Do not take for granted that your licensed and "independent" adviser will always look after your interest. Ask your adviser to provide a comprehensive service other than those defined by regulation. Read the article HERE on what Wilfred Ling has to say about the subject matter.
Estate Planning - Wills (update 2)
We have acquired the services of a lawyer to help my clients draft a simple Will. I will announce the cost of doing so soon. It will be extremely cost competitive for existing clients on our Retainer service. Those who wants to know the difference between a deceased person having no Will the one that has a Will can look at this FAQ from HERE
Launch of TM Peace of Mind (CancerCare) (updated 2)
Today, TM Asia Life launch a new product called TM Peace of Mind (CancerCare). The plan offers to pay out on diagnosis of an "early stage" cancer. The product summaries for male and female can be downloaded HERE and HERE respectively. Existing TM Asia Life customers can get 5% discount on the premium (throughout the premium term) and 10% of if purchase of the CancerCare is done concurrently with another TM Asia Life series policy. In my preliminary reading, I got a shock to notice that female pay 45% more than male! This is my commentary on this new product (login required, clients only): Read More
What is sustainable investing and how is it different from SRI?
What is sustainable investing and how is it different from ethical or socially responsible investing? -- What asset classes are covered by sustainable investing? -- What are some of the challenges and opportunities facing sustainable investing?
When reading financial statements from companies, it is important to look out for clever accounting and manipulation. While not all manipulation can be detected by looking at Income and Balance sheet, many manipulations can be detected through the trained eye. For this short article, I will mention about one "clever" accounting technique call the Phantom Profit through the use of LIFO Liquidation. The article can be read HERE (login required, for clients only).
Structured product usually provide some form of capital protection with the potential of upside. It is usually require the client to hold on to the investment for certain number of years. At maturity, the principle is returned. An additional bonus is provided if the underlying investments meet certain target. A structured product in reality invests in derivatives. Here is an illustration of how this work:
Do not take for granted that your licensed and "independent" adviser will always look after your interest. Ask your adviser to provide a comprehensive service other than those defined by regulation. Read the article