President’s Message
Alfred Chia, CFP®
This is going to be an unforgettable year for many due to the outbreak of Covid-19. It had created fear, panic, serious financial disruption and even death. The disease doesn’t discriminate nationality as it spread globally and wreaking havoc. In times of economic crisis, many businesses will be affected which will lead to job loss. Many people will be struggling with financial crisis. We are privileged where NTUC partner with us to run complimentary financial planning workshops for union members. We valued such opportunities to contribute back to the society in such uncertain time. I hope more of our members will step forward and join us to support such good cause.
Congratulations to all the finalists! On behalf of FPAS, I would like to extend our gratitude to the esteemed panel of judges who have contributed their precious times and tirelessly reviewed the submissions and interviews the finalists! I also like to commend the efforts of the Secretariat led by Samantha in organizing FPA2020! In view of the COVID-19 situation, the awards recognition had been postponed to 21st August 2020. Tough times don’t last but Tough People Do! In fact, tough times also bring out the greatest of humanity, love, compassion, and care for each other. The dedication of frontline personnel from cleaners to healthcare professionals win over the respect and gratitude of a Nation! The spirit of SGUnited will truly make this an unforgettable year!
Chief Editor’s Message
Yash Mishra, CFP®
Work, Wellbeing, Wealth in the backdrop of a Global Pandemic – Covid 19 and financial market turbulence - the sangfroid mantra of the 21st century seems currently on halt and is rapidly being recalibrated. Technology helps tremendously to set up remote work locations. Given the rapidly evolving contagion of Covid – 19 global pandemic. The ageing of populations worldwide has had national governments rethink their economic policies to stave of economic decline. The underlying principles are sound – extend the working life of the healthier and long lived individuals, exercise prudence and reduce the burden on fiscal and social support systems. There is also the challenge of rising a medical costs. Rising longevity brings with it the challenge of getting good medical care in your golden years. We address this in the article – who will pay your medical bills”. Singapore faces challenges on each of these fronts – economic growth can be limited by a small population size and talent pool. It needs to find ways to care for an increasing pool of low income elderly. This year’s budget takes a look at all the measures taken in "Singapore Budget 2020". The fundamental issues we need to address as practitioners and help clients understand are what causes over consumption and hinders people from saving? Beyond the policy makers, we as individuals need to take responsibility for retirement financing. To help you understand the issues we take a longterm view with the need for a “Robust Financial Plan". We give you an insight into the estate planning aspect of Singapore property. Creating robust investment portfolios in extremely volatile markets requires understanding and we discuss that in the article “Systematic Asset Allocation and Diversification “into what are some of the essential and common characteristics of investment portfolios. We also give insights into how “How Gold has been traditionally used as hedge in investment portfolios in “Gold & its place in investment portfolios’. As a global trend there is increasing focus on climate, responsible consumption, environment, food security, inclusion and other Sustainable development goals as laid out by United Nations. We try and understand the trend in the article “Sustainable Investing — The New Lens” Our Book Review Section, picks on the Nobel prize winner for Economics 2019, Dr Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo title “Poor Economics” that raises our awareness of the economic models for the bottom of the pyramid as income inequality rises. Meanwhile, don’t succumb to panic, stay informed on the global pandemic and financial market turbulence and as the coordinated containment and monetary and fiscal measures work their way through the system, this storm shall pass. To the spirit of human resilience!
3 FINANCIAL PLANNING MAGAZINE 2020
This is also our 3rd year in organizing Financial Planner Awards 2020. Such Awards encourage and recognize Financial Practitioners to produce quality financial planning reports. We have received more entries than previous year with higher standards. They are from the Banking, Insurance, Financial Advisory firms and tertiary students.
SUPPORTING SUSTAINABILITY
Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB) reported another year of growth for the global CFP certification program in 2019, as the total number of CFP professionals worldwide rose to 188,104. This reflect the growing demand of quality and professional financial advisory services as a global trend.
