How One Relationship Manager Sells

I brought my mum to sign up for a money market fund at the local bank. The young fresh out of school Relationship Manager (RM) welcomed us and started introducing the flavour of the month, a structured product. I told her that my mum is 80+ and I do not think her recommended product is suitable for her. She finally agreed to sign her up for the money market fund.

After filling up the forms, she got her supervisor to be the witness that we are fully aware of the risks, etc. of the structured product she initially pushed (this is to protect the bank). I first explained to my mum that this is the supervisor of the RM and it will be the first and last time my mum will see him. He was embarrassed. He then thanked her for investing in the structured product. I corrected him that she bought a market money market fund not the structured product they were trying to push!

The regulator talked about the bank’s proper selling process! But in the trenches its another process especially when their boss is pressing them on sales target of specific products. They roll their eyes when you want to place a fixed deposit cause the time spent could have been on a more rewarding client. They sell first then do profiling later as a formality!