76 Great Eastern financial representatives achieve the highly sought-after HNW Certification

Seventy-six financial representatives from Great Eastern were among 150 of their peers across Singapore’s financial advisory community who were formally recognised at the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore (IFPAS) 2023 High Net Worth (HNW) Certification Graduation Ceremony on 28 July 2023.

This makes Great Eastern the insurer with the most individual employees earning the Certified HNW Adviser designation in the 2023 cohort.

The achievement of the HNW Certification by its financial representatives is a key element of Great Eastern’s distribution learning and development strategy to deliver best-in-class competency and skills training with a focus on partnerships with specialised financial advisers.

Commitment to higher professional standards

Mr. Patrick Peck, Managing Director, Regional Agency/ Financial Advisory and Bancassurance at Great Eastern, has been an advocate for building a strong upskilling culture to drive better customer centricity and financial advisory to equip Great Eastern’s financial representatives to best serve the needs of HNW customers in Singapore and Asia.

“The commitment to higher professional standards of our adviser networks was a key element of Great Eastern winning the Education Insurance Initiative of the Year (Singapore) at the Insurance Asia Awards consecutively in 2022 and 2023,” he said.

The HNW Certification is delivered by IFPAS in partnership with its international education partner Kaplan Professional Australia. The programme fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills of advisers to help them to design and implement wealth management and insurance strategies for the HNW sector.

Mr. Sim Willing, President of IFPAS, has observed the accelerated adoption of the HNW Certification.

“While the HNW Certification has always received terrific support from IFPAS members, financial institution partners like Great Eastern are beginning to embrace the HNW Certification within their learning and development frameworks,” he said.

 Positively shift consumer perceptions of financial advice

Mr. Brian Knight, Chief Executive Officer at Kaplan Professional Australia, said the HNW Certification was surging in popularity and this demand had been driven by several factors.

“The HNW Certification is accredited Level 2 and Level 3 by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) under the Skills Framework for Financial Services, which means it is purpose-built for experienced financial practitioners who wish to further their career as a recognised Senior Financial Planner within the IBF Skills Framework.

“Advisers who have completed the HNW Certification are utilising what they have learned to unlock future opportunities within Singapore and Asia’s rapidly expanding HNW sector to enhance their client value propositions and grow their advisory businesses.

“As an educator, we measure the success of the HNW Certification on not only the acquisition of knowledge and skills, but how these are practically applied by advisers to positively shift consumer perceptions of financial advice,” he said.

The next public intake for Subject 1 (Private Wealth and Family Office: Environment, Trends and Client Focus) of the HNW Certification commences on 21 August.

Learn more about IFPAS and the HNW Certification.

About the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore

Since 1969, the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore (IFPAS) has been the leading professional association for financial advisers. It represents the interests of its members on legislative, regulatory and policy-related matters. Its role is to advocate, innovate and inspire on behalf of its members to advance the financial advice profession’s social contribution and positively shape consumers’ perceptions of the financial services industry.

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