then what they sell?
they are still insurance agents but I feel they only propose plans that benefit them the most lor
Originally posted by smoothiepop:heard from her that it's the boss that makes a difference. And also the kind of trainings and support the boss and the agency provides. u sign contract wif Prudential oredi? If not maybe I can get my fren to give you a call on this.
I feel It is advisable to noe more b4 u confirm which company u entering cos if not u will be wasting your time and energy.
since you said it's the boss that makes the difference, it doesn't matter whether be it AIA or Prudential
people have talked about A, B joining Boss X which is reputed to be good, doesn't mean that A will perform equally as well as B under Boss X
people have talked about D, E joining Boss Y which is an average performing boss, doesn't mean that Boss Y cannot lead D, E to become successful top-notch FPs in the future
it's more of the "click" between a particular FP with the manager of whatever agency of whatever company and also the FP's own hard work and effort put in
insurance is not an easy career for a newbie. you need to build up your clientle in your first few years and in this period, you will get a lot of rejections and setback and probably little pay. if you do well after these first few years, then likelyhood you will continue.
now not the good time to sell insurance
anyway insurance is all about selling the policies to your family and relatives first and then friends and former colleagues. then after that referrals. if you want to work harder, stand at the bus stops, mrt stations and shopping malls, or try cold calling.
if you know your officers well in your army camp, go and give them a talk there to NSF lol.
some successful agents i know started fromthe cold market. It's only after a few years that their friends and family approaches them for planning.
ya lor i also donno what to do sia. been to job fair. thinking of joining financial alliance.
Originally posted by Fantagf:now not the good time to sell insurance
lol. do u find agents irritating eh, especially when they stand at mrt and stop you to try to talk to you when they see you, or you received a call during the day from an agent, wanting to talk to you on insurance polices.
last week or so, received a call from a young ger from AIA during the day, told her straight I am not interested and she said ok thank you. I felt bad rejecting her so upfront.
Alright guys! i am a financial planner with financial alliance. if u could use my services just drop me a pm.
i just joined Prudential and i have a very good kind manager. not bad at this time.
bladez87- how long did u get your licence?
Originally posted by Rooney9:lol. do u find agents irritating eh, especially when they stand at mrt and stop you to try to talk to you when they see you, or you received a call during the day from an agent, wanting to talk to you on insurance polices.
last week or so, received a call from a young ger from AIA during the day, told her straight I am not interested and she said ok thank you. I felt bad rejecting her so upfront.
Those are mainly Pru or other bank/insurance agents..I would say mainly Pru. Yes, they will tap your shoulders, etc..after you walk far away..they still call you. Sometimes I want to slap the gal.
Because they were very rude.
Anyway IFA are prohibited from doing MRT and some other things that insurance agents do, because they want to uphold certain image.
IFA are not insurance agents, it is more than insurance planning. It is financial planning, wealth management or whatever you want to call it. If the IFA agent is only interested in selling you an insurance policy, maybe you got a lemon. Then again it is a two way process. If you are not upfront with your situation or needs, then the other party cannot do a proper job.
It is better to consult an IFA even for your insurance needs as the person can "mix and match" to fit your needs and budgets. Can an insurance agent do that? But more importantly, everything boils down to what do you want to do with your life and goal. Money is just a means to get there (one of the most likely). Where do you plan for yourself in 5, 10 , 20 years?
There must be a goal in financial planning, and you are willing and commited to the goal with your advisers. And also you must have the options to choose from a wide range of products and services to fit your needs (or future needs - married, kids, new job, etc)
Hope that helps
Dude, whatever the case is, whether you're joining IFA or Insurance Company, pay special attention to the agency culture as well as your direct manager. These are the 2 main factors which in turn will decide your survivability in this industry. Of cos, not forgetting that your willingness to learn and hard work. It's like putting your endurance level into test. Dont bother comparing products since competition is intense in this industry, do you think company would just sit back and relax and not do anything to gain market share? Every company has their pros and cons. It's just how you position yourself and the products. Just my 2 cents worth. Btw, i'm used to be in this industry so you can PM me if you wanna find out more.
Originally posted by direngrey06:Dude, whatever the case is, whether you're joining IFA or Insurance Company, pay special attention to the agency culture as well as your direct manager. These are the 2 main factors which in turn will decide your survivability in this industry. Of cos, not forgetting that your willingness to learn and hard work. It's like putting your endurance level into test. Dont bother comparing products since competition is intense in this industry, do you think company would just sit back and relax and not do anything to gain market share? Every company has their pros and cons. It's just how you position yourself and the products. Just my 2 cents worth. Btw, i'm used to be in this industry so you can PM me if you wanna find out more.
used to be agent? how come? dun earn enuff or switch career?
internal conflicts. earning pretty good. was a tough decision to switch out...
Actually it's better to do your own financial planning...
I had a fren who attempted to be a financial planner. This fren was understudying someone at the firm, and asked the person to come to help explain the policies. I gave face because fren mah...
At the end of the session, I was rather aghast at the amount of ignorance and the attempted misleading statements made (ok, to me was misleading). This supposedly experienced person was trying to sell some fund, claiming the worst was over (that was in early 2008). He also claimed he could read the charts, and will advise when it's time to buy or sell, so that one could earn the maximum possible. Just switch in and out, and switching like this no need to pay management fees, he said.
The fund he was trying to sell was some india fund. At that time, I noticed what was commonly known in technical analysis as a double top forming in the bombay index. So didn't buy any fund. But my fren bought into the fund.... Indeed, the index (and the fund) dropped a lot from then on... till now haven't recover back to that price... whereas I've already profitted quite a bit from the mkt...
In the end, my fren quitted being a financial planner.
Ok enough ranting...
haha. ya investment quite hard. i originally wanted to do investments only, but figured the stress is not worth the money, better to help someone plan for the future only, and let them do their own investments. will offer advice or recommendations from company, but decision up to them. i dont want be liable for the loss they make if they do invest in the funds. cannot live with the guilt of having someone else lose money cause of what i say.
Originally posted by eagle:Actually it's better to do your own financial planning...
I had a fren who attempted to be a financial planner. This fren was understudying someone at the firm, and asked the person to come to help explain the policies. I gave face because fren mah...
At the end of the session, I was rather aghast at the amount of ignorance and the attempted misleading statements made (ok, to me was misleading). This supposedly experienced person was trying to sell some fund, claiming the worst was over (that was in early 2008). He also claimed he could read the charts, and will advise when it's time to buy or sell, so that one could earn the maximum possible. Just switch in and out, and switching like this no need to pay management fees, he said.
The fund he was trying to sell was some india fund. At that time, I noticed what was commonly known in technical analysis as a double top forming in the bombay index. So didn't buy any fund. But my fren bought into the fund.... Indeed, the index (and the fund) dropped a lot from then on... till now haven't recover back to that price... whereas I've already profitted quite a bit from the mkt...
In the end, my fren quitted being a financial planner.
Ok enough ranting...
I agreed. Lots, and I really mean lots of financial planners, be it from tied agencies or IFAs claimed to be good in investment, funds, many years experience etc. But ask them a bit more, even on their basic company fund prospectus, they don't know a dime. Many don't do other forms of investing personally into the stockmarket/property etc. Yet they claim they are experts and can help u to manage your investment portfolio.
I fully agree eagle with the misleading statements agents frequently used. MAS call for increase standards in transparency and education of the agents, be it from tied, IFAs or banks. But the truth is, everything in sales is about meeting targets. The agent can say this say that when presenting to you, but end of the day, something goes wrong, the agent got his ass covered by all the T&Cs. What can the poor average consumer do?
which is why, investment is still best done by yourself. so if anything goes wrong, u cant blame others. if u wanna trust the advisor, then u cannot blame him, cause you did trust him. just like you trust yourself. by blaming him, you are only sparing yourself the guilt of losing your own money, not realising that you are the one who gave him the trust to help u invest with the risk of losing it.
IF the agent is not covered by T&C, then everytime the market crashes, all the agents can go commit suicide liao. meaning every 7 years or so a mass genocide will happen. cannot be what. no matter what he say, the decision still lies with you, just like you making the decision to buy stocks on yourself. your friend claims to give u insider info, you also make the decision whether to trust your friend's insider info and not go "o my friend say is insider so i can trust him". no right? u still think and decide for yourself. at the end of the day, if the counter loses money, do you blame your friend? or do u blame yourself for listening to your friend?
i donno what other agents are doing, but i am doing this for my interest, probably until my savings run out then i go find another job. well dont want regrets in life right? haha. investment still best handled by yourself. but if you choose to depend on your agent, do not blame him if the fund does not perform. your decision your choice.
cant imagine the stress an agent goes thru if all his clients blame him because of a market crash. if there is such a thing as guaranteed profit, then agents no need to work liao, they just invest on their own and reap the rewards.
I do hope investments and insurance are separate entities. investments is not something easy to understand and invest in. in a bull run, everything just falls into place and you wait to collect your dividends and capital appreciation? what about when in a bear market, where every shares dropped to the south.
buffet once said, those structured linked products are like financial weapons of mass destruction. how true his words rang, when lehman brothers structured linked products collapsed into a heap. these products are difficult to fathom and he himself also dun quite understand the complexities of these products, considering he is a market guru and been investing for the most part of his adult life. what about people who have no inkling of what these products entailed. even professionals have difficulty understanding them, what about lay people or the man in the street who are not even working in the industry.
the maxim is, do not invest in anything you do not understand. no matter what your agent or anyone says.
Heyhi!
Joining insurance is really about ur passion in it. Alot of agents come and go. We pple dont born with the abilities to handle rejections and in insurance we face many ups and downs.
And that is why your manager/director, or direct in charge have to be good and constantly motivating you and help you whenever you are in need. Joining a good agency is definitely important.
I am with great eastern, when i first join, even my family asked me why, it's tough it's tough. But thinking back what's not tough? Insurance is more of suffer now enjoy later and when one day u decide you rest for 3 months u still have income for you to survive. How much hardwork u put in, ur returns will show.
It's a survival challenge career, it tests ur tolerance and survival skills. Will u give up easily. When u think it's tough, there are tougher out there.
You plan for ur clients or plan for ur commission. Clients go for service and how much are u willing to service them? :)
I am 21 this year :)