Financial planning is of great importance for everyone, as is the role of financial planners and as such, it is crucial for the financial industry to build and fortify trust with stakeholders in a sustainable way.

These points were put forward by the Acting Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), Dayang Hajah Nurliati binti Haji Md Idris during a speech at yesterday's Financial Planning Day.

"Indeed, financial planning is very important for each and every individual," she said. "From ensuring that our families are well-protected and our children's futures are secured, to our own well-being during retirement, there is an increased need to ensure our financial success."

"Again, this is where financial planners' effective role is particularly crucial," she added.

This need, she affirmed, is demonstrated by the research conducted by Penn Schoen Berland on behalf of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board, USA in 2015 on Americans' perception of the US economy and advisors.

She shared that among the highlights of the survey was that consumer use of financial advisors has increased significantly in the last five years, from 28 per cent in 2010 to 40 per cent in 2015, with seven in 10 indicating that they work with a CFP professional.

Another highlight she shared was that 41 per cent of the respondents feel financial advisors have become more important in the last five years and have hired them for better financial guidance, especially for long-term goals such as retirement.

The acting managing director also spoke on the importance of trust, citing another survey, this time by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute in 2013, titled 'The CFA Institute & Edelmen Investor Trust Survey'.

The survey showed that, by more than 2 to 1, respondents felt that the most important thing to them in picking an investment partner (for example an advisor) is that the advisors can be trusted to act in their best interest.

The respondents felt that the returns were less important, while fees were at the bottom of the list, she said.

"This again reiterates that trust is very, very important in the financial industry, and while establishing trust and demonstrating ethical behaviour are key to getting clients, industry participants must work on building this trust to retain the clients and win their loyalty."

She noted that the 2014 Edelmen Trust Barometer also showed that engagement and integrity are the way forward in building trust with consumers, employees, regulators, partners and clients.

"It is now up to the industry to leverage on the opportunity by rebuilding and fortifying trust in a way that is sustainable for business and client-centric," she said.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]