SINGAPORE - NTUC Income is establishing a financial advisory (FA) subsidiary - Infinitum Financial Advisory, to be led by the insurer's head of agency Ronald Tan.
Despite being owned by Income, Infinitum will also sell other insurers' products and will not impose a minimum sales requirement on Income products, the insurer said in a statement.
The move follows Income's acquisition of Elpis Financial - a pioneer licensed financial advisory firm, and the acquisition of FA firm Financial Dynamics slated to be completed by end-July. Income did not comment on the cost of the acquisitions.
Following the acquisition, over 80 Elpis financial adviser representatives will join Infinitum, which will take over the management of Elpis's clients, products and services. Clients will continue to be served by their current FA representatives with no disruption or compromise in product and service options, Income said.
The same applies to Financial Dynamics once the acquisition has concluded. This will see 12 of its FA representatives joining Infinitum, it told The Business Times.
Through the acquisitions, Income is looking to leverage the firms' existing pool of FA representatives, clients, and products and services. In turn, Elpis and Financial Dynamics will benefit from Income's "strong market reputation, financial stability and high operational efficiency" for economies of scale.
On the decision to be a multi-product provider, Infinitum CEO Mr Tan said that such an approach would give Infinitum a "competitive edge" in the industry.
"By being 'non-tied', we believe it will motivate a sharper focus on needs-based financial solutions and drive a higher level of trust in Infinitum to fulfil one's financial needs," he added.
Income foresees Infinitum's business model becoming a "lever" for more attractive financial solutions and higher quality financial services as it levels the playing field for solutions providers.
Its portfolio of financial services and products will go beyond Income's to include products from other insurance providers, as well as a range of investment solutions found on wealth management platforms.
On top of leveraging Income's training and development programmes to aid their FA representatives' career and professional development, Infinitum will also be able to access Income's digitalisation road map.
"The intent is to have Infinitum's FA representatives contribute to the growing strength of Income's digital sales force - one that engages customers effectively and meaningfully in this digital age," Mr Tan added.
Income chief executive Andrew Yeo said the setting up of Infinitum is part of Income's strategy to extend its distribution footprint even as it sharpens its digital capabilities and offerings.
"Be it diversity in financial solutions or ways to engage with brands and organisations, customers today want choice and flexibility," Mr Yeo added.
