Briefs: Macquarie sells life business to Zurich, McMillan wins government auto leasing contract, Rai
Macquarie Group has entered into an agreement to sell Macquarie Life Insurance to Zurich Australia. Macquarie Life is part of Macquarie's banking and financial services division. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of the year. Zurich will provide life insurance products to Macquarie customers. Macquarie's head of banking and financial services Greg Ward said in a statement: "The sale reflects the need for significant scale in the capital intensive life insurance industry in order to drive appropriate returns." McMillan Shakespeare's vehicle leasing division, Interleasing, has been appointed to a panel of six vehicle leasing providers for the New South Wales Government. The NSW Government has a fleet of 22,000 vehicles, which will be progressively financed under new arrangements from July. Railways Credit Union will adopt new branding later this month as "MOVE - People Driven Banking". Mike Scanlan, chair of the RCU board, said in a message at the mutual's website that staff cuts at Queensland Rail and Aurizon affected the sustainability of a credit union with around A$600 million in assets. Members last year agreed to widen the bond to draw membership from the rail, transport and logistics industries. Consumers continue to put a high priority on paying off debt, according to the latest MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey. The other priority is to add more to superannuation savings. The survey found that 40 per cent of women and 31 per cent of men do not expect to have enough money to retire on.