Another great article by Wilfred Ling, a professional fee-based financial planner.
There is no law in Singapore that prohibits financial advisers from recommending other products that are not carried by their own principal. There is also no law prohibiting the financial adviser from charging a fee.
However, many insurers and IFA firms prohibit their own advisers from charging a fee. Why? There are two main reasons.
First reason: If advisers can charge a fee, they would have less motivation to sell products. Do you know that insurance advisers earn commission based on 3 – 6 years on a declining basis but product manufacturers earn perpetual revenues as long as their clients do not terminate the product? Are not these advisers fools to keep on selling when the one who ultimately benefits are the product manufacturers? Many advisers do not realized that they are being made used of. Advisers must keep on selling and pushing products to earn a living while product manufacturers earn perpertual revenue once the sale is closed. Advisers who want to escape from this trap must quit from this kind of working environment.
Second reason. Many firms prohibit their advisers from recommending other people’s product and prohibit them from charging a fee. The reason is because the firm views these advisers as salesmen. Salesmen must be loyal to their bosses. They must not have a conflict of interest selling other competitors’ products. Salesmen loyalty lies with their companies. Each prospect is a chance to milk and squeeze more money so that their bosses will be happy.
Many “financial advisers” join the industry thinking that it is going to be a noble job. Unfortunately, they are not “financial advisers.” They are just product salesman in the eyes of their firm. Frankly speaking, I really pity these people. I have friends who are trapped in such situation but they must keep on selling and pushing to make their bosses happy.
To the end consumer, this is very dangerous. A salesman that keeps on pushing product is not going to care whether the product is useful or not. There is a conflict of interest too. The salesman is unable to recommend more superior product to the detriment of the client. Consider a television set. The maximum lost of being cheated for buying a wrong TV is capped at the cost of the television. But when comes to financial advisory, the maximum lost has no upper limit at all. There is no cap.
I strongly urge all my peers to rethink their business model and consider whether is this what you really want in life. You do not need to be a salesman. Singapore is quite a free market. There is always a choice. The choice is up to you to decide whether you want to ruin other people’s life in order to serve your Master or help others achieve their financial goals.
Labels: Financial Planning
How do you determine whether its the HP or notebook battery industry that have better technology? Look at their charging/usage time ratio.
Labels: Technology
Definitely one of the most memorable times in my life. Army isn't tough if you take a positive attitude towards it; rather its so fun that most people will miss their army times.
Jamie Ee never fails to make me laugh
By JAIME EE
I DON'T mean to alarm the public unnecessarily, but after the story broke about Russian spies posing as ordinary Americans living in the suburbs, I can no longer look at my neighbours with a straight face. Like the woman spy with the flourishing hydrangeas, I too have unnaturally lush bougainvilleas crowding the common corridor outside my unit - and they are not there to hide my ugly shoe rack.
You see, I am a Russian spy. Well, at least I used to be one but I have since switched sides and now spend my time helping people to identify spies in their own backyards.
Remember how people used to think taxi drivers were spies - pretending to rail against public policies just to make you lower your guard and add in your two cents worth of grouses? Well, it's true. I know because my agency used to recruit them. Unfortunately, this scheme didn't last long because our spies went so deeply 'native' even we couldn't tell them apart from real taxi drivers.
Whenever we thought we identified one from the tell-tale signs: not knowing the difference between Shaw Towers and Shaw Centre; difficulty understanding English; tuning his radio to Gold 90FM because he thinks Singaporeans like listening to Air Supply and also because that is the same radio frequency our agents use for communicating with our satellites - it turns out he really doesn't know where he's going and he really likes Air Supply.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't spies around and here are some tips to identify them:
# The neighbour who likes to take your favourite parking spot just when you get home from work, only to disappear after you have spent 15 minutes parking several streets away. Watch him. That could be a satellite hot spot and due to the time difference with Russia, that could be the only time he can communicate with his headquarters.
# Spies can be found even in hawker centres. Some well-known char kway teow hawkers are well versed in Morse code. Next time you order a plate, count the number of times he hits the pan with his spatula. Then look around for someone drinking sugar cane juice and discreetly taking notes. When that same guy then orders a plate of char kway teow, watch carefully. If he gets several more cockles than you, you know they're passing secret messages.
# One of the best-known ways of passing information from one agent to another is by secretly exchanging identical-looking bags when they pass each other in a public place. The next time you are at the Great Singapore Sale and another woman starts a tug-of-war with you over a handbag you saw first - she might not want it because of the discount.
# If you ever notice how part of your street is always being dug up by people supposedly fixing the cables or water pipes but you never see any improvement in your water pressure or broadband speed - they could be agents looking for a hidden cache of money.
As for me, I now work undercover in an office. You can tell who I am from the stash of identical-sized paper bags I keep at my desk, and the way I yell at anyone who tries to take one.
BusinessTimes
You see, I am a Russian spy. Well, at least I used to be one but I have since switched sides and now spend my time helping people to identify spies in their own backyards.
Remember how people used to think taxi drivers were spies - pretending to rail against public policies just to make you lower your guard and add in your two cents worth of grouses? Well, it's true. I know because my agency used to recruit them. Unfortunately, this scheme didn't last long because our spies went so deeply 'native' even we couldn't tell them apart from real taxi drivers.
Whenever we thought we identified one from the tell-tale signs: not knowing the difference between Shaw Towers and Shaw Centre; difficulty understanding English; tuning his radio to Gold 90FM because he thinks Singaporeans like listening to Air Supply and also because that is the same radio frequency our agents use for communicating with our satellites - it turns out he really doesn't know where he's going and he really likes Air Supply.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't spies around and here are some tips to identify them:
# The neighbour who likes to take your favourite parking spot just when you get home from work, only to disappear after you have spent 15 minutes parking several streets away. Watch him. That could be a satellite hot spot and due to the time difference with Russia, that could be the only time he can communicate with his headquarters.
# Spies can be found even in hawker centres. Some well-known char kway teow hawkers are well versed in Morse code. Next time you order a plate, count the number of times he hits the pan with his spatula. Then look around for someone drinking sugar cane juice and discreetly taking notes. When that same guy then orders a plate of char kway teow, watch carefully. If he gets several more cockles than you, you know they're passing secret messages.
# One of the best-known ways of passing information from one agent to another is by secretly exchanging identical-looking bags when they pass each other in a public place. The next time you are at the Great Singapore Sale and another woman starts a tug-of-war with you over a handbag you saw first - she might not want it because of the discount.
# If you ever notice how part of your street is always being dug up by people supposedly fixing the cables or water pipes but you never see any improvement in your water pressure or broadband speed - they could be agents looking for a hidden cache of money.
As for me, I now work undercover in an office. You can tell who I am from the stash of identical-sized paper bags I keep at my desk, and the way I yell at anyone who tries to take one.
BusinessTimes
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