New Office
Aviva Starts Financial Advisor Business In Singapore
Starting with around 280 advisors, Aviva's new offering takes wing in Singapore at a time when the market for such services is expanding.
Aviva, the UK-listed
financial services group operating in centres such as Singapore,
has launched Aviva Financial Advisers in the Asian city-state. It
starts with around 280 financial advisors covering
topics such as life, health, general insurance and
investment products.
“We hope this move will provide the catalyst for the shift of
Singapore’s insurance industry towards more mature markets such
as the UK and Australia, where most financial advisors offer
solutions from multiple product providers. We believe customers
will benefit from greater options to meet their needs,” said
Nishit Majmudar, chief executive of Aviva Singapore.
“The launch of Aviva Financial Advisers marks an important
milestone for Aviva, and signals our strong conviction that the
Financial Advisory (FA) channel will dominate the future of
insurance. Among all distribution channels, FA firms are best
placed to deliver quality holistic financial planning services to
their customers,” he continued.
The financial advisory channel in Singapore is growing. At the
end of 2015 it had a market share among the overall sector of 20
per cent, while the tied agency channel fell from 68 per cent in
2006 to 39 per cent last year, Aviva Singapore said in a
statement.
Under Singapore’s Financial Advisory Industry Review (FAIR) range
of initiatives to improve price transparency and handle conflicts
of interest, financial institutions are responding to greater
appetite for advice, Aviva said. For example, the compareFIRST
web aggregator, launched last year, allows consumers to compare
features and premiums of similar life insurance products, offered
by different insurance companies. “The launch of Aviva
Financial Advisers is aligned with this initiative,” Aviva
said.
Aviva is parent of Friends
Provident International, a provider of wealth management
services that was recently interviewed by
WealthBriefingAsia (see
the article here).
