The three banks, namely the DBS Bank, London-based Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Maybank, that had been given a 6 month ban from selling any structured products, had their ban effectively lifted from now. However there are still seven more banks who are serving their term. Banks are now supposed to be more cautious and implement measures that make them deliver better Fair Dealing outcomes for their customers. Read it all..
February 14, 2010
Selling Ban on Banks (DBS, Maybank, RBS) lifted
February 8, 2010
Complaints against Lawyers on the Rise
According to the Chief of the Law Society in Singapore, Michael Hwang, the number of complaints against lawyers, have considerably increased from previous years.Lawyers are required to act in good faith towards their clients and complaints can generally be avoided if only lawyers were more careful about what they promise their clients.
The increase in complaints indicate that people have become more litigious. This trend should serve as a red flag for financial advisers too. Read it all..
January 6, 2010
Don’t Let it Be Just Another Goal Setting
Last year this time, did you hear of many people making New Years’ resolutions to exercise more, be a better person, and business goals to close more sales and so on? And how did they fare?
Hardly anyone I know keeps those goals, others simply give up making them. Why is this so? Read it all..
November 3, 2009
Don’t let poor Customer Service Let You Down
Recent articles on 28 and 29 October in Straits Times highlighted that customer satisfaction fell in various industries like retail, food and beverage and education. This is despite four years of efforts in various ways, such as training and awareness campaigns.What exactly is happening? And how does that affect your Financial Advisory Business? Read it all..
Rise of “Superwoman”, a niche player in the making
Superwoman Financial Solutions, an Australian-based financial services company is expanding it’s services to Singapore, targeting at female clients, sovereign funds and charitable organizations. Headed by Mr Colin Grant, they hope to bring understanding to investment products. They feel women generally prefer things that they can touch and feel. Most likely riding on the a fund manager’s license, they are set to roll out more investment products like water, luxury brand goods and food themes over the next 18 months.
The article is however unclear as to whether they are also providing financial advisory services as registered under MAS Financial Advisers Act.
Read it in this article here.
Private Banking Hiring again?
Asia remains the place for Private banks to hunt for new wealth to manage, as an article on Straits Times 06 Oct stated. Major banks like HSBC, Julius Bear,, Merril Lynch are all boosting their relationship manager numbers.”China is expected to be one of the most important markets for us in Asia for domestic private banking …” SG Private Banking.
Read the full article here.
September 17, 2009
UOB selling it’s life insurance unit?
UOB is selling it’s life insurance unit via an auction to divest it’s non-core business with Prudential and Manulife among the suitors. Without a strong distribution arm like Great Eastern for OCBC, UOB Life Insurance has been a minor player in the multi-billion dollar industry. What’s the impact on the industry? Read it all..
Insurer Manulife selling pure unit trusts? Is this a Big Deal?
Manulife will be selling 17 “Elite” funds of which five are managed by it’s own asset management arm Manulife Asset Management, and 12 from other financial institutions like Aberdeen Asset Management. They aim to grow the pool to 40 funds in the next 12 months. The funds will be sold as “pure” unit trusts as opposed to investment-linked funds. Is it a Big Deal? Read it all..
Americans in Singapore seek tax advice as US deadline nears
The US taxman set 23 Sep as a deadline for tax evaders to come clean on their prior taxes unpaid before being penalised if caught. Even Switzerland banks like UBS were “arm-twisted” to release information of tax-dodgers, as the US government tries to raise money to fund it’s huge budget deficit.
US citizens are taxed wherever they are working on income, as well as interest and capital gains. The taxes are only off-set with valid tax-treaties, which Singapore does not have with US. In effect, a US citizen may be taxed twice.
To see the original article, click here.
September 16, 2009
What Financial Advisers need to know about the Insurance Nomination Law passed
A new law governing insurance nominations came into effect on 1 Sep 09. This law clarifies exisiting uncertainties about nominations and trusts. New policy holders and existing policies without nominations (not applied retrospectively) can now name beneficiaries and change them when the need arises. What should a Financial Planner know about this law? Read it all..
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