Aon Financial Planning has named Asteron, Aviva, Axa, CommInsure, ING and Tower as its preferred life companies.

The preferred six were named at the dealer group’s conference last week and were derived after detailed analysis of the 14 providers in the market. The practice of choosing a number of preferred providers is well established in the provision of investment products and platforms, and is a trend that is now starting to resonate in the field of insurance products as well. Naming a number of preferred suppliers means a closer relationship can be established between the two companies, as well as volume bonuses for business written with the preferred companies. According to a spokesperson at Aon, the company undertook research that looked at the various life companies in terms of products, pricing and benefits and considered that alongside its advisers’ claims and underwriting experience. “Part of our rationale in making this decision is to build better relationships with those companies given the high volumes of risk business that we write in the market place, and also to ensure that we are providing what we believe to be the most appropriate products to meet our clients’ needs,” the spokesperson said. Back in November last year Investment & Technology reported that Aon was the third-biggest writer of life risk products in Australia and is generating premium revenues of about $20 million annually.