Great Eastern Life
 

Hi everyone,
I'm currently on the lookout for internship opportunities and got offered an internship at Great Eastern under the entrepreneurship internship programme (EIP). Apparently it is already in its 12th batch, and it is packaged as a wealth management/financial advisory type of internship with a focus on entrepreneurship. There will also be financial services license to be acquired during the course of the internship.
However i am a little skeptical about this internship mainly due to Great Eastern as an insurance company, i'm wary that it is actually an internship on insurance sales etc.
Would anyone care to offer their opinion on this matter? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

No doubt about it. It is

I'm not interested in a sales related job or pushing insurance etc, however that being said, would this internship still be useful in terms of the things i may pick up in other sectors of finance?

Take it up if you don't have any other option. Unless you want to enter the insurance industry, I would imagine that you won't be able to learn much about the other sectors of finance through the internship.

However, at least do something over the summer. So if you don't have any other choice, just go for it.

actually thats exactly how i view it as well, however how would WM in an insurance company differ from banks?

Generally:
- Insurance company: Sell insurance
- Banks (Retail WM): Sell credit card
- Banks (Private WM): Investments (equity/bounds/funds), Trusts, etc

"...focus on entrepreneurship. There will also be financial services license to be acquired during the course of the internship."

Entrepreneurship = Do your own biz or in insurance speak = sell insurance
Acquire financial svc license = So u can be your entrepreneur and sell insurance.

Its an insurance sale oriented internship (actually 'course' would be a better word). I have been through it during my yr2 as I could not land any other internships then.

Basically, you will have to attend motivation/self help talks, lessons which prepares you for all the insurance exams, and courses on how to sell insurance. It has nothing to do with the entrepreneurship that you might be thinking of. As the previous poster said, 'entrepreneur' refers to selling insurance in their speak. And chances are, you will not learn any skills that is transferable to other parts of finance sector (Except for sales).

There r many reason y they are doing this internship year after year..
1. They need undergrad to help them raise their passing rate.
2. Its an extremely good advertising avenue for them. By taking in 100+ undergrad each year, they have immediate access to 100+ families. And you will also be made to walk around in their GE T-shirt during one of their 'health-awareness day', which is essentially one giant advertisement campaign, where you see a huge group of youngster in red walking around the cbd area.
3. Among the 100+ undergrad, all they need is just one potential super-agent to recover all the cost.


seems like they are making use of u, but if you have no other alternative, this is actually not a bad idea...
1. I genuinely think it was a very fun experience
2. The things you learn is going to be useful for you as an individual. Insurance is an essential part of our personal financial planning.
3. those agents are rich, they treat you good food from time to time.

In conclusion, don't do it if you can find other internships. Otherwise, give it a go and enjoy the experience.

Wow didn't think i could get input from someone who has actually been through the program. Thanks for your input on the internship. I am also treating it as my last resort (kind of) if i can't land any other internships. Thanks!

On a separate note, would an internship by a financial advisory firm all be similar to this one by GE?
I have friends that applied for finexis, would it also be the same thing?

i happened to be from one of the earlier batches.

so heres what i feel about the whole thing.

if you have no interest whatsoever in dealing insurance in the future, DONT go for it. what happened for my batch was everyone had to be licensed as an agent to be able to receive the pay/allowance at the end of the internship. those that chose not to be licensed and practice actually had to forgo the $800 (that was what we were given then).

personally i had no interest and chose to enroll in it as a last resort thing. i do not regret what i learnt from there but the months spent there could definitely have been better off spent doing admin as a temp at banks and knowing more ppl if you are keen to enter the finance industry in the future.

so think of your end goal, what you want ultimately then plot your way accordingly. cheers :)

my advice is not to take up this internship but work as a temp admin in a bank or smth n network from there

Any actual selling for GE internship. Or legal Commitments?
 

Hi! Quick question.

Any idea if any actual selling is involved?
Also, any legal commitment is involved should we not sign as their agent after the programme completed.

I actually got shortlisted for their internship programme.

Your application was 'processed' not 'shortlisted'. They almost never reject any applicant. And yes you will be expected to sell by joining an insurance sales program, why else would you join this program?

Mainly join to be exposed to the 'secrets of the industry' also capitalising that there are
'free financial planning certification and knowledge to take home'. I believe its important to be literate in financial planning so as to deal with such matters. Not so keen on the selling though.

However, on the hindsight, I do not believe as 'free lunch in the world' thus seeking for opinions from people here. So unsure if selling or legal obligations vaguely stated in terms of internship. Thus, coming onto this forum to perhaps get an 'insight' from people who personally experienced it, so i know what to expect and look out for before signing any documents.

Mainly join to be exposed to the 'secrets of the industry' also capitalising that there are
'free financial planning certification and knowledge to take home'. I believe its important to be literate in financial planning so as to deal with such matters. Not so keen on the selling though.

However, on the hindsight, I do not believe as 'free lunch in the world' thus seeking for opinions from people here. So unsure if selling or legal obligations vaguely stated in terms of internship. Thus, coming onto this forum to perhaps get an 'insight' from people who personally experienced it, so i know what to expect and look out for before signing any documents.

That's just being penny wise and pound foolish. I can't believe anyone would waste their precious time to go through such a lengthy course to learn basic financial planning.

Firstly, these consultants know nuts about finance, they are there to sell and the training focus on selling with rudimentary product knowledge. Secondly you can just read off any good blog or magazine in a few hours to get the rough idea.

To waste months of precious internship time because it's "free" "secrets", I think you really need to grow up and get your priorities right. Don't end up graduate already cannot find job because all your peers have experience and connection then kpkb.

haha strawberry kids these days...

lol many people on this thread dissing something which they haven't been been through...so typical of salary.sg posters

I have actually been through this programme (5 years back) and am hence better placed to answer the queries here.

There is completely no obligation to sell insurance for GE. While they will coach you to get the certifications, decision to sign the contract at the end of the internship is completely up to you. For my batch, about 30% decided to sign. I was part of the 70% who did not.

Are the certifications useful? That depends on where you plan on entering. For me, personally, they definitely gave me an advantage when I was applying for internships in my later undergrad years. Having M5, M9, M9A certifications at the age of 21/22 definitely puts you ahead of others.

However, if you are in your penultimate year, then you should try looking for other internships which are more relevant to the working world. Go for this GE internship if you are in 1st/2nd year of uni. Personally, I went for it after my 1st year. I managed to get an internship at a boutique WM firm the subsequent summer and got an internship in the WM arm of a major IB the year after, which was converted to a full time position. So do go for it, and ignore the haters who are probably stuck in their 3k/month jobs :)

LOL. Standard CMFAS modules that you memorize 2 hours before exam where every insurance agent go through motion to fulfill regulations is going to give you an advantage in the WM/IB industry!?

Give me a break. Unless by WM firm you mean some idiotic XXX & Associates insurance agency.

I am an undergrad in NTU and know a few course mates selling insurance part time now, means they have M5/9 certification. It is very common, so I don't think it will give any edge in interview.

Irregardless whether got bond/compulsory to sell or not, my suggestion to guy who is not interested in sales career is to go for internship or part time jobs that can learn something useful for his preferred career.

This cert is relatively cheap so you can always work/earn somewhere and spend a little to take the exam in your free time.

stop your utter rubbish when you never go take cmfas before.

Like I said, be skeptical all you want. I am replying OP as I have actually been through the programme unlike the others in this thread who are basing their views on hearsay. The WM firm I am referring to is the typical boutique firm catering to HNWIs.

It is not the difficulty of passing the exams which gave me the advantage. It is the fact that I possess the qualification. If you have ever worked in a WM firm (which you obviously have not), you will know that many of the CMFAS modules are required in order for you to meet clients. For a 3 month internship, it makes no sense for the WM firm to pay $500 for an intern to take the required modules. Hence, possessing the relevant CMFAS qualifications already puts you ahead of the 95% who do not. I managed to beat out dean's listers for my boutique WM internship so I know what I am talking about.

But of course, you can just continue to be skeptical for the sake of it. Just remember this: Being open-minded leads you to more opportunities :)

What's the name of the firm?

Crossinvest Asia.

Heard Anton Casey made few million USD a year there

Crossinvest Asia is one of the top paying financial firm in sg