Few in RI turn to financial advisers

Few in RI turn to financial advisers

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Few people in Indonesia make use of financial advisers, with only
1 percent of the country's five million middle-class families
availing themselves of the services of a financial adviser.

The chairman of the International Association of Registered
Financial Consultants (IARFC) Indonesia, Aidil Akbar Madjid, said
that ideally a middle-class family with monthly expenditures of
over Rp 1 million (US$104.50) should use a financial adviser to
manage their future investments.

"It is understandable if the demand for financial advisers
remains low since the profession was only introduced here in
2000. Previously, only the haves used financial advisers to
manage their assets," he said during a recent customer and media
gathering hosted by state Bank BNI.

One of the obstacles to increasing the use of financial
advisers is that many insurance agents and bank tellers pretend
to be financial advisers and tell their clients to use their
respective company's products, he said.

Akbar said a financial adviser should be independent and
should not promote the products of a certain bank or insurance
company.

According to Akbar, there are only 102 internationally
accredited independent financial advisers in Indonesia, with most
of them working in Jakarta. Their consultation fees range from Rp
1.5 million to up to Rp 20 million.

Besides managing a family's finances, financial advisers help
clients select their investments.

"Each financial adviser will give their clients a guideline on
what to do with their money," Akbar said.

Beginning in July this year, BNI will deploy 134 financial
advisers at its offices to provide free consultations on
financial management and investment to customers.

"For the time being, the 134 financial advisers will be
deployed at BNI's branches in the Greater Jakarta, Bandung,
Semarang and Surabaya," said Adi Setyanto, general manager of
BNI's Bancassurance program.