UAE: Financial advisory aggregator website launched
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | May 2019
UAE-based research, consultancy and communications agency, Insight Discovery, has launched its end-to-end financial advisory aggregator website www.whichfinancialadviser.com (WFA) that connects consumers and financial advisers.
The aggregator website will provide details on financial advisory firms regulated by two of the UAE’s regulatory authorities – the Insurance Authority (IA) and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
In addition, to protect consumers from scammers and sales malpractices, WFA reserves the right not to profile those advisory firms that are actively involved in cold calling.
WFA is launched following a survey conducted by Insight Discovery that finds expats across the GCC are demanding more from their financial advisers. As much as 39% of expats want more transparency on advisers’ fees and commissions, 37% want a tougher stance by local regulators against scams and unregulated firms, while 15% want industry-recognised qualifications for advisers.
“As the leading provider of consumer intelligence in the MENA region, we could see an obvious gap in helping UAE residents understand the quality of firms that they were engaging with or indeed a place for customers to go to, to help them compare the type of advisers available to them,” said Mr Nigel Sillitoe, founder of WFA and CEO of Insight Discovery.
“It can be daunting for consumers to understand how they are protected by the different regulatory frameworks in the UAE, and WFA helps to cut through all of that and provide simple and straightforward information on regulated firms in the UAE. Soon, we plan to roll out WFA in other markets in the Middle East where financial advisers are regulated by the competent regulatory authorities,” he added.
Created with the user experience in mind, the website includes features to help users quickly and easily compare and find the right financial adviser they need, and thus bring in greater transparency in the UAE’s financial services sector. M