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Financial advisory platform helps clients save 42 per cent of ‘Life Insurance Premium’ costs
by Lee Khee Chuan. Posted on February 5, 2012, Sunday
When financial products buying public have the opportunities to interact with a licensed financial advisers ( FA ) company and its registered representatives, they will be pleasantly surprised to know that there are so many value-added benefits that they can enjoy.
I have a long list of benefits written down but I am not going to bore you with it. Instead I will give you examples in this new exciting column on how you can also engage licensed financial advisers representatives to enjoy the value-added benefits.
Right to choose
To me, consumers have the right to choose. Though there are many life insurance companies and unit trust companies in the Malaysian market, the information flow to the consumers must be improved. The Internet may be there for consumers to access to financial products manufactures’ websites, but consumers depend very much on the companies’ distribution channels, like the banks and tied agents to feed them the product information.
That’s why the Securities Commission (SC) and Bank Negara Malaysia have been revising their guidelines to compel the financial products companies to disclose their product information in a more transparent and consumer friendly manner.
Making informed decisions
Consumers also have the right to make informed decisions on their acquisition and purchase of financial products to ensure that the products suit their needs and financial goals.
That is one of the main reasons the government regulators introduced the new laws and introduced licensed financial advisors (FA) companies to benefit the increasingly sophisticated financial products buying public.
I call the FA companies the third distribution channel, after the conventional life insurance or unit trust agencies and bancassurance.
Any move by the regulators that allows consumers to have better choices, better and easier access to quality and relevant information about financial products must be welcomed with open arms.
Government initiated the changes towards liberalisation of the industry
Let me highlight to you some of the key points presented by the chairman of Securities Commission, Dato’ Zarinah Anwar, during a keynote address at the International Financial Planning Advisors Conference on 22 February 2008, with a fitting title, ‘The New Frontiers of Financial Planning in Malaysia’. ( Her full speech is available at: www.sc.com.my under speeches section )
SC chairman said that one of the SC’s focuses was to enhance the savings intermediation efficiency through removing distribution bottlenecks.
These initiatives enhanced the role of financial planners and their access to a wider range of products. This would provide financial planners the competitive strength to source products for the clients at competitive costs from a wider range of suppliers.
All these new developments are pointing towards the eventual liberalisation in the financial services industry. All the industry players, whether financial products companies or their intermediaries must realise this wave of change is inevitable.
For consumers, it is definitely great news for you.
Wide range of products with competitive prices
As aforementioned in the speech by the SC chairman, financial adviser companies could now source products for our clients at competitive costs from wide range of suppliers.
So we are now able to make available to all of you a comprehensive menu that will suit the appetite, needs and budget.
Let me illustrate to you with a good example. One of our registered representatives was asked to provide a quote to an age 41 business owner for a 20 year term insurance of RM1 million. The business owner was provided a report with life insurance premium rates from various different insurers for the same coverage, Life and Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) cover as illustrated in Table A.
The client was surprised that the difference in premium was a whopping 42 per cent among different life insurers even though the coverage is the same and the terms of cover is similar.
That’s one concrete example of how you, as a consumer can benefit greatly from the newly launched services provided by an independent financial advisory platform that is licensed to source financial products from multiple product providers.
Lee Khee Chuan ChFC,CFP,CLU,FLMI,B.A.(S’pore) is a Securities Commission-licensed financial adviser representative and Practice Manager of Standard Financial Planner Sdn Bhd (SFP). SFP, a member company of Professional Investment Services (PIS) of Australia, is a multiple-product providers platform for consumers and financial planners. Lee’s unique multi-disciplined background in political science, psychology, economics, life insurance, estate and financial planning allows him to provide insights on various financial planning topics to Borneo Post readers. For enquiries on SFP’s financial planning services and career in financial planning, please contact Lee at 016 – 888 0138 or lee.kheechuan@sfplanner.com
