Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Making reparations

Hi Mr. Tan,

After studying for some financial planning examination modules as well as reading up widely about financial planning, insurance and investments, I have come to realise that I have sold many products of poor value to my clients during the last almost two years I spent at an agency of a large insurance company.


Being naive and new to the industry back then, I readily accepted products such as anticipated endowment plans and regular-premium ILP life insurance as good and beneficial for my clients and myself. Like many of my colleagues, I trusted my manager and company to teach us the right thing.


It is only now that I realised that many of these products were taught to us based on half-truths, and in turn we recommended such products to our clients based on such half-truths. When I raised such issues to my colleagues and manager, they persisted in rhetoric that we were truly benefitting our clients with such products, and even that the half-truths were necessary for them to take up the beneficial plans. Later, possibly knowing that I know better, I was persuaded to leave which I was more than happy to do so as I could not continue to do things against my conscience. My colleagues are still spell-bound by their managers and perhaps the money and incentives they got from the sales of such products. I know them to be good-natured and well-meaning people, but alas I feel hurt to realise that many of them think that I'm just trying to create trouble when I tell them about the serious downsides of the products we were selling.


I feel very bad and guilty that many of my clients will be shortchanged as a result of such plans which neither insure them adequately nor prepare them for retirement. Insurance agents face a lot of rejection, and I feel that I have betrayed the trust of these people who were kind enough to give me a chance to handle their finances.


I am moving on to an ethical independent financial advisory firm where I feel I will be most able to give ethical and competent advice (low cost funds and term policies), but I still feel bad for the financial damage I have potentially caused to my clients. I feel that I should tell them the truth I have realised about the products they have taken up, but I worry about the potential repercussions I might face. While I feel that it is good for them to know as their policies are still young and still manageable, I think that many will misunderstand and think I am just trying to sell other products to them even though I can receive a good income by just remaining mum and collecting the trailing commissions.


I even feel inclined to refund them the full cost of the premiums they have paid, but I realised that while the remuneration for such products were good, I cannot possibly do this as a bulk of the premiums also go to other entities aside from the adviser, and I have to consider my own survival.


I sincerely wish to make up for the wrongs I have done. I hope you and your blog readers can give some suggestions and advice on how I can make reparations to my clients.


Many thanks.


7 comments:

  1. You need to gauge the character of your client. I know many people who are forgiving type and may in fact value a person willing to come clean and be honest with them.

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  2. What a refreshing change to come across an insurance agent that has
    integrity and a heart.
    All agents I come across just sell,
    dishing out incomplete info, sometimes concealing info, or running down their competitor's
    product to make theirs more appealing.
    Sorry, I could not offer suggestions, hope others could help.

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  3. You should campaign against these unethical salesmen and conmen and women to make amends for your past.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Be honest is the best answer. You might be scolded badly. But in the long run, you will sleep more soundly. If need to, you may provide new recommendation free of charge and/ discounted rate.

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  5. Once you became aware of the problem you changed your behaviour. Many people dont do this they make excuses for continuing to exploit people in self interest.

    You are a better person. Learn from the experience and move on and dont be weighed down by guilt.

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  6. Insurance salesmen don't . They get greedier. Whether the customers meet their goals or not is not their business so long they meet theirs, ie more commission.
    They have no conscience , how to feel guilty. Look at the way they push the products...they have no feeling for their clients.They just dump products that can make fat commission for themselves ..They dump limited payment wholeife, anticipated endowment, regular ILPs which are useless products that can NEVER meet ANYONE'S needs yet without batting an eyelid they con their customers into buying.These are despicable human beings, evil and ruthless without a thought for their fellow human beings.
    The ONLY way to change is MAS enforcing the laws stringently and police the industry, the agents and the insurers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi all, thanks for your replies.

    It appears to me that it is "legally wrong" for me to tell my clients the downsides of such products, even though it is ethically and morally right. This is largely because of the unfair contract which I signed to join the company in the first place.

    I feel exasperated and disillusioned.

    ReplyDelete