Insurance industry donates $100,000 to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund

The insurance industry is donating $100,000 to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund as it moves to give back to the community.

The Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore (Ifpas) Alliance will also conduct a five-week money management course, on a pro bono basis, to about 25 of the students who are receiving the donations.

After the first run of the course, the organisation will finetune it and extend it to more students, it said on Wednesday.

Ifpas Alliance a group representing 15,000 insurance agents and financial services practitioners.

These moves will not only benefit the recipients of its aid but also help to improve the industry's image, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore's assistant managing director of capital markets, Mr Lee Chuan Teck.

The image of the industry has been tarnished in the past few years by stories of errant agents and 'over-commercialisation', such as the publication of big advertisements about the million dollar roundtable - an elite club consisting of top life insurance agents, he noted.

"There is a need to rebuild this trust and enhance the image of the industry and Fincare is a step in the right direction," Mr Lee said.

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