A vibrant economy and growing demand for independent financial advice from local consumers made Singapore the ideal location for Middle East-based Nexus Group to launch its first venture into Asia, says chief executive Tarun Khanna.
The opportunity to take over around 160 tied agents working in the city state from Swiss-based Zurich Insurance made it possible for the plan to come to fruition, he says. “We had done a significant amount of research on this and filed an application with the MAS [Monetary Authority of Singapore]. Then we were presented with an oppNexus ortunity, as related to Zurich, so it kind of fell into place a little later,” Khanna says.
A play for Asia
For Nexus, one of the biggest financial advisory firm in the Middle East, with 390 professional advisers supported by more than 130 dedicated and qualified support staff, the Asian city state has a number of attractions. “The consumer class is very vibrant – there are a lot of savers. People take out protection plans and we felt this would be a good entry for us into Asia,” Khanna said in an interview with International Adviser in Dubai before he flew out to Singapore to open the new office.
“In Singapore, capital and regulatory requirements are rising, which adds to operational and compliance costs. This will impact on smaller companies.
“If you have a broker or an IFA firm with 10 advisers, then I think it’s going to become more difficult to operate. So, we think that if we have a good proposition, which we do, and we have a great brand, we’ll have a lot to offer potential advisers in Singapore who are looking to find a good company to work with or be associated with,” he says.
“The other opportunity we see in Singapore is that it doesn’t really have any financial advisory firms that target the NRI [non-resident Indian] market, and that’s truly our speciality. It’s been a large part of our business here in the Middle East.”
Zurich handover
Zurich Life Insurance (Singapore) announced an agreement at the end of September to hand over all of its near-160 appointed financial advisers in the city state to Nexus Financial Services in response to changes in the regulatory landscape.
Nexus Financial Services received its licence from the MAS on 28 September and formally opened for business in Singapore on 11 November under the leadership of chief executive Gary Harvey. He is a seasoned leader in the financial services industry, with more than 26 years’ experience. Originally based in Australia for Axa, Harvey moved to Singapore in 2002, where he has lived ever since.
Initially, Harvey ran the Axa Life business in Singapore and then moved on to Ipac Wealth Management Asia as regional chief executive. Prior to joining Nexus, he was sales and distribution director with the Singapore branch of Transamerica Life Bermuda.
Speaking to International Adviser by phone from Singapore, where he is now a permanent resident, Harvey said the new business would initially be focused on ensuring a smooth, efficient transfer of the Zurich agents to Nexus, as well as building partnerships with various product manufacturers.
The transfer of the Zurich advisers is well under way and Harvey said he expected it to be nearly complete by the end of November. “We’re really pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment we are seeing from the advisers who are coming across.”
Nexus Singapore currently has no manufacturing ties other than partnerships with various products provided by Zurich. “Obviously, there’s no equity ownership or other arrangement in place [with Zurich], so we are free to choose from all the products provided and offer a wide array of products to match customer needs,” he says.
