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Moonstone Monitor - 1 June 2017 |
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Paul Kruger
Author/Editor |
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The only way most people recognize their limits is by trespassing on them
– Tom Morris |
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Distributed to 47 067 subscribers.
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From the Crow's Nest |
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FAIS Reality Check from a Client Perspective |
In April I reached that age where the company rules determine that the
time has come for me to follow Paul Simon’s advice:
“Slow down, you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last…”
Turning 65 was quite a mind changing event for me. The penny finally dropped
that I am, after all, mortal, despite my firm conviction to the opposite, just
one day before.
On the very day of my birthday, a parcel which I ordered from the USA arrived,
via customs. For the privilege of having to wait nearly three months while the
officials deliberated on the value of a tee- and sweat shirt, I was required to
pay more in customs duties than I did, at the exorbitant exchange rate, for the
items in dollars.
The shirts both conveyed the same message: “It is better to burn out, than fade
away”. The fact that Neil Young wore it in the advert I saw on Facebook actually
made me buy two.
“Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you…”
This was also the age where I no longer qualified to be part of the employer’s
group scheme. Fortunately, I could convert it to permanent life cover without
the need for medicals and proof of health. The most difficult question for me to
answer truthfully was always the one about my drinking habits.
Apparently, “What do you have?” is not the correct answer to the question: “Do
you drink?
Inevitably, my response to the “How much” question is misinterpreted as being
the weekly intake, instead of my daily consumption which I divulged.
All went well, apart from the fact that my premium increased obscenely by 475%,
compared to what I paid on the company group scheme for the same amount of
cover.
Getting back to my new philosophy to life - I really started taking my Vitality
challenges seriously. In fact, I bought a little apparatus, cleverly disguised
as a watch, which would beep if I had the audacity to sit on my backside for
more than 50 minutes. In addition, it would measure all activities to ensure
that I stayed busy long enough every day.
About two weeks after applying for permanent life cover, the documentation
arrived. There was a little blue slip in my post box, requesting that I pick the
parcel up at the counter, as it was too big for my post box. This should have
alerted me already.
The big envelope contained two documents.
The thin one contained the policy schedule, comprising 19 pages.
The heavy number, consisting of 179 pages, contained the information that would
help me “…understand the finer details…” of my life plan.
This information is shared, no doubt, to ensure compliance with legal
obligations, but at what cost to the planet? How many trees are sacrificed every
year to comply with legal requirements which really serve no practical purpose?
A few questions arose:
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How many clients who receive these documents will actually read it?
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How many of the few who do, will understand it? Correctly?
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How many of the conditions contained in this document may in the not too
distant future turn out to be material to a claim that may arise? And if my
adviser had not disclosed this to me, he could he be held responsible for any
losses my beneficiaries may incur.
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How much of my adviser’s time would be taken up covering the details
contained in the 180 (minus 1) pages? And how would this impact on his
productivity?
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How many clients actually file the documentation, knowing that they can
address any questions to their advisers. In fact, trusting their advisers to
look after their interests because, in the case of a death claim, the life
insured plays a very small part, other than just ensuring that he/she remains
deceased.
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Despite being required to be all of the above, the adviser’s commission is
seen as the single biggest source of miss-selling, and constantly the focus of
legislative scrutiny.
All insurance and assurance contracts have over the ages been based on mutual
trust. This does not appear to satisfy the legislators and regulators any more.
Perhaps hitting 65 does have more merits than I initially assumed.
Then I remembered the lyrics of another Paul Simon song:
Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy.
I shudder to think what documentation will look like then. |
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Specialist protection is essential to guard against
cyber crime
South Africa ranks as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world
for cyber attacks, yet local businesses are largely discounting this
risk and not protecting themselves adequately in this regard.
Roy Wright, Head: Risk Solutions at leading financial advisory group GTC
believes small, medium and micro enterprises (SMEs) are especially
exposed to the dangers of cyber crime.
“Many companies mistakenly believe that their general insurance will
protect their business against the risks of cyber crime,” says Wright.
In light of this, GTC urges companies to pay careful attention to their
specific cover and policy wording.
Contact
Roy Wright, or
click here to read more. |
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Your Practice Made Perfect |
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RDR feedback from the UK |
On Tuesday, David Ferguson, founder and chief executive of Nucleus
Financial Group in the UK, speaking at the Sanlam i3 Summit, said RDR
and all the associated legislation introduced in the UK in 2012 have
really been about driving value for money.
RiskSA reports on this as follows:
“The winners have been those who cared about clients intensely,”
Ferguson pointed out. In fact, the biggest winners have been those
businesses who moved to client centricity for commercial reasons even
before RDR. “The biggest loser of RDR has been anything that’s
commission-led.”
Asset managers also made the mistake of expecting RDR to be toothless
for them, but when the rest of the value chain becomes incredibly
transparent, the same pressure is applied to fund managers too. Current
trends in the UK include the outsourcing of technical aspects, for
example portfolio construction to third-party discretionary fund
managers, and for planners to emphasise the client relationship and
tracking the clients’ progress against their goals.
Moneyweb also published a very interesting article by Inge Lamprecht
titled: RDR in the UK: The winners and losers.
“It was all about value for money really and anyone who didn’t get that
or couldn’t bring themselves into that world was lost.”
The winners have been those stakeholders that built or rebuilt their
businesses around the customer. This was easy for start-ups, but
sometimes difficult for established groups. The regulatory change
essentially meant that the game was up for anyone who didn’t have the
customer’s interest at heart – whether it was platforms taking dirty
margins, advisor networks funded by soft commissions from providers or
product providers concealing charges in complex charging structures, he
said.
“If it doesn’t work for the customer, it simply doesn’t work at all.”
But while much doom and gloom were predicted for the advisor market in
the years leading up to RDR in the UK, the independent financial
advisors and restricted advisors who have made it through this trip have
also been “extraordinary winners”.
Other winners included open platforms that were not driven by kickbacks
or commission from fund groups and passive funds.
Anyone who is concerned about the future of investment advice would be
well advised to read the
Moneyweb article. |
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Compliance support for smaller FSPs
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The Moonstone Protector Service (Protector) was specifically developed
for FSPs that, although not legally obliged to appoint a Compliance
Officer, realise the need for external support and expertise to ensure
compliance with FAIS and FICA legislation.
Protector offers the following benefits:
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Access to the Protector Online Self-Assessment Tool (POST) to
self-assess the level of compliance in your business on an ongoing,
structured basis
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Access to actionable reports to enable you to easily identify areas of
non-compliance within your business
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Access to Moonstone’s online Procedures Guide
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Telephonic support on compliance related matters
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Online FICA awareness training for all personnel
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Access to professionally compiled compliance documents and templates
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Subscription to Moonstone’s electronic newsletters
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Ongoing SMS and e-mail communications and reminders of important deadlines
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Preferential membership benefits for Moonstone seminars and workshops
The tax deductible monthly fee for the Protector Service is R395 (VAT
Included).
To apply for Protector membership, kindly
contact Deon du Toit on Tel: 021-883 8000 or via
email. |
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Legislation Handbook and Preparation Guide for REs
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The Legislation Handbook for Level 1 Regulatory Exams provides the
legislation specified as relevant to the regulatory exams RE 1 and 5.
The Preparation guide includes the qualifying criteria provided by the
FSB for these exams.
The qualifying criteria are cross-referenced in the Preparation Guide to
the relevant sections to be studied in the Legislation Handbook.
Shaded tabs enable the user to easily identify the four sections of the
work and the information is then grouped by subject matter area in order
to assist you to find the relevant items quickly and easily.
The 4th edition reflects the law as at 15 April 2015.
Click here to order these
LexisNexis
books from our Advisor Store. |
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Technologically Speaking |
Daimler Benz on the disrupted future |
In a recent interview the MD of Daimler Benz (Mercedes Benz) said
their competitors are no longer other car companies but Tesla
(obvious), Google, Apple, Amazon 'et al'.
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10
years.
Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now
the biggest taxi company in the world.
Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they
don't own any properties.
Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in
understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go
player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs. Because of IBM
Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic
stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy
when done by humans.
So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% less
lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate
than human nurses.
Facebook now has pattern recognition software that can recognize
faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more
intelligent than humans.
The list goes on and on.
Click here to see more ways in which you may be affected.
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Regulatory Examinations
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RE Schedule updated |
Our venues are filling up fast as we approach 30 June 2017.
Candidates who are obliged to write and pass by the end of June
must please register in time.
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RE Self-Help Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions |
Self-Help Guidelines
Candidates who wrote with Moonstone can now view their results,
make a new booking or update their information on our website:
www.faisexam.co.za
Here is what you do:
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Click on the Moonstone FAIS Exam website (www.faisexam.co.za)
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Click on the second heading: “Update Your Booking/Personal
Details/Get results”.
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Key in your ID or Passport Number used to register for the
exam: click on Send password.
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The system will
send a password to the e-mail address you provided at
registration.
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Use this password to log in on the same address as above:
Type in the password – do not copy and paste.
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Click login.
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You will then be able to make a booking, download your
certificate or view results.
Frequently Asked RE Questions
You can click on
this link to see the answers to the most common
questions we receive.
Email enquiries should be addressed to
faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za. You can phone us on
021 883 8000 - select option 2 to speak to one of our
consultants.
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Careers Platform
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Are you hiring? Advertise your position on Moonstone’s Career Platform
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The Moonstone website -
www.moonstone.co.za
- enjoys an average of 15 000 visits and approximately 39 000 page views per month. |
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Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 46000
dedicated financial decision makers who receive 2 newsletters per week. |
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Our audience is relevant and industry specific: individual and corporate advisors and brokers in the following financial sectors:
Investment, Risk, Healthcare, Banking, Retirement, and Insurance. |
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Featured Positions |
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Financial Planners:
Risk Free Solutions, Port Elizabeth & Kimberley - We are looking for
established, well balanced Financial Planners striving for financial
freedom. If you have matric, your own transport, driver’s licence and RE
qualificaton, then
Read More
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Short Term Insurance
Underwriter:
The Insurance Centre, Westville - We requires a commercial and
personal lines short term insurance underwriter / administrator.
Read More
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Short Term Commercial
Representatives:
I AM SURE Financial Services, Pretoria - We require a qualified and
experienced Commercial Short-term Insurance Representative/Senior
Marketer to maintain and grow our existing book.
Read More
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Branch Manager Short
Term Commercial & Hospitality Insurance:
HIC Underwriting Managers, Port Elizabeth - We require a young
dynamic leader with a minimum of 10 years commercial insurance
experience.
Read More
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Financial
Administrator:
Sapcor Brokers, Pretoria East - We need a person to compile
bordereaux’s for Insurers, commission statements to 3rd parties and
other general financial duties.
Read More
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In Lighter Wyn |
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Plans for today? And she thought she had it covered... |
Thanks to Roché Cowley
A woman went shopping. At the cash counter, she opened her purse to
pay.
The cashier noticed a TV remote in her purse.
He could not control his curiosity and asked, "Do you always carry
your TV remote with you?"
She replied " No, not always, but my husband refused to accompany me
shopping today because of football match, so I took the remote."
Moral: Accompany and support your wife in her
hobbies.....
The story continues....
The cashier laughed and then returned all the items that lady had
purchased.
Shocked at this act, she asked the cashier what he was doing.
He said, "your husband blocked your credit card.........."
Moral: Always respect the hobbies of your husband.
Story continues....
Wife took out her husband's credit card from purse and swiped it.
Unfortunately he didn't block his own card.
Moral: Don't underestimate the power and wisdom of
your WIFE..
Story continues...
After swiping, the machine indicated, 'ENTER THE PIN SENT TO YOUR
MOBILE PHONE'.......
Moral: When a man tends to lose, the machine is smart
enough to save him!
Story continues....
She smiled to herself and reached out for the mobile which rang in
her purse.
It was her husband's phone showing the forwarded SMS.
She had taken it with the remote control so he doesn't call her
during her shopping.
She bought her items and returned home happily.
Moral: Don't underestimate a desperate woman!
Story continues....
On getting home, his car was gone.
A note was pasted on the door:
"Couldn't find the remote. Gone out with the boys to watch the
premiership match. Will be home late. Call me on my phone if you
need something".
Damn... He left with the house key too.
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Tel: +27 21 883 8000 | Fax: +27 21 883 8005
info@moonstoneinfo.com
www.moonstone.co.za
P.O. Box 12662, Die Boord, Stellenbosch, 7613, Republic of South Africa
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liability in respect of the unauthorised use of its e-mail facility
or the sending of e-mail communications for other than strictly
business purposes.
The complete disclaimer can be accessed
here.
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