Plan For Life

What Plan For Life does

Plan For Life, legally operated as Asset International Australia Pty Ltd and functioning as a brand under ISS Market Intelligence (Institutional Shareholder Services), is an Australian-based B2B financial research and data subscription company founded in 1988. It collects proprietary market data and publishes quarterly research covering Australian and New Zealand superannuation, retirement, managed investments, platforms, life insurance, responsible investments, and KiwiSaver markets. The company's research products include Platform & Wrap Analysis (FUM, inflows, outflows, net fund flows), Working Super (industry, public sector, and corporate super data back to 2000), Responsible Investments Research (18+ years of quarterly history across Australian and New Zealand markets), Advised and Direct Life Insurance Premium Comparisons, Risk Distribution Channel Analysis, Life Company Lapse Rates, Investment Bond Benchmarking, and a 10-year Forecast of Managed Funds. Distribution occurs primarily through direct B2B subscriptions via pflresearch.com and pflresearch.com.au, with cross-platform access via the sibling Rainmaker MarketPro and Simfund Database products.

The company operates a recurring subscription revenue model with quarterly updates, multi-year historical datasets, and licensing of market data to financial services clients including life insurers (TAL, AIA Australia, ClearView, MLC Life, AMP, Zurich), superannuation funds, platforms, investment managers, financial advisers, and dealer groups. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; subscriptions include 3-month notice for quarterly contracts and 6-month notice for half-yearly or yearly contracts. Go-to-market is sales-led through direct outreach and email contact, supplemented by media releases and free sample reports. The company holds an Australian Financial Services Licence and operates from Sydney, with coverage spanning Australia and New Zealand. Its strategic significance lies in providing independent, long-horizon market intelligence that is not available from public sources, supporting benchmarking, competitor analysis, fund flow tracking, and strategic planning across the Australasian financial services industry.

Name

Plan For Life

Legal name

Asset International Australia Pty Ltd

Website

https://pflresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Plan For Life is an Australian B2B financial research and data subscription firm (under ISS Market Intelligence) that publishes quarterly market intelligence on superannuation, retirement, managed investments, life insurance, platforms, and responsible investments across Australia and New Zealand for insurers, super funds, advisers, and investment managers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Market Research and Data Analytics

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Retirement & Pension Wealth (401(k)/IRA/SIPP/Superannuation Retail) (FSAAAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Retirement & Pension Planning (401(k)/IRA) (FSAEAAAD), Retirement & Distribution Planning RIAs (401(k)/IRA/Pension Rollovers) (FSAAACAE)

Keywords

• Financial market research
• Superannuation data analytics
• Managed funds research
• Life insurance benchmarking
• Retirement market intelligence

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Waverley

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Subscription Services: Quarterly subscription-based research reports and data products covering Australian and New Zealand financial markets including superannuation, retirement, managed investments, life insurance, platforms, and responsible investments. Subscriptions include multiple report formats (PDF, Excel spreadsheets) and are updated quarterly with 4 updates per year.
2. Client Subscriptions: Direct subscription access to research services and reports through pflresearch.com.au platform, providing ongoing market intelligence to financial services clients.
3. Data Licensing: Licensing of market data and statistics to subscribers for internal use, with separate arrangements required for external use in press releases, annual reports, or promotional materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Plan For Life collects Australian and New Zealand market share and sales data covering superannuation, retirement, managed investments, and life insurance, publishing definitive industry reports, key sales statistics, and business intelligence. Its offerings are quarterly subscription-based research datasets, analytical reports, and a desktop premium comparison software tool delivered as Excel spreadsheets and PDFs to financial institutions. The company covers platforms/wraps, responsible investments, working super, managed fund forecasts, risk distribution channels, lapse rates, investment bonds, and KiwiSaver.

Product overview

Plan For Life, an ISS Market Intelligence brand, provides definitive industry reports, key sales statistics, and business intelligence for Australian and New Zealand financial markets. The company's offering is a portfolio of specialized research products delivered primarily as Excel spreadsheets and PDF reports, covering superannuation, retirement, managed investments, platforms, life insurance, and responsible investments. Core research products include Platform & Wrap Analysis (funds under management and flow data), Responsible Investments Research (RIAA certified and broader market coverage), Working Super (industry superannuation data), and Forecast of Managed Funds (10-year projections). Specialized insurance research includes Life Insurance Premium Rate Comparisons (both advised and direct channels), Risk Distribution Channel Analysis, Life Company Lapse Rates, and Investment Bond Benchmarking. New Zealand coverage includes KiwiSaver Funds tracking and retail managed funds research. All products are updated quarterly and provide historical data going back up to 18-25 years in many cases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Platform & Wrap Analysis Comprehensive statistics on employer super, personal super, allocated pensions and investment funds offered through wraps, platforms and master funds. Data covers FUM, Inflows, Outflows, Net Funds Flow, Investment Earnings on quarterly and year-end basis with 5-year history. Target audience: platforms, super funds, and wealth managers.
• Responsible Investments Research Extensive research covering Responsible Investments in Australia and New Zealand, including Australian Retail, Australian Wholesale, Exchange Traded Funds and New Zealand Fund markets. Includes quarterly reports, statistics datasets, market changes reports, and market overviews based on RIAA certified and non-certified responsible investments.
• Advised Life Insurance Premiums Desktop software application for reviewing individual risk stand-alone products, enabling comparisons of premium rates, terms and conditions across Term/TPD, Trauma, and Income Protection products. Covers Male/Female, Smoker/Non-Smoker options and various waiting period and benefit period options.
• Direct Life Insurance Premiums Comparator tool for comparing Direct Life Insurance Premiums across companies and products, available to participating companies. Data includes Sum Insured Bands, Age Bands, Male/Female, Smoker/Non-Smoker, White Collar/Blue Collar options.
• Working Super Reporting of Industry Superannuation Funds, Public Sector Superannuation, Corporate (Stand-alone) Superannuation. Data includes FUM, Inflows (Employer Contributions, Member contributions), Benefit & Expense Outflows, Investment Earnings, Net Transfers & Other Movements with quarterly and yearly history back to 2000.
• Forecast of Managed Funds 10 Year Forecast of the Managed Fund Markets including Retail & Wholesale. Based on economic forecasting and assumptions for 1 year Business and 3 to 5 year Strategic Planning. Data coverage includes FUM, Inflows, Outflows, Investment Earnings with Low, Medium, High projection versions.
• Risk Distribution Channel Report Distribution Channel Analysis splitting the Risk Market Total Sales into separate channels including Life Office Aligned Dealer Groups, Non-Aligned Dealer Groups, Stock Brokers, Bank Aligned Dealer Groups, Direct & Other. Covers Total Sales (inflows) at product market, group, and company levels with 3-year history.
• Risk Consumer Segmentation Consumer Segmentation splitting the Risk Market Total Sales and Inflows into age ranges (18-24, 25-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-64, 65 and over) by product type including Risk Lump Sum and Risk Income.
• Life Insurance Sales Channels Report First breakdown of the Individual Risk market into Direct and Non-Direct (Advised) sales channels. Provides analysis by Company and Product Type (Term, TPD, Trauma and Income Protection) with 6 years quarterly history back to June 2009.
• Life Company Lapse Rates Ongoing independent lapse study of Life Company Lapse Rates. Includes Risk Product Termination Rates by Life Office and Product Type, Analysis of Risk Market Discontinuances covering Lapses, Surrenders and Forfeitures.
• Investment Bond Benchmarking Report Analysis of company and product performance in the Insurance and Friendly Society Investment Growth Bond markets. Evaluates Financial Strength, Funds under Management and Inflows, and Product Package factors.
• Investment Bond Market Share Report Quarterly summary report with commentary covering Investment Bond markets. Data includes year-end FUM, Inflows, Net Funds Flow at overall market and key company competitor levels with 3-year quarter and year-end history.
• KiwiSaver Research Regular tracking of KiwiSaver Funds Under Management, quarterly updates, and market analysis for New Zealand's KiwiSaver scheme.
• Market Share & Dynamics Report Market share analysis and dynamics reporting for Australian retirement, managed investments and life insurance markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• Responsible Investment market reached $277.8 billion in Funds Under Management at December 2025, up 5.0% over the past year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mercer: Global investment consulting and wealth management firm providing superannuation research, fund ratings, and institutional investment advice - overlaps with Plan For Life's superannuation research clients and platform analytics in AU/NZ.
• Morningstar: Global investment research firm offering fund data, analytics, and research across multiple markets. Provides broader geographic and product coverage than Plan For Life but serves overlapping institutional asset management and wealth clients globally.
• S&P Global Market Intelligence: Global financial data, analytics, and research provider including fund flows and asset management data. Competes with Plan For Life's Simfund-integrated offerings for institutional clients and provides similar research services at global scale.
• Willis Towers Watson: Global advisory firm providing investment consulting, superannuation research, and risk management services. Comparable institutional client base in AU/NZ superannuation and life insurance research markets where Plan For Life competes.
• Bloomberg Intelligence: Global financial research division of Bloomberg providing investment research and data analytics across asset classes and markets. Overlaps with Plan For Life's investment research but operates at much larger global scale with broader asset class coverage.

Direct peers

• Investment Trends: Australian financial services research firm providing market intelligence on superannuation, investment platforms, and adviser segments - directly comparable to Plan For Life's coverage of adviser distribution and platform markets.
• Chant West: Australian superannuation fund research and ratings provider offering performance comparisons, ratings, and KiwiSaver research - direct competitor in the AU/NZ superannuation research space that Plan For Life also covers.
• Lonsec: Australian investment research and ratings provider serving financial advisers and licensees with managed funds research, model portfolios, and superannuation fund ratings - directly comparable to Plan For Life's adviser-focused research offerings.
• Rainmaker Information: Australian financial research and data provider covering superannuation, managed funds, and platforms. Shares distribution infrastructure with Plan For Life via the Rainmaker MarketPro platform and serves a substantially overlapping institutional client base in AU/NZ.
• Zenith Investment Research: Australian investment research firm providing managed fund ratings, performance reporting, and market intelligence to financial advisers and wealth managers - comparable target market and product offering to Plan For Life.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pflresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plan-for-life-asset-international-australia-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plan For Life