Buy Life Insurance Online

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has approved that basic life insurance products can be sold online by the middle of next year. The move, which will include a web aggregator, is a major change as financial advisers and insurance agents are the traditional model to buy life insurance.

In addition, agents' commissions are to be capped at 55% in the first year, with the rest spread over the next five years.

The revised remuneration framework is designed to make sure advice aligns the interests of the financial advisers with customers.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's decisions came as it responded to recommendations made by the Financial Advisory Industry Review made in January.

Lee Chuan Teck, assistant managing director for capital markets at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said, “This set of initiatives will transform the financial advisory industry by creating an environment where firms compete on the quality and value of their products and services rather than on the aggressiveness of their sales force. Consumers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this change. MAS will review these measures periodically to see if more needs to be done.”