Life policy offered … again
Standard Chartered makes more effort to understand shopper's needs, but yet again life insurance is offered
In the latest round of our mystery shopping exercise, the visited Standard Chartered to test the quality of the financial advice offered to customers.
The reporter posed as a 37-year-old mother of two who wanted to invest HK$10,000 a month into a pension.
The adviser started off with a general chat about what the mystery shopper was saving for, when she wanted to retire, how long she planned to pay into her plan for and what her monthly budget for saving was. She did not take notes.
The adviser asked how long the shopper planned to stay in Hong Kong. Her answer was at least five years, but that she was unsure of her plans beyond that. The adviser then suggested she opt for a plan with no redemption penalties after the first five years. She asked if the shopper had children, and if she had a savings plan for them.
The adviser said that some of the products offered by Standard Chartered were provided by Prudential. She was keen to talk about a promotion they had with Prudential that involved a free pen with any life insurance plan bought. She then took the shopper to see a Prudential representative without conducting any needs analysis or risk assessment.
Standard Chartered did not carry out a risk assessment but did show the shopper the questionnaire, which consisted of eight questions covering disposable income, attitude to volatility, liquidity needs and previous investment experience.
