The Singapore Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC) has published a report on the improvement of culture and conduct standards for financial advisers and advisory firms in the Lion City.
This is the third paper on the topic focusing on people, performance and processes, while the first two released in March 2022 focused on human resources and corporate governance.
The latest report for life intermediaries aims to “enhance the quality of the financial advisory service sector” through the improvement of financial adviser representatives and firms’ practices.
The paper sets out that advisers and firms should provide:
- Guidance on the role of supervisors in setting the right tone from the top to ensure accountability from leadership, and to make sure that sales and revenue growth are not the only priorities;
- Best practices on establishing key performance measures that effectively encourage representatives to provide customers with high quality advisory services; and
- Collaboration on enhanced disclosures to customers and information sharing between insurers and non-tied financial advisory firms to align and protect customers’ interests through regular engagement and dialogues.
Khoo Kah Siang, chairperson of the ICCSC, said: “This is an extension of the first two papers with a specific focus on intermediaries within the life insurance eco-system – from financial adviser representatives to financial adviser firms.
“Our aim is to enhance professionalism within the industry more consistently and elevate the standard of care for customers in the advisory process.”
