Will Singapore ever shift away from a commission-based model for financial advisors?

Hi Yao,

The non-commission, fully salaried model for advisors has been a growing trend in the insurance industry. Such a concept has been proven popular in many western countries such as America and Canada, where a growing number of insurtechs are adopting such an approach. Even in Singapore, we have seen some companies pivoted from the commission-based model. The main attraction of such a non-commission model is the presumption that financial advisors will have the best interest of the consumers as there are no external influences.

While PolicyPal is currently using a commission-based model, we have implemented several measures to ensure the interests of the consumers always come first. Our financial advisors are also constantly reminded that the interest of the consumers should be their paramount concern.

One of such measures is making our pricing more transparent. Traditionally, the commission model has been a highly sensitive topic in the industry. However, at PolicyPal, we strongly believe in being transparent to our users. Hence, we decided to share key information and breakdown the components of what you pay, where it goes to, and how much we make from each transaction. By making these transparent, our users will have a clear understanding of who and where their premium goes to. As a small gesture to thank our users, we also provide a small rebate when they buy their policies through us.

At PolicyPal, our mission is to help our users make the right choice for their protection needs and provide affordable financial products to them. Thus, while we are happy with the effectiveness of the current model, we will constantly evaluate our current measures and looking at how we can best serve our users.​​​

Unlikely, imo. Unless the contract with the FA guarantees a fixed monthly wage with certain minimum sales target and the insurance company provides them with leads, just like how Relationship Managers (RM) in banks work.

But even RM at banks have commission/bonus structure within their pay so unlikely that it will be a 100% fixed pay kind of job. Also, consumers-wise, I don't think they are ready nor open to pay per hour for financial advice.