SIEU and IFPAS Work Together to Give Financial Advisors Better Structured Workplace Support

Some 4,000 members of the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore (IFPAS) can now look forward to enjoying better structured support from the Labour Movement.

The support comes after the association signed an agreement on 6 December 2021 with the Singapore Insurance Employees’ Union (SIEU) to be recognised as a chapter partner.

NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat, and NTUC Membership Services Division Director Steve Tan witnessed the signing of the agreement between SIEU and IFPAS.

Under the SIEU-IFPAS Chapter Programme, members will benefit from work-related advisory and assistance, training and job placement services, and information sharing on the financial and insurance sector.

SIEU will also extend union memberships to all qualifying IFPAS members.

Additionally, the union and association will collaborate to co-create joint programmes and events to engage insurance and financial practitioners.

Addressing Members’ Concerns

According to IFPAS President Carlos Lee, the majority of financial advisors under the association are self-employed, and there is a gap when it comes to workplace assistance.

Mr Lee said that the association hopes the partnership with SIEU can help close the gap, mediate disputes, and resolve issues between financial advisors and principal companies.

He also believes that the partnership will help strengthen members’ collective voice to companies and relevant government agencies.

“While IFPAS aims to be the leading the voice of industry practitioners, there are still some professional areas where advisors need support, especially in terms of contractual obligations with the principal company and disputes.

“There is always the uncertainty as to who will look after the advisors should such issues arise, given the contractual agreement between the advisor and principal company,” said Mr Lee.

An Inclusive Labour Movement

At the NTUC Ordinary Delegates’ Conference in November 2021, NTUC and its affiliated unions reaffirmed their commitment to innovate their membership model to better serve more types of workers and help these workers achieve their aspirations and needs. This would include being a voice for the self-employed.

NTUC Central Committee Member and SIEU General Secretary Luke Hee said: “In the direction NTUC is going, we need to have the scale to represent as many workers as possible, and it just makes absolute sense to go in this direction – To work together to collaborate with the organisations within the industry and represent as many as we can, whether self-employed or employees.

“I think for the Labour Movement, for trade unions, we have always been the first if not the only one to organise workers, and I think a better organised effort between IFPAS and SIEU is something that I would like to see benefit the working people within this industry.”

Mr Hee added that the agreement with IFPAS also acts as a formalisation of SIEU’s ongoing work to assist self-employed financial advisors.

“Financial advisors sometimes have issues with the insurance companies, and they go to TADM [Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management] for mediation. However, many of these insurance companies are also unionised. We facilitate discussions and enable issues to be resolved at the lowest possible level and so far, we have been quite successful in being able to get them to resolve the issues so that it doesn't have to escalate to mediation or arbitration,” he said.

A Step in the Right Direction

NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and SIEU Advisor Patrick Tay called the partnership a step in the right direction as NTUC and its unions continue to champion workers’ rights and interests.

He added that the agreement between SIEU and IFPAS will give financial advisors better assistance at the workplace and access to NTUC’s resources for them to upskill and upgrade within the digital economy.

“Financial advisors are often exempted from privileges accorded to their peers in the wider banking and financial sector such as employee advisory, skills training, and other benefits … At the end of the day, we want to make a positive impact on our workers’ lives, including those of our financial advisors, and we need to start by giving them the right tools and environment to succeed.

“Both SIEU and IFPAS have immense experience in their respective areas and are strategically positioned to support our financial advisors. This is only the beginning of what we hope to be a win-win situation for all,” said Mr Tay.