"We're starting with Auckland in April," Boucher says, "and where we go after that will very much depend on the development of the Auckland model."

That's not to say the company is turning its back on Wellington. The two team members remaining (their colleagues are understood to have gone to Sovereign and Fidelity), will be joined by a third, with external underwriters filling the gap.

And Auckland will be at least a three-member team.

Boucher says Asteron's business levels have picked up after a two-year hiatus while Royal & SunAlliance in the United Kingdom spun off is Australasian operations into Promina (Asteron’s parent).

"What with the sale and the IPO we lost focus and direction," Boucher says.

"Now we have hit the market with a range of initiatives and reduced our broker numbers from nearly 2,000 to the top 300-400. We have listened to their needs and it is all starting to pay off."

Boucher claims Asteron is taking market share from its opponents. He says Investment Savings and Insurance Association statistics to December 31 show the market has been flat, with term life products sales beginning to stall.

"The last few years term has been largely fuelled by the property boom, on the back of mortgages," he says.

But more recently there have been significant increases (in policy numbers) in disability, trauma and health.

Boucher says it is a sign of a maturing market and the change to Asteron's underwriting stance reflects that.

"We're in a relationship business and our technical specialists, the underwriters, add valuable backup to our field specialists. If they can also help the brokers understand the underwriting process better, it is good for everyone, especially the client."