By: Adrian Khiat I had the opportunity to rub shoulders with many knowledgeable and qualified Financial Planners during my CFP course, financial seminars as well as fund managers updates etc. I also like to visit blogs of fellow planners and financial forums to understand how they conduct their businesses. I believe that many of them have the knowledge, qualities and ethnics to be a true Financial Planner. I even considered some to be specialist in their own field. I have a lot of respect for them and I enjoyed walking alongside these advisers. However, I am always confused whether we are wearing a Consultant hat or a Sales hat. If we are really wearing a Consultant hat, then people should be paying us for consulting us. If we are wearing a Sales hat, then we should not be bothered in giving consultancy services. I met some of my ex-colleagues recently and I saw them holding on to a pile of policies and bags of gifts for the purchase of these policies. Inevitably, in my mind, I was wondering what hat were they wearing? Did these people buy for the gift or buy for the needs. Did these people buy after a proper fact-finding? Read more...