A local insurer has launched a FA company that is a hybrid between a agency only model and the FA model. The new company, which targets the mass affluent, will offer life insurance from the insurer (with the exception of products from a foreign insurer), general insurance from multiple companies and unit trust from a local distributor. The insurer had a similar setup earlier but the FA company operates like other FAs with life insurance from different companies.

Will a model that offer life insurance of 1 company plus pure investment through a fund distributor work?

Another insurer had launched a fund platform earlier, offering their agents the chance to sell ‘pure investments’ through a zero coverage single-premium Investment-Linked-Plan (ILP). The platform has stop accepting new subscriptions recently.

A technology vendor told me that Singapore is unique in Asia for its wide-spread use of fund distributors by local IFAs. Advisers ...