Emphasising Agency Force in Insurers

I would hate to be a Manulife financial advisor.  If Manulife plans can be bought through financial advisors at DBS through a tie-up, it means Manulife Singapore have basically undermined their own agency force.  This would likely cause some of their better financial advisors to leave, further affecting market share. 

Unlike some other countries, the insurance industry in Singapore is driven largely by tied agencies, as opposed to brokers.  The emphasis on the industry is not lowest overall cost, but greatest customer intimacy.  It is customer intimacy that grants access to more affluent markets, not cost.  The more assets a client has, the more the client has to lose.  It is about recommending specific products and structuring the portfolio to serve client needs.  In that sense, it would be better to spend money developing the agency force, and upgrading their skills and capabilities.  We are long past the era of insurance salesmen, pushing products.  A financial services consultant is providing a service, insurance policies are financial instruments, and risk mitigation and insurance coverage is a major part of every portfolio.