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PETALING JAYA: The proposed sale of American International Group Inc’s (AIG) crown jewel, American International Assurance (AIA), to Prudential Plc will not have an immediate impact on Prudential’s operations in Malaysia.

“The (proposed) takeover of AIA will, at the moment, have zero impact on our operations here and business is as usual for now,” said Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd (PAMB) CEO Charlie E. Oropeza in an interview with StarBiz. “As for board changes in the company, I myself don’t have a firm grasp on the changes that will happen at this stage as it is still to early to tell.”

An observer with close ties to the company said it was stilll too early to talk at this stage on integration plans, adding that the acquisition would not focus on any cost-cutting measures but on growth strategy as the aim was to have a bigger market in Malaysia.

Charlie E.Oropeza

According to Oropeza, the company’s 12-month goals and strategic plans would stay put despite the proposed acquisition of AIA.

He said the recent visit to Malaysia by Prudential Plc’s group chief executive Tidjane Thiam and Prudential Corp Asia chief executive Barry Stowe further underscored the need for PAMB to work harder on implementing and executing plans to strengthen its business.

“He (Thiam), since his appointment on Oct 1 last year, has visited Malaysia four times as he firmly believe Malaysia is a good market for the group. The (proposed) acquisition will also see Prudential and AIA maintaining their brands and keeping their businesses and brands separate, but consumers can expect stronger and broader product range,’’ Oropeza said.

AIG agreed to sell its Asian life insurance unit, AIA, to Britain’s Prudential Plc last Monday for US$35.5bil in the largest insurance deal ever, paving the way for Prudential to become South-East Asia’s biggest insurer.

AIA currently serves more than 20 million customers in Asia whereas Prudential has more than 11 million life insurance customers in the region, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, PAMB yesterday unveiled its latest results – a record performance that saw a 24% increase in new business sales amid challenging market conditions.

The insurer posted new business annual premium equivalent of RM817mil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, compared with RM659mil registered in the same period in 2008. Its fourth-quarter (2009) performance was equally good with a significant 69% increase in new business premiums compared to the same quarter in 2008, according to Oropeza.

He attributed the strong performance to the strength of the company’s agency and non-agency distribution channels, its commitment to provide innovative products to meet customer’s needs coupled with the strong Prudential brand name and continued product innovation .

One of such innovation include PRUhealth, a revolutionary medical insurance plan that rewards healthy policyholders with an annual No Claims Bonus.

Oropeza said the company’s systematic implementation of sales and marketing efforts to improve agency activity, which includes promoting the use of innovative point-of-sales tool amongst agents, had helped increase the average productivity of its wealth planners and agents from RM67,000 in 2008 to RM69,000 in 2009.

PAMB currently has an agency network of more than 11,000, of which 3,800 are bumiputra agents.

It recently opened two new branches in Kajang and Skudai, Johor, bringing the company’s total branches to 41 nationwide.

Source: The Star

Financial freedom is a distant dream for the vast majority of working people, it is made almost unattainable by the generally low wages and inflationary pressure that many here have to struggle with.

An observer says it has become increasingly difficult to rely on just a day job to achieve that freedom as wages here have not kept up with inflation.

This person has a day job and several side incomes including running a dragon fruit farm and being involved as an agent in the Malaysia My Second Home programme.

Some, like Ginger Leong, say “forced savings” is their path to financial freedom. However, she acknowledges that whatever is saved now may not be enough due to inflation and other commitments.

Many also find it hard to even start on the path to financial freedom as they are confronted by a plethora of investment instruments available as well as the endless numbers of books and blogsites on financial management.

What most people need is guidance on how to sift through all the information out there and come up with what Whitman Independent Advisors Sdn Bhd managing director Yap Ming Hui says should be a “down-to-earth” and sensible view on achieving these goals.

He tells StarBizweek that most people “dream of achieving financial freedom” but “they don’t have a workable or concrete plan”.

Yap, who wrote a book, Roadmap to Financial Freedom, says defining goals – a “self-defined good life” for attaining financial freedom – is important.

“Not everyone can become wealthy but everyone can achieve financial freedom, however those who want to achieve it must have a roadmap as a guide to know what is the optimum investment that needs to be made,” he says, adding that even people with average assets and incomes can attain their financial goals.

Yap defines financial freedom generally as “an optimum financial position whereby your wealth is optimised to match your optimum financial needs and wants”. In this respect, “wealth” can also be defined as “assets”.

He realises that individuals have different goals, needs and wants but says this can be simplified to two components for the purpose of mapping out a roadmap – optimisation of assets and identifying and managing financial needs and wants.

Yap says needs and wants should not be viewed strictly from the financial context alone but from a bigger picture – the higher context of life.

“Most people will just concentrate on optimising their wealth but just concentrating on making more money is not true financial freedom if needs and wants are not defined,” he says.

Yap says when a person embark on the path to achieving financial freedom, some of the questions to ask are: How far is that person from their goals? If situations come around that will impact finances, what will that person do? What’s a person’s next move suppose to be?

Standard Financial Planner Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Alfred Sek says that freedom has been achieved as long as there is no stress from financial problems or commitments.

“Achieving it is a gradual process, people adjust as they go along, so if they earn more then they adjust their goals, similarly if they earn less than they adjust too,” he says.

Sek says in his experience advising clients on their finances, flexibility is important. “There are no real yardsticks, personal situations and needs are different,” he says.

Source: The Star Online

THE war of the smartphones has definitely begun!

History has proven that dominance cannot be enjoyed by one party for too long. So indeed, while Maxis had enjoyed monopolistic dominance on iPhone over the last one year, this will soon come to an end with DiGi.Com Bhd also tying up with Apple Inc for the rights to distribute the world’s most exciting phone.

DiGi expects to start selling iPhone 3G and 3GS in the “coming months”, chief executive officer Johan Dennelind said in a Bloomberg News report. Reports have also indicated that Celcom Axiata Bhd may consider doing the same.

A HTC smartphone (left) and an Apple iPhone seen at a mobile phone shop.The iPhone phenomenon has revolutionised the global mobile phone industry.

The iPhone will be sold by DiGi before mid-year which may spark a price war on services and packages in the smartphone market.

On its website, DiGi said that those already with an iPhone could switch to any of DiGi’s existing postpaid and prepaid rate plans.

Celcom chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly said the company’s infrastructure can support the device but a big hurdle to securing the iPhone deal is the commercial terms that both parties cannot agree on.

In Malaysia, market research company IDC claims that Maxis last year sold 91,000 units since the launch in March 2009 and the shipments included both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

The iPhone phenomenon has revolutionised the global mobile phone industry, with operators in matured markets such as Britain and the United States benefiting from increased usage of data services. Based on the packages signed up by Maxis iPhone users, average revenue per users is significantly higher.

“I spend a lot more money on my monthly phone bills and use a lot more of the services connected to the device. I now use close to 25Mb per month from almost zero previously,” says an analyst who is an iPhone user.

Huge brand penetration

For DiGi, the iPhone deal could help boost its non-voice revenue, which now makes up less than 20% of group revenue. This segment contributes over 30% to Celcom and Maxis.

For the last two years, mobile operators have increased their focus to sell more wireless broadband services, including unlimited data packages for smart phones and lap tops.

In Maxis’ and DiGi’s bid to outwit each other in the war of the iPhones, analysts don’t expect to see major price reductions.

“I don’t expect there to be a major price war happening anytime soon. Telco operators rarely benefit from waging a price war that would entail further value destruction. In the case of the iPhone, the differentiating factor could be the ‘perceived value’ of the plans that will be offered which could potentially be bundled with voice and data” says OSK telecommunications analyst Jeffrey Tan.

He feels that DiGi will reposition its plans and leverage on its value propositions to offer more attractive packages, to cater to the youth market for instance.

“There is pentup demand for iPhones, especially in countries where there is a large addressable youth segment which are technology receptive and technically savvy. In Malaysia, the steep price points of the handset and plans are key deterrents. Hence, I don’t see DiGi’s entry into the iPhone market colliding with Maxis head-on,” says Tan.

In fact, he feels that DiGi may open a whole new market segment for the iPhones.

A telco analyst from a local house feels that end consumers will be the main beneficiaries.

“Operators still need to incur huge capital expenditures for their respective networks, so I doubt anyone of them will embark on fierce price ways,” says a telco analyst from a local house.

An analyst from a bank-backed research says that the iPhone will help DiGi compete with other players. However, its efforts may be hampered if it does not improve its 3G coverage.

“DiGi still needs to address its issues of providing a better and faster network as well as better customer service,” he says.

“For instance, an iPhone user who stays in Kota Damansara will continue using Maxis services because in that area, DiGi does not have 3G coverage,” he says.

He adds that while there will initially be some competition, eventually data plans in terms of pricing and packages will almost be similar.

“I don’t believe the iPhone will change the market share position of the players too much. As it is, cracked iPhones in the last one year have already been operating on DiGi’s and Celcom’s network,” he says.

Nonetheless, this analyst believes that the iPhone will be able to improve DiGi’s as well as Maxis’ average revenue per user.

The Android

The iPhone, too, won’t enjoy single dominance for long. Another Smartphone is coming to town. Google’s Android phone is set to make its debut in the second half of this year.

While many feel that Apple’s iPhone first-mover advantage will still render it the most popular phone in Malaysia, it’s possible for the Android to steal a sizeable amount of market share from the iPhone.

For one thing, Apple has a closed system, which is exclusive only to the iPhone. The Android, however, operates on an open-source operating system which means it can be used by a wider array of phones.

Companies that make phones that run on this system include Taiwan-based HTC, which also makes phones for AT&T (T), Sprint (S), T-Mobile, Verizon (VZ) and US Cellular.

“Apple does have a headstart. It now has close to 140,000 applications and is growing everyday. Over the longer run, however, Apple’s closed system may make them more as a niche player while the open Android system may become more mainstream. But the Android will eventually catch up,” says one telco analyst.

Another analyst agrees.

“Its biggest weakness (which is also its biggest strength) is that there is only one iPhone. It’s a cool branding and has hype surrounding it. The Android will very likely run on hundreds of devices, in every market in the world, and is the only platform other than the iPhone that has a proper applications market. So, yes, it will give the iPhone a run for its money,” he says.

He admits though, that Google will need time and investments to roll out its applications.

He also points out that Apple’s strategy has never been to appeal to the mass market. Right from the start, it was targeting the high price markets with higher margins. It was never the plan to go after the lower mass priced market.

“Unlike the iPhone, the Android will most likely have the highest chance of ‘casual buyers’ – people who just browse into a store with no idea of what phone to buy,” says the analyst.

Right now, the iPhone is sold in 85 countries and has about 140,000 applications that can be downloaded.

A recent report released by Gartner said Apple iPhone’s sales had doubled in 2009, with 24.9 million units sold in 2009 against 11.4 million units in 2008.

Source: Tay Lin Say linsay@thestar.com.my

FINANCIAL planning (FP) should be viewed as a profession where unbiased and independent advice is provided to clients covering all personal financial matters and services.

However, the FP industry in Malaysia, which is still in its infancy stage compared with their counterparts in other advanced countries, is grappling with issues such as wrong public perceptions and lack of product innovation as well as FP tools.

“In short, it involves advice first, products second and services thereafter” ROBERT FOO

According to MyFP Services Sdn Bhd financial planner and managing director Robert Foo, the financial planning model follows a six-step process which involves building a relationship with the client, gathering the client’s personal data as well as financial goals, analysing the data, recommending and implementing solutions besides tracking that the client’s goals are eventually met.

“In short, it involves advice first, products second and services thereafter,” Foo concludes.

However, Foo notes that the Malaysian public tend to view FP practitioners as no more than product salespersons with FP qualifications.

“Hence, there is little trust on the advice given by many of these “professionals” although they are licensed by the Securities Commision (SC) or Bank Negara. They are perceived to be biased. At the back of their (the public) minds, financial planners are perceived to be out to make sales commission from selling as many products as possible,” Foo notes.

When the FP profession started to take root in Malaysia around 2001, the majority who took up FP qualifications were insurance and unit trust agents.

“Many of those qualified are still adopting a multi-level agency sales approach to their business and the emphasis and compensation is solely based on product sales and commission,” Foo adds.

Foo says the problem still exists due to the tied agency system where individual financial planners or analysts can only recommend products from a single provider.

“Their solutions are domestically myopic when the clients they target have already gone global” JEREMY TAN

To mitigate this problem, an institutionalised agency system called Corporate Unit Trust Agent was established where licensed financial planners or analysts can distribute products from multiple providers.

“But if you look at the response to this ‘innovation’, only four entities (product providers) have applied, which is not what individual financial planners want. This, in turn, hinders the development of the FP profession,” Foo adds.

Due to a lack of enforcement, scores of individuals are holding themselves out as financial planners or advisors without a licence.

“Some even have FP qualifications but are not licensed by SC or Bank Negara. Most of these are sales and product agents who want a little credibility with these professional sounding labels,” Foo notes.

Jeremy Tan, a licensed financial adviser with Standard Financial Planner Sdn Bhd, agrees that many equate financial planning with unit trust investment and insurance planning.

In reality, financial planning involves a holistic planning of one’s finances throughout the different stages of one’s life (family inclusive). This is a more wholesome approach and encompasses wealth management, its protection, distribution and wealth accumulation on an independent basis.

“Unit trust investment and insurance are among the vehicles in holistic financial planning, but they are by no means exhaustive,” Tan adds.

Another concern is the lack of accessibility to product innovations and solutions, which are available overseas, but not available to retail clients here. This limits the development of the FP industry.

Many clients recognise the options and opportunities overseas and have actually channelled a large amount of their money abroad for offshore product options.

“How do you expect the Malaysian FP practitioners to prosper? Their solutions are domestically myopic when the clients they target have already gone global?” Foo adds.

The local FP industry also lacks the tools required to provide the necessary comprehensive advice and services irrespective of whether the client’s assets have remained on Malaysian shores or gone global.

“Currently, there are almost no competitively priced and reliable tools available to these growing boutique firms to serve their globally oriented clients,” Foo says.

Coupled with the tied agency system, practitioners do not see the usefulness of such a comprehensive and globally-oriented system, Foo notes.

Financial planners agree that there need to be concerted efforts by the regulators and FP practitioners to have expos and public forums to create awareness.

“The caveat here is that it should be clearly about FP advice and not about products. Otherwise the confusion will persist,” Foo says.

Advisory practice standards should also be set to ensure that the FP practitioners provide their advice professionally. The client’s interest should be placed first.

“But standards set should not stifle the innovation and creativity of the different business models used by FP practitioners,” Foo notes.

More importantly, there is a need to open up the market for greater competition such as in the United States, Britain and Australia; this will benefit the public in the long run.

This includes making available offshore funds and products via various forms of distribution channels on a “willing buyer willing seller” basis.

“Investment and protection are two of the most important financial concerns for Malaysians and the public should get the best advice and options for their financial future,” Foo concludes.

NEW YORK (AP): Prudential PLC, Britain’s largest life insurer, is exploring a bid for the Asian life-insurance arm of American International Group Inc., according to media reports Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter it did not name, reported a deal could come in a week.

Prudential would pay with a mixture of cash and stock, but the terms are still being negotiated, it reported. Talks of a deal were first reported by Sky News.

The Journal reported on its Web site that the deal could be worth about $30 billion.

AIG has said it plans to sell the unit, American International Assurance Co., or spin it off into a separate company through an initial public offering, part of an effort to pay off the debt it owes to the U.S. government.

Messages left with AIG and Prudential seeking comment Saturday were not immediately returned.

AIG said Friday it lost $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter as its general insurance business remained weak. It also warned it may need additional support from the government. However, AIG has included such warnings in past filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AIG was bailed out in September 2008 by the government as the financial crisis spiraled out of control. The insurer has received aid packages with a total value of $182.5 billion from the government. In return for that financial support, the government received an 80 percent stake in AIG.

AIG reported $6.2 billion in expenses from repaying government loans in the fourth quarter.

Prudential PLC is not connected to Prudential Financial Inc., based in Newark, New Jersey.

I found a good video and article about Wordpress application on Blackberry. It would be great since I am using Blackberry phone. The application is still in beta version but according to the developers, it’s will be release soon.

You can check out the further news here . Please watch the video that I embedded from Wordpress.tv.

Saya mengucapkan Salam Maulidur Rasul kepada seluruh pembaca blog wmafendi.com. Marilah kita mengambil kesempatan ini bagi memperingati sejarah kelahiran dan perjalanan hidup Baginda Rasulullah.

Saya sempat untuk menghadiri program Maulidur Rasul yang dianjurkan setiap malam di masjid berdekatan dengan rumah saya. Di radio IKIM.fm juga selalu membincangkan tentang sirah Rasulullah dan mengudarakan lagu-lagu nasyid berkenaan dengan Baginda. Semoga kita dapat mengambil teladan dan mengamalkan akhlak Baginda.

Salam Maulidur Rasul sekali lagi!

IT is never too early to start preparing for retirement. That was what How Chee Kong, a 28-year-old engineer, realised after taking part in the What’s Adam’s Number Challenge, a retirement-savvy contest by Prudential Assurance Malaysia.

The online contest, which required participants to calculate the retirement number for Adam, the character in the contest using the retirement calculator and to key in their answers in the website after reading the weekly clues. The first participant with the correct answer won the contest.

“Initially, I thought the answer was all guesswork and I had to depend on luck to get it right.

“Then I realised that I had to calculate the answers with the help of the clues,” he said.

Despite being an engineer and having dealt with numbers all of his life and at work, How admitted that finding the answer was tough. The answer was actually the amount of money the character in the contest, Adam, needed for his retirement.

Here you go: Oropeza (left) talking to How while the company’s brands and communications assistant director Fiona Liao (right) congratulates consolation prize winner Poon Kum Loon.

“By using the retirement calculator for myself, I believe savings alone would be insufficient to secure a comfortable life upon retirement.

“I guess a portfolio of diversified investments is needed for me to come close to my ideal retirement lifestyle,” How said.

When asked for the estimated figure that was ideal for his own retirement, he said it would be about RM1mil.

Chow won RM100,000 worth of retirement plans from Prudential, giving him at an early start in his own retirement plan.

The prize was presented by Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad chief executive officer Charlie Oropeza.

The other winners are Jonathan Ooi, Ng Wei Hang, Chua Kwee Sung, Sim Ai Lan, Soon Keat Loo, Poon Kum Loon, Lim Kok Lin and Lim Yoke Wen. All received RM12,500 each in retirement plans.

How keyed in his answer exactly one minute after midnight on Dec 23, after the last clue to Adam’s number was revealed while the other eight consolation winners keyed in their final answers within 30 minutes.

Oropeza said the contest was held as part of Prudential’s effort to better educate Malaysians about retirement numbers.

“Retirement is universal. We work hard throughout our working lives with hopes that we can enjoy our golden years.

“Unfortunately, without adequate understanding of retirement planning, many Malaysians stand the risk of being unprepared when they approach retirement,” he said.

The contest, which ran for four weeks since Dec 2 last year, attracted more than 2,000 entries.

It’s quite old pictures my friends. Since I cannot do posting since my blog got problem last month, some posts cannot be published as scheduled. And this is the one.

Now, I happily want to share the pictures with you all. Enjoy!

Pengambilan Perancang Kewangan / Wakil Takaful dibuka sekarang untuk semua rakyat Malaysia berbangsa Melayu.

Kelayakan:

1. Sebarang Diploma / Degree
2. Pengalama nBekerja 3 Tahun
3. Umur 25-45
4. “Business-Minded”
5. Komitmen Dalam Latihan

Manfaat:

1. Komisen Berterusan 6 Tahun
2. Bonus 2 Kali Setahun
3. Insentif Lawatan Luar Negara
4. Peluang Kenaikan Pangkat
5. Program Latihan 6-8 Bulan

Untuk layak menjadi Perancang Kewangan yang bertauliah, pemohon yang berjaya akan menjalani latihan komprehensif selama 6-8 bulan dan menduduki peperiksaan. Untuk permohonan sessi temuduga, sila hantar resume and kepada saya di wmafendi@gmail.com