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).
