14 Questions Personal Bankers Get Daily

Banking starts with deposits and that’s where savings and emergency funds are placed in.  For a long time, interest rates had been low in Singapore, so every little penny counts.

Interest Rate History 1985 to 2015

It’s always great to ask for promotional rates.  Except if you are in retail banking, you may be headed to answer the same question more than a hundred times a day.  And if you can still do it with a smile on your face.

There’s always bad experiences in investments:

• Technology Bust in 2000
• Global Financial Crisis 2008
• Bad Bets in Foreign Exchange
• Minimal or low returns from Structured Products
• Losses in Convertible Structured Products

Customers expect investments to be positive once they go in, in a few months or in a few years.  They didn’t invest to be negative.  If a Japanese investor had invested into the stock market in the early 1990s, for more than 20 years, it would had been negative or zero returns.

And sometimes, customers remember only the bad trades or take profits on good trades, leaving with only bad investments.

It is a question logical to ask.  Isn’t it?  Why was this recommended in the first place?  And there is also the historically perceived bad practice of “churning” to generate more revenue & commission.

• Average Turnover rate of Personal Banker is 9 Months
• Average Turnover rate of Priority Banker is 21 Months

Customers think that when they meet a wealth manager or an investment expert, they are waiting to earn easy money and good returns while sitting back and enjoy the sunrise and sunset.

Maybe they just expect a little better than market return from your bank’s expertise.  There are 14 Retails Banks, 47 Private Banks, 26 Leading Fund House and more than 80,000 financial advisors in Singapore, so it is pretty difficult to beat the competition when there’s so many bright guys in the industry.

Online platforms offer investment products at a much lower price.  It is always a great question to ask where is the value-add or if the price difference justify the value-add.

Though it is very clear.  The obvious difference is a dedicated personalised wealth manager talking to them and a web page.

Customers think:

1. If you earn commission, you may be recommending the product because of the commission.

2. But if you earn commission, you now have the fiduciary duty to look after the investments.

3. Sometimes, just curious.

Unit Trust was first introduced in the late 1990s, and shortly the 1997 financial crisis and the technology bust of 2000 wiped out as much as 90%.  The initial sales charge of 3% to 5% increased the distrust of Unit Trust.  Why pay so much fees when it is not performing.  Yes, and there is the buried 1.5% p.a. to 2% p.a. management fees.

Insurance are often marketed by insurance co. and agencies.  Customers are always puzzled why the bank needs to sell insurance, sometimes thinking if the bank does not have enough business.

Imagine your hard earned money being locked up for 5 years, and when you need it, you can’t tap onto the funds.  Investors prefer to have funds where they can withdraw anytime, for any big decisions in life such as buying a house, a car, or funding children’s education.

One of the most frustrating question, but who doesn’t want to pay $300 and get upgraded onto a business class seat.  A great chance to show your knowledge in risks against returns analysis.

Everyone loves free gift.  Banks used to give umbrellas and mugs pre-2000.  Post-2000, phones, tablets, travelling and shopping vouchers made their way into the gift-lists, with investments made.