The Abacus Files - Our Blog on What's Happening
August 2011
Snow, snow and more snow! August certainly has been a month that will go down in weather history as one of the coldest on record. As I look out my office window, the Pouakai Ranges still look icing sugar coated, the remains of last week.
Fortunately for me, I managed to escape for a few days in Adelaide late last week and into this week. All this meant, however, was escaping the snow and experiencing the rain that the South Australian city had to offer.
Adelaide is certainly a beautiful city, with great food and plenty to see and do. Thanks to friends Paola, Luciano and Douglas for making my stay so great. I can totally recommend the South Australian experience to all Abacus Group clients.
August has been a busy month yet again for Abacus Group. We had the pleasure of hosting Keith Quinn, New Zealand and World Cup Icon on August 2nd at the Devon Hotel in New Plymouth.
Over 100 local business owners and farmers were in attendance to hear Keith reminisce and tell stories from over 40 years of commentating all over the world. And yes, he also spoke about Jonah Lomu vs England at the 1995 World Cup and that infamous piece of commentary.
The audience also discovered Keith is lifelong Beatles fan, with one audience member starting a lively debate about Beatles trivia. Keith stayed after he completed the formal speaking and hotly debated various rugby issues one-on-one with many punters. Thanks to Keith again for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
On
the insurance front, it is great to see our good friends at Sovereign
gaining accolades yet again. The Abacus Group team has had
a close
association with Sovereign for many years and know how good they are
when it comes to total client care, from putting cover in place, right
through to claim time. The article below shows that other advisors
around the country obviously feel the same.
Sovereign retains five-star rating from advisors
Sovereign has retained its five-star rating from advisers in the insurance industry’s annual benchmarking survey. It is the only insurance company in New Zealand to have consistently scored above 80% in overall satisfaction for the last four years. Read more...
July 2011
With 2011 over halfway done, it’s hard to believe that Christmas is only a few months away. Many of my friends have already started shopping for presents for their children. Talk about organised!
Abacus Group has had a busy start to July. We hosted prominent agricultural figure Jacqueline Rowarth at the TSB Hub in Hawera in July 2nd. Over 50 local farmers turned out to hear Jacqueline’s take on the global positioning of New Zealand farming, and how farming gives us a competitive edge in the rapidly changing world.
She was
very well received with her views, and also interactive style whereby
the audience was encouraged to voice their views and opinions. And most
of all, she is a fantastic person to talk with, making herself
available to chat one-on-one to everyone before and after the function.
Many thanks again to Jacqueline from the Abacus team, and we know you
will be available to speak for us in Taranaki again in the future.
No
sooner had Jacqueline jumped in her car and headed back to Massey
University, I was preparing for the arrival of our next keynote
speaker. Keith Quinn, prominent New Zealand sporting icon, who will be
in New Plymouth to speak for us on August the 2nd.
It is a real coup for us to secure such a well known and trusted New Zealander to speak for us in a world cup year. Keith has not only commentated at every rugby world cup but also Olympic Games and has written numerous books and also writes weekly columns in the print media. See this website and also our facebook page “Abacus Events” for further details.
In industry news, compliance is finally upon us! As of July 1st 2011, new government legislation became law and tighter industry regulation became commonplace.
The Abacus Group team has spent the last year tirelessly working to ensure that the systems and procedures we already have in place are in line with the legislation. According to all reports we are among the leaders in New Zealand in complying with the new regulation levels. I came across this interesting article a few weeks ago:
Some advisors prepared to operate unregistered
Just
one day before the new adviser regulations come into force some
advisers plan to continue in business unregistered and “wait and see
what happens”, according to Insurance and Savings Ombudsman (ISO) Karen
Stevens. Read more...
Remember that it is important that your Advisor is registered and up to
speed with industry changes.
June 2011
Late May through June have been very busy for the Abacus team. Almost 50 young farmers from Taranaki took part in our Young Farmers Golf Day on May 20th at the Te Ngutu Golf club near Hawera, South Taranaki.
Both Richard Toon and Craig Nolly played in
teams with the young farmers and a lot of fun was had by all
involved. Team Cordless, consisting of Steve and Samara Caldwell, and
Steve Vercoe, came out victorious on the day, winning the Taranaki
Young Farmers Plate and also $200 in prize money. Their score of -7
proved a very good score on a tricky course.
Abacus Group
is also involved in the Taranaki Business Challenge 2011. We are
extremely proud to have been selected to be part of the team of expert
business leaders for this competition that spans two months through to
late August.
This exciting event is a business development competition offering business owners a chance to grow and learn from the best. Now in its fourth year, only Taranaki businesses can apply for 30 available spaces.
The competition will feature 15 Taranaki business leaders (including our own Richard Toon and Craig Nolly) who will act as mentors who offer advice, and invest time and resources. The leaders come from various business areas such as accounting, law, marketing, human resources, insurance, information technology, sales and management.
Following a supercircuit
and masterclass, the business with the best vision wins a fully managed
transformation package worth about $60,000.The competition is for
experienced owners of medium-sized enterprises.
For further information on how to enter your business please go to www.thebusinesschallenge.co.nz
or see this article.
Coming
soon we are bringing prominent agricultural personality Jacqueline
Rowarth to Taranaki on July 4th to give a keynote address
entitled
“Farmers – New Zealand’s Competitive Advantage”. I have heard
Jacqueline speak before and she is dynamic to say the least, and we
feel very privileged to have secured her for the night. Seats are
strictly limited, so get in touch with me asap if you would like to
attend this free event.
Don’t forget to follow us on
Facebook (at “Abacus Group Events” for upcoming events), and keep up
with the latest updates on this website.
In other news, it is sad to see Christchuch hit by more quakes and damage earlier this week. On a positive note, it is great to see that the advice and products we use ensuring the financial security of families in the quake zone. The following article illustrates this well:
Christchurch Earthquake: Over $12.5m paid out in life claims
ISI chief executive Peter Neilson says the industry has paid out more than $12.5m in death claims as a direct result of the Christchurch earthquake Read more...
May 2011
With winter almost upon us, most are preparing for cold nights tucked up in front of the fire, reading a good book or watching TV.
The Abacus team are hoping that the weather will hold out for another week and we will be graced with sunshine for the Abacus Group Taranaki Young Farmers Golf Day we are hosting on May 20th at the Te Ngutu Golf Club in Normanby, South Taranaki.
This event is being run in conjunction with the Alton chapter of Taranaki Young Farmers, but thus far we have a number of young farmers from all over Taranaki participating.
It will be Ambrose format, so a team of 4, however if you don’t have a team of 4 we can match you with others on the day. With over $600 in prizes up for grabs we are looking forward to a fun but also competitive day!
If you would like to
enter a team please get in contact with me ASAP on (06) 759 0111 or if
you have an interest in joining Taranaki Young Farmers please also
contact me and I will put you in touch with the Taranaki Representative.
On
the risk front, there was an interesting article in the NZ Herald a few
months ago that caught my eye. The article talks about the perils of
relying on ACC if you have an injury or an accident. It seems that a
large number of claims are being declined by ACC as they are being
classed as degenerative disorders.
ACC's 'flimsy refusals'
Simon Collins, Thursday 09 December 2010, 5.30am
Hundreds of accident victims are being wrongly refused treatment on
back, shoulder and knee injuries that are being mislabelled as due to
"degenerative" causes, say lawyers. Read more...
A
far better way to protect yourself and your income in the event of an
accident – or more importantly illness as statistically you are more
likely to get sick – is income protection.
You undergo a
full assessment when you apply so you will know before the policy is
put in place if you are excluded for any conditions including
degenerative ones.
Let us know if you have had a claim declined by ACC and why.
April 2011
With autumn upon us, most of our farming clients are drying off and getting ready for a slightly quieter time of the year before the madness of calving starts in July/August.
I had the
privilege of attending the Taranaki Dairy Industry Awards dinner a
couple of weeks ago. Abacus Group is one of the major regional sponsors
of these awards, and proud to be in our fifth year of sponsorship. This
is one of the many ways that we as a company add value to the farming
community of Taranaki.
I had the honour of presenting the
"Abacus Group Best Endeavour Award". This is a merit award presented to
a Sharemilker who is doing a fantastic job despite not having the most
favourable farming conditions on his or her farm.
So,
despite some initial nerves, I jumped up on stage and presented the
award to our client Leo Kane, who farms in Ohangai, Hawera. Huge
congratulations must also go to our clients Aaron and Kate Murdoch, who
won Taranaki Sharemilker of the Year, and to clients Charlie and
Johanna McCaig who won Taranaki Farm Manager of the Year.
Our
thoughts are with both overall winners as they madly prepare for the
national competition in a few weeks time. We wish Charlie, Johanna,
Aaron and Kate good luck and hope they can bring the national titles
back to Taranaki.
On the insurance front, I came across
this interesting article that is very relevant given events in NZ over
the last couple of months.
Kiwis put life insurance in 'too hard' basket
NZ Herald Online, Tuesday 29 March 2011, 2:40pm
New Zealanders are underinsuring themselves, largely because
signing up is in the too hard basket, a new survey has revealed. Read more...
This
headline immediately jumped out at me. We make the process of signing
up for our clients a very easy and smooth process. Understanding what
level of cover they have and the rationale behind putting cover in
place is very clear and transparent.
This is a process
that Abacus Group has developed and fine tuned over the last twenty
plus years and one that we are very proud of. As a brokerage, we work
for you right from the day we first meet you, whether it be negotiating
with the various insurance companies we deal with, getting the most
favourable terms for our clients, or right through to claim time when
we do our most important work in helping you through the claims
process.
This is why having a broker that you trust is
paramount, and why Abacus Group can proudly say we have many of our
first clients still with us.
March 2011
What a turbulent month it has been in the world, with the massive earthquake in Christchurch on February 22nd followed by similar events in Japan over the last week. I am certainly questioning what sort of mood Mother Nature is in!
The press has done a magnificent job of keeping New Zealand up to date with all facts as they come to hand. On a personal note, a good friend of mine had her mother in the collapsed CTV building at the time of the quake, and she is still missing so my thoughts and prayers have been with her and her family, and in fact all those people who have lost loved ones.
I think most people in New Zealand will know of someone affected by the quake, given the 2 degrees of separation we seem to have in our great country.
The day before the Christchurch quake Abacus Group held our first seminar for the year at The Devon Hotel in New Plymouth. Entitled "Unlock Your Business Potential", we had Ambrose Blowfield from nationally renowned The Marketing Company, Jamie Sutherland from Taranaki-based accounting firm Busing Russell, and also our own director Richard Toon share with almost 100 attendees their years of experience.
Ambrose spoke about the sales and marketing side of your business, Jamie the financial elements, and Richard the business risk/insurance, or what to do to prevent the wheels falling off. The business risk aspect of the presentation was very timely given the events of the following day!
Abacus Group works closely with ACC to ensure that our business and farming clients have the best cover in place, tailored to their specific needs and optimising their cover. So it was good to see ACC making positive changes in the wake of Christchuch, and we hope that this would be the case for our clients if we were to have a similar event in Taranaki.
Emergency ACC changes will benefit employers
Katie Marriner, Wednesday 09 March 2011, 4:30pm
The temporary change in ACC rules is one of nine emergency legislative changes announced by the Government in response to last month's earthquake.
Changes to ACC legislation following the February earthquake will ease the burden on employers by requiring ACC to pay the first week of compensation to eligible claimants.
The change is one of nine measures announced by the Government yesterday under the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010.
The Accident Compensation Act order 2011 applies to people who will receive weekly compensation for longer than one week as a result of an injury obtained in the 22 February earthquake.
Employees will be compensated whether they were injured at work or not, a change from normal proceedings where non-work accidents do not receive income compensation in the first week following an accident.
The nine orders in council aim to remove legislative provisions that might hinder the earthquake recovery process and were effective from 12:51pm on 22 February with most expiring on 31 March.
Other amended acts include the Resource Management Act, the Education Act and the Social Security Act.
The Facts:
- More than 4000 claims lodged so far
- The total cost of ACC claims from the February earthquake is estimated to be $370 million, a figure that has not changed since its announcement on 2 March. ACC minister Nick Smith says this is not an immediate cost as rehabilitation, care and income compensation will be paid out over decades.
- More than 4400 claims from the February quake have been placed to date.
February 2011
I hope you all had a great break over the festive period and no doubt most are heading back to work in preparation for what will certainly be a busy year, both in business and also in the sporting world.
Taranaki is looking forward to hosting Rugby World Cup games late in the year and prior to that is hoping to better our 5th place finish in the ITM cup national provincial championship in 2010.
Abacus Group certainly had a busy year in 2010 and we have events planned throughout 2011 starting with a seminar on February 21st on how to grow your business.
This will be presented in conjunction with The Marketing Company and Busing Russell Accountants.
Speaking of 2010, we finished the year with our good friend John “Doc” Mayhew, former All Blacks, current NZ Warriors doctor and Chief Medical Officer for Sovereign travelling down from Auckland to present to Taranaki business people about the latest benefit recently added to those with Sovereign Health/Medical cover called “Best Doctors”. You may have seen this on TV or read about in the media.
Sovereign and Doc Mayhew also announced more positive news for breast cancer sufferers’ pre Christmas...
Sovereign adds new breast reconstruction benefit to health insurance cover
Media release from Sovereign - Tuesday 14 December 2010, 1:58pm
Leading New Zealand life and health insurer Sovereign has introduced a new breast reconstruction benefit for women who have undergone the trauma of a mastectomy as a result of a breast cancer diagnosis.
Sovereign's Chief Medical Officer, Dr John Mayhew, says the new Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy Benefit is designed to enable women to make a fuller recovery from breast cancer by restoring confidence in their appearance, without having to bear the full costs of reconstructive surgery.
"We understand that undergoing a mastectomy is a terribly traumatic experience for women. We hope the introduction of our new breast reconstruction benefit will help to reduce some of the financial pressure a patient may incur when considering a breast reconstruction.
"Patients can claim the benefit at any time throughout the recovery process to help with the costs of breast reconstruction."
Patients who hold Sovereign health insurance and require breast reconstruction after a total mastectomy will be covered for up to $15,000. The benefit has been automatically applied to Sovereign customers with Absolute Health and MajorCare health insurance policies.
Most of us will have someone we love or know of someone with breast cancer so I think most will agree that this will certainly aid them in their recovery. Hope you all have a happy and productive February.