Nexus Group, a major independent financial advisor in the region, recorded a 20 percent growth across its employee benefits and general insurance businesses in 2016, said the company’s CEO.

Speaking at the firm’s Annual General Meeting, where the company commemorated its 10-year anniversary, Tarun Khanna added that the company also saw a 50 percent growth in overall gross revenue in its Qatar operations.

“Despite what has been a clearly difficult year for the economy, we have been able to record significant achievements thanks to the hard work of our team and growing community-wide awareness about the importance of insurance as a vital protective measure in today’s increasingly unpredictable world,” said Khanna.

“The industry is witnessing significant regulatory changes, but I believe that this is definitely positive for all stakeholders involved – providers, brokers, and end-users, as it will define the benchmarks of best practice, giving clients the assurance of credible and trustworthy service,” continued Khanna.

“As a firm that strives to reach the highest levels of qualification through the continuous training and education of its professionals, we are confident that these changes will continue to offer Nexus opportunities for business development.”

Meanwhile, Nexus’ Singapore business – the firm’s first operations outside the Middle East – is also witnessing continuing growth since the group took over the tied agency of Zurich Life Insurance Pte. Ltd (‘Zurich Singapore’) last year. The firm now offers 150 products from more than 15 providers, as well as a wide range of investment platforms through approximately 1600 mutual funds. The products cover an entire range of life, medical, investment, and high net worth products – enabling the firm to provide solutions to its diverse client base across the different segments it operates in.

“Our plans for 2016 were based on three pillars: transitioning and stabilizing the advisor force, growing our product portfolio and distribution network, and enhancing our non-organic expansion,” said Gary Harvey, CEO of Nexus Singapore. “I am delighted to announce that we have made progress on all these fronts.”

“The Singapore market is large and sophisticated, and we are witnessing a growing trend in which groups of advisors are leaving tied agencies, which are typically tied to certain providers on an exclusive basis, because of their desire to offer clients greater choice,” added Harvey.

“This is creating strong market competition – the Financial Advisor market in Singapore has grown by about 20 percent per annum over the last five years, almost doubling in size since 2011, and because of this trend I expect to see even stronger growth in the year ahead as more tied agencies look to transition to an International Financial Advisor model. So overall, the IFA market is attractive, but competitive.”

The company’s Singapore office is now looking to build on its robust foundation by developing new channels to broaden its distribution reach, including expanding its salaried, HNW broker, and expat/NRI channels.

With more than 550 qualified professional consultants working across its offices in the Middle East and Singapore, Nexus provides a broad range of licensed products from regulated providers. The group’s expanding portfolio includes life insurance, savings plans, corporate pensions, group medical, as well as various classes of commercial insurance, including employee benefits. – TradeArabia News Service