Interview with Aviva's Louise Colley: Walking the Walk

“It will ensure there is more detail not just on the property investment but on outgoings and earnings and the whole financial circumstances picture,” Colley said.
“I think MMR will bring protection more into conversations. And indeed with first-time buyers it was stipulated they should get advice. The outcomes from this can only be positive.”

And alongside views on the advice community, Colley also has clear ideas about what should be happening in the product world.

Keep it simple

When it comes to critical illness (CI) cover, and its increasing and morphing list of definitions, Colley’s view is plain and simply to keep it simple.

She said: “My view of the world is to keep it simple. The problem is when I go out and see IFAs what they say is that too many conditions are being added all the time with CI. Conditions should only be added that add value. The question is will there ever be a tipping point where too many conditions are added?

“The top four conditions are 88% of claims so is there really a need for all the others? I am not a fan of innovation quite frankly. There are a couple of providers out there who are innovating a lot and it has not changed the market place, it has remained flat.”

According to Colley, in all the debate about product development, the challenge for the industry was not about adding more bells and whistles. The real pressing issue with products, Colley said, was consumer education.

She used the example of the Treasury steering group report on simple financial products – and its proposals for a simple income protection product to be built for market – to illustrate her view.

She explained: “I think there is room in the market for all different types of products. There are already simple products but what do the consumers think? Do they think they are simple? Most of the time, probably not. We are very good as an industry at imposing our views.

“We think the products are simple but a lot of consumers would disagree. I disagree that these simple product proposals are not needed because I think it is all about choice.”

Colley made the point that if products were “truly” simple then advice would not be valued as much as it was when looking at different cover types. She said the industry under-estimated the discussions people had with advisers when taking out protection.

As for this year, Colley said she was “really excited”. Although she admitted the challenges gender has brought should not be underestimated, Colley still has keen eye on a whole population out there unprotected and under-served.

Her mantra for 2013 will be to simply keep asking what more could be done to seize that opportunity.