Why you need a wealth manager

"IT IS not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but the love of money for its own sake."

Margaret Thatcher, British politician and prime minister

The desire to be wealthy has existed for as long as man learned to value material objects and it is the accumulation of financial wealth that most people look towards now for their daily survival. In today's tough business markets, financial institutions such as investment houses were built around the concept of creating wealth for their customers. It is admittedly, a concept that has become so complex and technical, that most of the general public has found themselves in some kind of unfavourable financial situation at some point, be it a bad investment or lack of proper saving.

The torch has been passed, to financial experts such as bankers, consultants and academics, who have made it their business to make or save you money.

The role of good wealth management is paramount in today's economic climate and banks such as Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) and Standard Chartered Bank hope that by educating the public, they will have the essential information to create a stable financial route, for themselves and future generations of Bruneians.

Nurul Jafriah Abdullah, Chartered Financial Consultant at BIBD, says, "We need to realise how important it is to save, to ensure that future generations do not have to repeat the financial mistakes of the current generation."

First of all, do not confuse the profession "wealth manager" with "money" or "asset/portfolio" manager. While they all sound similar, and in fact, share common elements, each profession carries its particular specialities.

In the case of wealth managers, their focus is defined as having a more holistic approach, someone who is "devoted to helping client's achieve life goals through the proper management of their financial resources".

In layman's terms, your wealth manager designs a financial plan that is specific to your needs and will focus on attaining financial goals that you've set. This may sound very fancy and many people will assume that you need a large amount of money saved or good financial knowledge to consider looking at wealth management but it could not be more untrue.

Standard Chartered Bank's General Manager of Wealth Management Eng Siok Tin says that wealth management is important even for the masses. "Wealth management is really about how you manage your personal finances such that you are able to plan, build and Propect it," she says.

Standard Chartered views wealth management as not just about investing but more about proper financial planning that eventually contributes to building wealth. "It's for anybody and is more about learning to have the discipline in terms of growing and protecting wealth, and with a bit of homework you can learn how to manage it so that your money works for you," Eng says.

It's never too early to start saving. As children, it begins with coins in piggy bank and pocket money from your parents. As you grow older and start working, saving money becomes more paramount when larger purchases enter your life, like buying your first car or putting down a deposit for your first home.

These decisions are not random and can be financially planned for in advance to save you worrying later on.

"As an adult, you also need to build an emergency fund to see you through rainy days and start thinking about retirement and how to build your nest egg in addition to your regular TAP contributions and SCP (Supplemental Contributory Pension) scheme. You also start to think about insurance and how to protect yourself financially in the case of unforeseen circumstances, which is also part of protecting your wealth funds," says Eng.

When you're starting to build a family, you'll need to start thinking about education financing and insurance for family members. In your senior years, when you're looking at a soon-to-be empty nest, you can then focus on boosting your wealth building by trying more sophisticated products that can offer higher returns. Closer to retirement, you'll start to change your focus on insurance and start planning what you'll need for retirement, as well as planning your estate.

It all sounds like an awful lot of money, and truthfully it is, but with proper management and guidance from the appropriate figures like designated wealth managers (either from a bank or independent wealth management firm) there should be no reason why you can't be financially stable at an early age.

Wealth management and investments are not limited to those with thousands and thousands of dollars in their accounts.

To start with, most wealth management services fall under investments or insurance.

Investments come in many forms. Stocks, unit trusts, and equity funds where you invest in a country's assets such as a developing infrastructure are the most common ways to delve into this vast area. Insurance usually falls into things such as takaful, to ensure you are financially prepared for any situations like sudden deaths or serious injuries.

Standard Chartered Bank is offering a product bundling investment opportunity that just about anyone can try. In this promotion, Standard Chartered is offering a choice of unit trusts bundled with Brunei dollar fixed deposits.

"You can enjoy very high interest rates on your BND fixed deposits when you invest in the bank's unit trust. You start from as low as $1,000 subscriptions in a unit trust. Interest rates for fixed deposits can go as high as eight per cent per annum for a three month tenure," says Eng. "We won't advise customers to go straight into a unit trust subscription if they don't even have a basic emergency fund set up for themselves. We view this as financial priorities that a customer would need prior to thinking about investing."

Standard Chartered Bank provides unbiased wealth management consultation through its wealth management consultants in addition to offering a full suite of investment products that range from basic term deposit accounts to more sophisticated premium currency and structured deposits.

The Brunei Times