BNZ completes sale of BNZ Life

Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has completed the sale of BNZ Life, NAB Group’s New Zealand life insurance business, to Partners Life.

The deal, valued at $290 million, was announced in December 2020, with regulatory approvals received in September.

“We’re pleased to be able to complete the sale of BNZ Life to Partners Life,” said Karna Luke, BNZ executive for customer, products and services. “It’s an important part of our drive to simplify our business as we work to perfect the basics and relentlessly focus on serving our customers brilliantly. Partners Life are an industry leader in life insurance in New Zealand, and our shared values of putting our customers first and partnering with them to help them reach their goals gives us the utmost confidence our insurance customers are in good hands.”

Following a transition process, all BNZ Life customers are now customers of Partners Life. BNZ Life’s employees are now working under Partners Life, as well. In August, Partners Life itself was acquired by Japanese life insurance giant Dai-ichi Life Holdings.

As part of the sale agreement, BNZ will continue exclusively referring its customers looking for life insurance to Partners Life for the next 10 years.

“We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming BNZ Life customers and staff into the Partners Life business, and we are determined to look after them just as well as we have always done for our existing customers and staff,” said Naomi Ballantyne, managing director of Partners Life. “We have been very impressed with the commitment and capability of BNZ staff to ready the BNZ Life business for a seamless hand-over and we are very much looking forward to our ongoing referral relationship with BNZ.”