The recent uproar over the alleged mis-selling of structured notes vindicated my fears in the blog Worry for heartland uncles and aunties. Stores of how retirees lost their life savings and how their children were were saddened by the fears and resentment that their parents go through are everywhere. Some RMs complained [...]
Articles tagged with: Mis-selling
Written By: Tiang Chuan on October 1, 2008
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The following is a letter to The Straits Times Online Forum on 1st October.
Consumers should understand the immense pressure we are facing
I REFER to the current market situation of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy which led to the DBS High Notes burst recently. I am a personal financial consultant [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 30, 2008
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My client ask me about a mid term savings plan that gives a impressive return (considering the current low interest bear market). She was introduced to the plan by a bank Relationship Manager (RM) when she wanted a fixed deposit. This is how the RM illustrated the plans to her:
Interest in saving account [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 28, 2008
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The Sunday Times did a special report on Relationship Mangers (RM) titled “How pushy can they get” in the midst of the current uproar over the alleged mis-selling of structured notes. In the report published today (28th Sept) were interviews with angry customers, ex and current RMs, various banks and a ‘undercover operation” using [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 27, 2008
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The financial authority here in Singapore certainty has its work cut out in the recent chain of financial events that has griped investors and distributors alike. Right before the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers, there was the tighten and introduction of more checks in regards to the churning problem. Not long after that came the worry over AIA’s [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 19, 2008
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The recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent troubles facing its brilliantly named Minibonds shock many investors who though that they had bought real bonds and not some complicated structured products. Some of these structured products have even been sold as fixed deposits. Financial institutions, greedy for the investors’ dollar, mis-sold them to thousands [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 14, 2008
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In the course of doing insurance summary and review, I have come across many Investment-Linked-Policies (ILP) in client’s insurance portfolio. How they came into getting ILP is another story altogether. What troubles and baffles me is how the investment portfolio is constructed.
The vast majority of ILPs are heavily or totally invested [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on September 5, 2008
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The title of an article in the Money section of today’s edition of The Straits Times screamed “Investors burnt by hot ‘sure-bets’“. Some of the most sought-after fund categories in Asians equities last year are now among its worst performers this year. Funds invested in Asia ex-Japan lost as much as 44.6% over [...]
Written By: Tiang Chuan on August 13, 2008
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The Shanghai Composite Index broke below 2500 on Monday (11 Aug 08). This is 60% down from the historical high set in October last year. How different a few months make. The China market has transformed from the best performer last year to the worst year to date. The commodites market has also [...]