asian and indian clients catered for

The suite, which is available now, is comprised of two regular savings plans – entitled Regular Savings Plan Classic and Regular Savings Plan Wealth – as well as a single-premium, or “lump sum” product, known simply as the Investment Plan.

All three are available in a range of currency denominations, including Singapore, US and Australian dollars; pounds sterling; euros; and Japanese yen.

Neal Armstrong, chief executive and principal officer of Standard Life in Singapore, said the products differ from anything currently on offer in Singapore’s so-called defined market segment insurance sector, a category of life insurers which focus mainly on high net worth individuals (HNWIs) with long-term investment types of products.

In addition to marketing all three savings and investment plans with separate brochures aimed at the three target markets – that is, Chinese, Indian and English-speaking expatriates – Standard Life has assembled a universe of some 155 funds from a range of fund houses that clients may include in their investment packages, Armstrong added.

This, he noted, is different from many other Singapore providers, which he said tend to make use of mirror fund structures, and may involve added charges.

Another unique feature is an app that will permit customers to access their plans on their iPhones and iPads.

“Singapore is a key market in our long term growth strategy for the region, and we are committed to bringing a strong and differentiated proposition to the market,” Armstrong  said.

“We are confident that the three products we have chosen to launch will fill what we believe is a savings and investment gap in the Singapore market.

“Our savings and investment plans have been tailored specifically for high-net worth Singaporean residents and expatriates [who require] accessible and flexible saving options that can be easily customised to match the requirements of their international relocation needs, but also reflect the implications of their wider estate, home tax and succession planning.”

As reported in October, Standard Life launched its first-ever Singapore outpost last year with a nine-strong team, which will target intermediaries, such as financial advisers and bank distributors, in the region.

Armstrong came to Standard Life last March from one of its defined market segment rivals, Zurich International, where he was a director and principal officer of its Singapore operation. Between 2010 and 2012 he was also deputy president of the Singapore Life Insurance Association, the city-state’s insurance industry trade association, which marked its 50th anniversary last year.

‘For as little as $420 a month’

Although Singappore’s defined market insurance segment is known for catering to HNWIs, at least two of the plans Standard Life is launching into the market – the regular premium ones – are described as offering clients with as little as $420 (S$670) a month to spend a chance to "start" a regular saving regime.

The single-premium Investment Plan, meanwhile, requires an initial lump sum investment of at least $50,000.

Since last year, all investment plans written by the defined market segment insurers in Singapore are required to stipulate a minimum contractual investment amount of $50,000, so that anyone taking out a plan that involved annual contributions of just $5,000 would be obliged to commit to a 10-year term.

Flexible design

Standard Life’s unveiling of its Singapore product range today comes as much of Singapore’s financial services industry awaits the imminent release of proposed changes to the rules governing the way financial services advice and products are sold in Singapore.

Last Friday, the Straits Times reported that the recommendations of the so-called Financial Advisory Industry Review (FAIR)  could be unveiled “as soon as next week”.

Knowing that the regulations could change after it launched its products meant that Standard Life had to design them in such a way that they could be easily adjusted to accommodate such changes, Armstrong said.

He noted that the company had been able to draw on its experience in the UK, where it was “the first insurer to come out with an RDR-ready proposition”. And at this point, Armstrong said, Standard Life is reasonably confident that its products will be able to adjust to pretty much any changes to the regulations the FAIR Review panel is likely to introduce.

“It depends on what comes out, of course, but we’ve built flexibility into our proposition,” he said.

Even if commission payments are banned outright by the FAIR Review – something many Singapore market observers are sceptical will happen, even though the UK opted for this approach with RDR, which took effect on 1 Jan –  Armstrong said Standard Life has “the experience and resources to bring out other products".

To view the product factsheet of the Regular Savings Plan Classic, click here; the Regular Savings Plan Wealth, click here; the Investment Plan, click here. To see the list of funds currently approved for use in the new Standard Life Singapore investment product range, click here.

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