The latest Financial Services Council life insurance statistics show an increase in claims rises outstripped premium increases,

Heartland Group has decided to give up on its digital online-only home loan offering.

Growth in Heartland Group’s reverse mortgages continues at double-digit rates but has slowed from the 2024 financial year from 20% to 15% in the six months ended December.

The government-owned Kiwibank lent on mortgages at the rate of more than twice its market share in the six months ended December.

Trustees Executors is trimming its business back to what it has decided is its “core business” of acting as a corporate trustee and provider of licensed supervision services.

About half of all mortgages will reprice over the next six months, given the recent propensity for borrowers to fix for only six months at a time in the expectation of falling interest rates.

As expected, the Reserve Bank cut its official cash rate (OCR) to 3.75% and signalled further cuts of up to 90 basis points this year but no cuts beyond that.

Heartland Group says the quality of its reverse mortgage and livestock portfolios remain strong and its recently acquired Australian bank is unaffected even as it announces $49.6 million of impairments for the six months ended Dec 31.

Kiwibank is continuing to court the support of mortgage advisers by launching a fast pre-approval process for home loans that promises a decision within 48 hours, subject to qualifying criteria.

The Commerce Commission is sticking to its recommendation that mortgage advisers should have to submit three “actual offers” to every mortgage applicant, the Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ) says.

ASB Bank looks to be making up for lost time in the mortgage market with its home loan book swelling by $2.28 billion in the six months ended Dec 31.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund’s new machine-learning portfolio of New Zealand shares has exceeded expectations and managed to outperform its internally and actively managed NZ equities portfolio.

The chair of parliaments finance and expenditure committee (FEC) changed last week without any formal announcement or explanation, casting doubt on whether the governments intentions to make meaningful changes to the banking sector.

Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway has added his voice to those warning that interest rates, and therefore mortgage rates, aren't likely to return to pre-covid levels.

Almost all diversified KiwiSaver funds in the Melville Jessup Weaver survey for the December quarter achieved positive returns with growth funds averaging about 4% and conservative averaging about 15 after fees but before tax.

BT Funds Management (NZ), Westpac's investment arm in New Zealand, has reported a 10.8% rise in annual net profit for the year ended Sept 30, 2024.