FANews
FANews
RELATED CATEGORIES

Message from Mike Jackson, chairman, LOA

18 August 2006 Mike Jackson

Following my opening address at the LOA Convention yesterday I have come to
realize that some delegates may have been left under the impression that I
was proposing that life insurers restructure their products in such a way
that financial advice becomes less essential.

I would like to state that I have always been a strong promoter of
intermediaries and the important role they play, as I clearly stated at the
recent Financial Planning Conference in front of 1 200 intermediaries. I
have not changed this view nor am I suggesting that the industry gets rid of
advisers. I also acknowledge that intermediaries play a critically important
role in getting the life industry's products to customers.

For the purposes of my presentation I differentiated between product advice
and financial planning. Perhaps I did not make this distinction clear
enough, and if this left room for misinterpretation I apologise for that.

I firmly believe that many of our life products are far too complex and
therefore require substantial product advice. If life companies simplified
their product offerings significantly, advisers could spend more time
focusing on valuable financial planning, goal setting and educating
consumers on the importance of saving. Less time would than have to be spent
on the arduous and costly task of trying to make sense of and comparing
complicated products.

The message that I had wanted to leave delegates with was that the life
industry needs to simplify products and distribution models, and that
legislation had to be simplified, with the aim of shifting the focus of
advice away from products and more towards the real needs of the consumer.

Quick Polls

QUESTION

South Africa’s economy is facing major policy and market challenges in 2025. As an adviser or broker, what concerns you the most?

ANSWER

Erosion of private property rights
Government interference in free trade
Inflation, administered prices
Weak growth, high debt
fanews magazine
FAnews February 2025 Get the latest issue of FAnews

This month's headlines

Unseen risks: insuring against the impact of AI gone wrong
Machine vs human: finding the balance
Is embedded insurance the end of traditional broker channels?
Client aspirations take centre stage as advisers rethink retirement planning
Maximise TFSA contributions before year-end
Subscribe now