FINANCIAL advisers contracted to sell products from a specific insurance company or financial institution – or so-called tied agents – can now tap into a product-agnostic shared services hub to establish their own firms.
This comes as home-grown financial services company Singlife on Thursday (Jan 2) officially launched its Propel with Singlife platform.
The platform allows advisers to sell products from any provider, without the obligation to sell Singlife products.
It also provides financial advisory firms with an integrated digital and administrative solution, offering scalable middle and back-office support.
Singlife said that it found in a survey of 102 tied agents from May to June 2024 that while many aspire to become entrepreneurs, they face significant challenges in making the transition.
These challenges include a lack of robust back and middle-office support from their current employers, which they consider critical to their operations, as well as inefficient software systems for processing functions.
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Propel with Singlife addresses these issues with an all-in-one platform for tasks such as an electronic financial needs analysis, client onboarding and commission tracking.
It also offers support from a team of nearly 100 professionals with extensive experience in financial services.
Steven Ong, CEO of Propel with Singlife, said: “Our mission is to revolutionise the way self-employed financial advisers run their businesses by providing them with best-in-class support, thus enabling them to thrive in a competitive market.”
Growing insurance demand
Since its incorporation in September 2023, Propel with Singlife has onboarded over 230 advisers from seven financial advisory firms. It expects to cross the 1,000 advisers mark in the coming months, with a target of surpassing 3,000 advisers and 20 financial advisory firms by 2029.
Singlife, meanwhile, expects to naturally capture a share of business generated by the new financial advisory firms that Propel with Singlife serves, and foresees the business to contribute to growing its overall sales.
The growing demand for insurance presents financial advisers with opportunities to narrow protection gaps.
The Life Insurance Association of Singapore, or LIA Singapore, reported S$4.3 billion in weighted new business premiums for the first three quarters of 2024, a 23.5 per cent increase compared with the previous year.
Singlife forecasts that financial advisers will become Singapore’s main distribution channel, driven by consumer preference for options, with annual growth expected at 13 per cent over the next few years.
Pearlyn Phau, group chief executive officer of Singlife, noted: “Propel with Singlife reflects our vision of open architecture and our commitment to finding a better way to help Singaporeans achieve financial freedom. By enabling advisers to operate outside tied channels and deliver tailored, unbiased advice, we’re driving a more dynamic, transparent and customer-focused industry that benefits everyone.”
