It will be part of what determines how much commission advisers receive when the insurer moves to its new commission structure in March next year.

As reported here, the matrix covers six indicators: Customer advice complaints; the initial advice process; replacement advice process; cancellation advice; non-disclosure and misstatements at claim time; and service activity.

Advisers will be given regular feedback about how they are performing against the matrix.

Partners Life said, as part of the data collection for the initial advice process, replacement advice process and cancellation advice components of the matrix, it would communicate with customers this week. This could be by phone call or email.

“This may be either by outbound phone call or by email survey. This information will allow us to demonstrate an acknowledgement from customers that they have received key aspects of the advice process during either the initial application, replacement or cancellation process.”

Adviser Tim Fairbrother, of Rival Wealth, said the matrix had a strong focus on customer outcomes and good transparency on what is expected of advisers. “It is a first for the industry and I would like it to quickly evolve from the upfront of new business to the service remuneration of existing clients, including taking away vesting of commissions to the original adviser.”

Moneytree Financial Services’ Regan Thomas said he did not think that any adviser who had a good level of professionalism would be challenged by the matrix.

Depending on how the information was used, it might allow stories about the value of advice to be presented to the public in a way that was backed by evidence, he said.

It would allow advisers to justify the income they earnt rather than relying on “idealistic” claims people made about advisers when they lacked hard data, he said. “This puts a bit of science around it to quantify that.”

Advisers were worried about the potential threat to remuneration structures as regulators around the world responded to concerns about misselling, he said.

Partners Life should be given credit for finding a way that encouraged behaviour that regulators wanted to see while maintaining those income streams.

But Graeme Lindsay, of Strategy Financial Services, said the matrix might put some people off. “My immediate reaction is that any adviser who has a shred of independence in his bones won’t want to deal with a company checking up on him.”

As part of the Conduct of Financial Institutions rules, insurers will have to show they have more oversight of the conduct of those involved in the distribution process, including after a sale is conducted.