communicate product features, exclusions, and benefits clearly and transparently.
- Developing Target Market Determinations (TMDs) for retail insurance products that describes the class of consumers comprising the target market for the insurance product and helps consumers identify clearly whether they are in our target market.
- Our TMDs set out who is in our target market and who the product is not designed and intended for. The TMDs also identify any conditions and restrictions placed on distribution, review triggers (including events and circumstances that may reasonably suggest that a TMD is no longer appropriate) and specific reporting obligations.
Distribution
Our retail general insurance products are distributed through a network of underwriting agencies. Our approach to the distribution of our products for appropriate target markets includes:
- Co-development of TMDs with our distributors.
- Identification of distribution channels that are reasonably likely to result in our insurance products reaching consumers in the appropriate target market.
- Requiring distributors to take reasonable steps to distribute the insurance product consistently with the TMD (where applicable), Assetinsure’s distribution policies and regulatory requirements.
- Requiring distributors to take reasonable steps to distribute the insurance product consistently with the TMD (where applicable), Assetinsure’s distribution policies and regulatory requirements.
- Monitoring and supervision of distributors, including established reporting and monitoring to ensure our products are distributed in accordance with the characteristics of the TMD (where applicable) and our distribution agreement.
- Establishing policies, procedures, and ongoing training for our distributors and our employees.
Monitoring and Review
Our products are reviewed on regular basis to ensure that they are;
- operating as intended for the target market,
- offering continued value for customers, and
- being distributed within the established TMD and distribution agreements.
Data such as sales information, customer value metrics, complaints and claims data and distributor feedback are considered as part of the review process.
If we identify that a product may no longer meet the likely specific needs, objectives and financial situation of the target market for which it was developed, we revisit the design and distribution stages of our product, and take appropriate steps to either amend or remove the product where appropriate, update distribution processes, and/or update the TMD to ensure its continues to clearly describe customers that are within the target market and the distribution conditions that make it likely that the products will be distributed to only that target market.