With the fiasco of people losing their hard earn money in seemingly “safe products,” right now is the finger pointing game. In the quest to satisfy customers’ complains, various stakeholders have to shoulder some of the blame. It is very easy for Relationship Managers in these institutions to say they have been pressured to sell. In the ST Online and Today’s forum (both letters are so similar which make me suspect it may not be genuine) two personal financial consultants said that their banks are pressuring them to sell. For these RMs, my advice to you is to get out of the bank quietly without pointing finger at your employer. Firstly you only have yourself to blame because this is the free world and hence the person who accepted the job is yourself. Secondly you can be sued for defamation. The onus is on you to proof that the employer employs unreasonable tactics to pressure you to sell. If you do manage to proof your case, you could end up in breach of confidentiality agreement. Either way – you could be sued for defamation or breach of confidentiality. To think about it, if $3000 bond is difficult to break, can you afford a lawyer fee 10 or 100 times as much?

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Many advisers join a finance firm purely based on the salary, bonus structure or commission banding. They just anyhow select based on the promising high income. However they fail to realise that not all company are equal. Some are more equal than others. For young advisers starting out their career, I suggest you look at the quality of the company first. Consider yourself whom you want to serve today and what kind of master you want.