Platform combines product ratings, comparisons, and premium quotes in one place
New Zealand fintech Trail has made its Trail Research platform generally available, giving New Zealand personal risk insurance advisers a single tool that combines product ratings, policy information, side-by-side comparisons, and estimated premium quotes. Paid plans opened on 27 October after almost six months in beta.
For the many mortgage advisers who also offer personal risk insurance, the platform brings product comparison and quoting closer to their existing workflow. Advisers working across both have said mortgages and insurance are complementary, sharing much of the client fact find, with insurance adding ongoing trail commission.
Ratings across 33 providers
Trail Research holds ratings data on hundreds of products from 33 insurance providers, including older policies no longer on sale, which often come up during reviews of a client’s cover.
Its quoting tool produces estimated first-year premiums for nine life and/or health insurers: AIA, Asteron Life, Chubb Life, Fidelity Life, nib, Partners Life, PPS Mutual, Southern Cross, and UniMed.
Users of Trail’s client relationship management (CRM) system can pull client details straight into the quoting tool, avoiding the need to re-enter information. Pricing is tiered for members of the Kiwi Adviser Network (KAN), the aggregation group Trail owns, for Trail CRM users, and for those on other systems.
Trail chief executive Warwick Slow said comparison work had long been more cumbersome than it needed to be.
“Product research is a fundamental part of providing good insurance advice, but the process hasn’t always been as straightforward as it should be,” he said.
The aim, Slow added, is to reduce friction “so advisers can spend less time jumping between systems and more time focused on their clients”.
Built on two decades of data
The platform draws on about 20 years of historical product data from Strategy, a spreadsheet-based research tool Trail acquired from the late Graeme Lindsay in early 2024. More than 65 practitioners gave feedback during the beta, which opened in April 2026, leading to ratings for new products, more accurate estimated quotes, and additional features.
More to come in 2027
Trail insurance product lead Phoebe Rolfe said the launch was only a first step. “Launching Trail Research is an important step, but it’s not where the journey ends,” she said.
The company plans to build a new insurance advice process within its CRM in 2027, bringing product research into each stage of the advice journey.
The launch also comes as the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has made managing conflicts from commission-based remuneration a priority for 2026/27, with mortgage and insurance advisers specifically in scope.
Stay informed with the latest housing market trends and mortgage insights — subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
