Simon Newman
Managing director
Aviva Singapore

THE past year has been one of the most challenging ever for the financial services sector, with many industry players running into the red in the ongoing global economic maelstrom. However, what is more damaging to the sector beyond the immediate impact on the bottomline is the loss of trust in financial institutions.

A key contributing factor to this is the collapse of structured products amid allegations of mis-selling by financial institutions, which has seen many investors lose most, and in some cases, all of their savings.

To protect consumers' interest and rebuild their confidence in the sector, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued the comprehensive Guideline on Fair Dealing, which outlines the responsibilities of financial institutions' boards and senior management for delivering five fair dealing outcomes to customers.

The gradual shift in the system, with the introduction of flexible outcomes, is to be applauded. The Guideline aims to help many financial service providers, such as Aviva, to identify areas where we can enhance our systems and processes to better achieve fair outcomes for consumers. For example, we had set up a customer council in May this year to address customer-related issues, and are also looking into creating product brochures in Mandarin and Malay for future product launches.

However, adhering to the guidelines alone is not enough to regain consumers' trust and confidence. Financial institutions need to go beyond merely fulfilling their legal obligations, to truly engage consumers and meet their evolving needs in this challenging and volatile economic climate.

We recognise that listening to consumers is the most important foundation that we need to start with. This is why Aviva continuously invests in substantive global and local research to enable us to better understand our customers and their needs. Based on our research insights, we will then explore innovative ways of taking concrete action to meet these needs.

For example, Aviva's research has discovered an irony that while an overwhelming 4 out of 5 Singaporeans are worried about their current financial situation, many are waiting to see what happens with the economy and are holding back from making important financial decisions.

To overcome this inertia and encourage Singaporeans to take action on their personal finances, we launched the Futurator in June this year. The Futurator leveraged on the latest projection and touch screen technology to enable Singaporeans to interactively build their futures with their own hands and project it on two 16m by 7m large wall projections, with the amount participants need to save to realise them indicated. Through this initiative, we have gotten over 20,000 Singaporeans to start thinking about their financial health in an innovative and engaging way.

Our research also identified a lack of financial confidence among Singaporeans, which may have led to their current paralysis in decision-making. Less than half of Singaporeans felt they had the information needed to make well informed decisions on their personal finance, highlighting the need to provide more information in helping Singaporeans to start saving and investing for their future. However, we see an encouraging sign that many Singaporeans are actively searching for credible information on financial matters in the online space.

In recognition of this need, Aviva conceptualised and launched Moneybanter (www.moneybanter.com.sg) earlier this year. Moneybanter is an objective and neutral online platform for consumers to seek information on their savings, protection and investment needs through forum-based discussions along with insightful articles by financial specialists.

Underlying both our Futurator and Moneybanter initiatives is a focus on consumers and addressing their evolving needs in these uncertain times. It is during such times that financial institutions have a key role to play in imparting prosperity and peace of mind to Singaporeans. The current economic downturn is both a test and opportunity for financial institutions. Those that go beyond compliance to demonstrate true recognition of Singaporeans' evolving needs will emerge with their reputation enhanced and with an even stronger relationship with their customers.

This article was first published in The Business Times.