Inside Asteron Life's five-time award winning success

When it comes to improvement, New Zealand life insurer Asteron Life never stands still. 

“The only barrier to our ambition is balancing time, money and resources to do everything we want to do for our customers and advisers,” says Claire Sutton, Executive Manager, Life Portfolio and New Business (pictured). 

Last November, the company celebrated winning ANZIIF New Zealand Life Insurance Company of the Year, an accolade it has achieved for the second year in a row and the fifth time in the past twelve years.

“Competition is strong in our industry and each time we have been thrilled to win,” Sutton says. 

Accountability and care

Leading a team of fifty, Sutton is accountable for the overall performance of the Asteron Life portfolio, including product, pricing, underwriting and customer onboarding across the insurer’s distribution channels. 

“Each award represents a huge amount of care, effort and work from the entire Asteron Life team,” Sutton shares. “Last year’s entry illustrated the strength of our company across the board, from our people to our innovation obsession with customer and community.” 

To win the award, submissions need to demonstrate how every part of an organisation’s business is outstanding.

Sutton is particularly proud of the Asteron Life team’s commitment to customers. “We live and breathe our customers, and what our customers need every day is absolutely at the centre of what we do,” she says. 

Passion for listening to customers

A passion for listening to customers and improving their experiences has motivated Sutton since she answered the advertisement for her very first insurance industry role in 2006. 

“The focus on customer, community and performance really resonated with me,” she tells. 

At the time, Sutton was travelling having left a previous career spanning health and fitness, hospitality and customer service in the UK. She decided to move to New Zealand and transition into the insurance industry. 

“The same values that first drew me to the industry have kept me in insurance ever since,” she says. 

Sutton has built a long and successful career in insurance, with executive roles in New Zealand and abroad, in sales and service operations, customer insights and culture, customer advocacy, organisational change and human resources and communication. She has been in her current role for almost five years. 

Impactful customer story

While there have been inspirational leaders who have influenced her work, Sutton shares that it was a customer who had the greatest impact on her commitment to creating great life insurance outcomes. 

“Many years ago, a customer, Pat, was describing his insurance experience at claim time,” she recalls. 

“I still remember the way he spoke about the responsibility he felt as a father. The pain in his face and his voice was so clear when he described feeling out of control in the insurance claim process because it was unfamiliar and difficult for him. He described how his family looked to him for answers and how he felt powerless to give them reassurance about when the issues would be resolved.

As a parent, his story really hit home for me. This and other stories like it drive Sutton to do better for customers every day. “We aim to ensure Asteron Life is easy to do business with and that we are there for them when they need us,” she says.

The importance of connecting 

Connection is central to Sutton’s work. She says Asteron Life connects people to products, services and experiences that enhance and safeguard their financial well-being. The company’s end-to-end operating model includes product, pricing, underwriting, distribution, service and claims teams helping customers directly, using centralised enabling functions. 

According to Sutton, “Asteron’s success can be largely attributed to our people’s connection with our purpose, and the deeper meaning they get from supporting our customers’ families when they need it most.” 

She firmly believes that “staying connected to what is going on in world of customers, and that the impact of those factors is key to the success of your life insurance proposition”.  

For example, key factors impacting both customers and the industry include global challenges, immigration, the macro and local economic environment, technology and changing consumer needs. 

Relationships built on trust

With impressive claims acceptance rates, customer connection at Asteron Life is a given.

Sutton recognises that “maintaining industry leading claims acceptance rates is a team effort, as it’s due to quality products and underwriting, and ensuring a clear customer strategy”.

She says the team works hard upfront to ensure that the policies issued are at the best price for the customer and well-aligned to the risk they represent. 

“When you stay close to your customers and advisers, and develop relationships built on trust and doing what you say you will do, this sets the foundation for being responsive, flexible and diverse,” Sutton says. 

“We work closely with advisers who do a brilliant job of ensuring the products that they recommend are fit for purpose and right sized to the needs of the customer.” 

Flexibility is key

Detailed customer segmentation data enables Asteron Life to tailor solutions specific to customers’ needs. Flexibility is built into products to ensure that they cover the risk that customers care most about and want to protect. 

Transparency is also critical. “Our aim is to make it easy for our claims team to consider the claim without hidden ‘nasties’ that were not clear at the start of the process. From the moment when the customer first bought the product, we’re in it for the long haul,” Sutton says.

“Our people are key to our success and have helped us create many leading initiatives over the years, including being first in market many years ago with level premiums that offer a hybrid commission structure to advisers,” Sutton says.

“We also built in flexibility such as premium holidays and waivers for some of our products to help when customers experience temporary financial hardship.” 

Driven by data

Asteron Life is also deeply committed to being a sustainable insurer that “customers can rely on”.

The company is data-driven, proactively collecting and listening to customer surveys, feedback and complaints, to identify key drivers of customer satisfaction, and detect any potential issues. 

“Listening, learning and acting is key in Asteron Life’s approach to employees,” says Sutton. 

She points to the company’s strong commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, with a range of initiatives including nine dedicated internships for Māori and Pasifika individuals, as well as comprehensive gender pay gap, parental leave and gender affirmation policies. 

An inclusivity program supported by employee-led groups focuses on supporting LGBTIQ+ inclusion, promoting gender equality, engaging both millennials and digital natives, championing the needs of employees over 50 and advocating for people with disabilities, neurodiversity and those who are carers. 

Enhanced resourcing, training and wellbeing initiatives further contribute to a supportive and flexible environment that underpins strong staff retention and lower turnover rates.  

A positive approach

Sutton takes a positive approach to the challenges insurance companies face today. “Creating sustainable, simple products that can be priced well for the risk and meet more needs of more New Zealanders is an opportunity we are leaning in to,” she says. 

While customers want simplicity, she points out that providing the best product with many benefits and optionality can be complicated. “We continue to strive for simpler products that create value for customers, and that advisers feel confident to recommend,” she says.

“At Asteron Life, we are challenging ourselves to be easier and easier to do business with, both for advisers and customers.” 

Notably, Asteron Life was commended by judges for collaborative excellence. A recent initiative is a partnership with Teladoc offering Connected Care, a holistic service providing access to leading global medical professionals to support customer and advisers’ health and wellbeing. 

Recognition from ANZIIF

Sutton says there have been many benefits for Asteron Life of winning the ANZIIF awards. 

“The industry recognition from an expert panel of independent judges illustrates to our customers, advisers and shareholders that we are a reputable and trustworthy business,” she says. 

“More than anything, the awards have given our team confidence in the quality and purpose of our offering. That drives our team forward to do better for our advisers and customers every single day.”

Sutton encourages New Zealand professionals thinking about submitting for the 2025 awards to “go for it!” 

“There is nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she says. “The process of creating the submission each time – without any assumption or certainty of winning – provides a great milestone to reflect on the prior year and celebrate the achievements of the team.” 

Having attended several award dinners, she adds that hearing the stories of other winners was a particular highlight that supported further learnings for improving the Asteron business. “The future is bright!”

Submit your entry for the 2025 New Zealand Awards!