The 19-page guide takes readers through the basics of ILAS products, and explains how they fit into an "overall financial plan".
It also includes a section about the regulatory measures that have been introduced recently aimed at protecting investors, explaining how they "must be authorised by the Securities & Futures Commission before they can be offered to the public in Hong Kong" unless an exemption applies, and how those selling or advising on insurance products "are required to be appointed insurance agents or authorised insurance brokers".
There are several pages which feature cartoon-like photographs of an agent explaining an ILAS product to a client (see below).
Recent regulatory measures, such as the introduction of something called an Important Facts Statement, or IFS, are also explained, and there is information on how to launch a complaint.
The online publication of the guide comes in the wake of negative publicity about the mis-selling of ILAS products, and as some major sellers of them, such as Hong Kong’s banks, have, as reported, begun to turn away from them, following the introduction of more onerous compliance rules and commission disclosure requirements. ILAS industry executives counter that the negative coverage is causing some investors to miss out on products that would be ideally-suited to their needs.
The Investor Education Centre was launched in November, with support of the SFC, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. It is run by a seven-member executive committee chaired by Leonard Cheng Kowok-hon, recently appointed president of Hong Kong’s Lingnan University.
To read and download a copy of the new ILAS guide, Understand Investment-linked Assurance Schemes and the New Regulatory Measures, click here.
