Nearly 50% of UAE advisers ‘anxious’ about new rules

Almost half of UAE advisers admit to anxiety about new rules that will affect how they operate and say that they “need to change now” to be ready for them, according to a survey into forthcoming regulations conducted by Zurich Middle East.

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More than 150 key distribution partners of the insurance company who attended a training event were asked about how they think new regulations that are designed to increase cost transparency and improve customer outcomes will affect the UAE marketplace and whether they were supportive of the changes.

Zurich said 55% of those surveyed were optimistic about regulatory changes and 45% were “anxious” about them. A small number said they had “real apprehensions” about the rule changes.

Of the distributor business owners who attended a ‘Business Breakfast’ event at which the regulations were discussed, 43% said a key message they would take away was that “I need to change now” to be ready for the imposition of the tougher regulations designed to protect consumers .

Education and support

Respondents identified education and support from Zurich as being key to helping them navigate the new regulatory landscape. Respectively, some 47% and 24% said training in regulatory transition and soft skills would be essential to them, and they viewed Zurich as a source of such training, while half said they would benefit from financial education from Zurich’s asset management partners.

Among distributor business owners, more than three quarters said the new regulations would affect their recruitment policies and Zurich said: “all attendees were aligned that training and certification are the highest priority for their businesses,”. Business owners identified training and certification as an area where they expected most support from insurers.

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