Insurer Singlife Launches Shared Services for Singapore Financial Advisers

Known as Propel, the hub is designed to enable advisers to start their own firms

- Claire Huang

Insurer Singlife has set up a shared services hub to support financial advisers in Singapore, in a move that is starting to gain ground in the industry as financial advisory (FA) firms are expected to become the preferred sales channel.

The composite insurer, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Life, said on Jan 2 its shared services hub is designed to enable financial advisers to start their own firms.

Called Propel, the hub now has a team of almost 100 staff and will provide services like electronic financial needs analysis, client onboarding, commission tracking, as well as operational and administrative support.

Incorporated in September 2023, Propel has so far signed up more than 230 advisers from across seven FA firms, such as Alpha Wealth Financial Advisers.

The FA firms that join the hub have to pay an undisclosed monthly tech platform fee, on top of the fees for services they sign up for.

Led by Propel chief executive Steven Ong, the hub is looking to take on a further 700 advisers in 2025, with the goal of hitting 3,000 advisers by 2029.