Importance of sound advice Access to sound financial advice has become even more important today as households face the challenges of managing heavier debt loads, higher costs of healthcare and education, effects of natural calamities that are occurring with greater frequency, and longer life spans. We believe that the responsibility to provide sound advice falls on all insurance intermediaries, whether you are an agent, an insurance broker, a bancassurer, or a financial adviser. This is clear in our Guidelines on Proper Advice which states among other things, that if an intermediary cannot match the needs and requirements of a customer with a life or takaful product within the intermediary’s offerings, the intermediary should not recommend any product to the consumer. However, we are also mindful that sound advice can have different shades which depend on many factors, including the competence of those providing the advice, the solutions that they are permitted or equipped to advise on, and incentive effects which may, either in perception or reality, colour that advice. Financial advisers provide an alternative channel through which consumers can obtain insurance advice, taking into account individual perspectives on these factors. The fundamental principle remains the same – that whichever the channel, and acknowledging the advantages and limitations of different channels, consumers should receive advice that is in their best interests.
Jessica Chew Cheng Lian: Financial advisers the future – rise of the new wave Keynote address by Ms Jessica Chew Cheng Lian, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Association of Financial Advisers “Financial advisers the future – rise of the new wave”, Kuala Lumpur, 31 October 2013. *  *  *  It is my great pleasure to be here this morning at the 2nd annual conference of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). This year would be the eighth year that financial advisers have been a part of the financial landscape in Malaysia. As the industry looks to the future, I think it is useful to also look back to the motivations for developing financial advisers in Malaysia. Fundamentally, the objective was to improve the quality of advice on insurance solutions that was being provided to consumers. Before financial advisers, such advice was mainly only available in this country from tied agents and this system had certain limitations in terms of incentive structures and the breadth of products that the agent could draw on to advise consumers. A second objective, and perhaps one that has not been emphasized enough, is the expectation that financial advisers would be able to help individuals and households with a broader financial outlook. This means helping individuals and households understand how insurance fits within their broader financial management strategies to grow their savings, manage risk and meet specific financial goals.