I have said this many times in the past – the best way to create wealth is to spend time lavishly in searching for a good ‘adviser’. Clearly he should be compensated as a %age of your NET WORTH so that you are both playing the same game. Increase in your networth. Instead of this most people sign the first form that is thrust across them and then say ‘My agent cheated me’ or things to this effect.

Now no life insurance company advertises celebrating the agent, so most of them will shift to the E-model – come to the net and get a better product. Of course it means the marginalization / elimination of the ‘form pushing’ agents. Ageon Religare was the first, Bajaj Alliance and Birla Sunlife are supposed to be working on a ‘net-only’ term plan. Soon pension plans and unit linked insurance will follow. People like Manish of Jagoinvestor will have a role to play in telling people what to buy. Blogs, websites, microsites, will all be now the ‘influence pedlers’ for all products including financial products.

Will the end client benefit? I do not know. I subscribe to the Kiyosaki view that you cannot make money in shares, real estate, mutual funds, gold, or other commodities. You make money because your brain is well developed to understand all these markets for you to make money. Remember the most important sex organ in the body is the brain 🙂

  1. Subra,

    Actually it is the last point that actually reveals how the brain makes money and not the effort taken to fish out a smart ‘advisor’.

    A lesson that the smart brahmin Kautaliya (Chanakya) ingrained into an inexperienced Chandragupta Maurya ages ago that it was not possible for honey to pass through your mouth and one did not taste its sweetness.

  2. Subra

    I think the internet model these companies are trying will have a limited market and a very good one . But what about the market which is in smaller cities and villages and town , SBI and LIC will still be dominant player in those places and i am sure no one can budge them for years to come , no matter how advance our country becomes .

    But things will change in future , for sure

    Manish

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