I got a call from someone who was enquiring about certain products which I wrote about in a magazine.

Later on in the conversation, it occurs to me that the caller did not understand what is my occupation all about. She asked:

Then she asked: “Are you a [stock] broker?” (Of course no!)

Well, I think I can imagine in her mind this question: “What the h*** is this guy over the phone working as?”  

Personally I find this no laughing matter. I am afraid that a great majority of the population in Singapore who has transacted financial products have done so either through the banks or insurance companies. From the last statistic that I recall, only less then 10% of the transaction is done through the IFA channels. This shows that a lot of people are not aware of the advantages of going through IFAs.