Tune Up Your Investments
She’s the head of DBS Treasures Private Client and an aspiring opera singer. Nelly Tse shares how a well-chosen insurance plan can help dreams become reality
It’s important to set clear goals and come up with the right financial strategies to achieve your dreams. That means selecting a balanced mix of financial products to prepare for whatever happens. The Universal Life insurance plan can be one of the options to give savvy investors the financial security and flexibility they need.
Nelly Tse, the executive director and head of DBS Treasures Private Client, believes it is essential to plan ahead for the future. With her own retirement finances on the right track, she has been able to pursue her dream: perform an opera in Italy. A lifelong music lover, Nelly has always been a talented singer, and won numerous awards in school. After discovering a love of opera in recent years, Tse has not only trained in Italy but also performed in four operas there.
Tse takes her opera just as seriously as her career. Despite her busy job, she still makes time for lessons and practice. “Sometimes I don’t get home until 11pm on a work day, but I’ll still practice and memorise my music,” she says. “Passion drives motivation and determination.”
She can do that because she has her finances in order, with appropriate planning for the future. Her investment philosophy is to allocate almost half of her capital to tools with relatively higher volatility and risks in exchange for the greater potential returns. To balance out the risk, she puts another 30 per cent of her capital in a variety of insurance products, with a focus on the Universal Life insurance plan.
“The modern woman has multiple roles to fulfil,” she says. “I value my family members; my top priority is to safeguard their current standard of living. Universal Life provides a combination of life protection, investment, savings and risk management, as well as the transfer of wealth. It is the product that meets my needs.”
Universal Life is one of the many medical and life insurance plans offered by DBS Treasures Private Client and underwritten by Manulife. With an entry-level sum insured of US$500,000, it offers a guaranteed 3.9 per cent annual rate during the first five policy years*.
One of the advantages offered by Universal Life insurance is that the cash value of the policy can be used as collateral in premium financing. In an example of a 40-year-old client, the policyholder’s insurance premium was about US$400,000. The policyholder needed only to pay US$100,000 as an initial premium for US$1.6 million coverage after premium financing.
Tse points out that since the Universal Life insurance rate is normally lower than traditional life insurance rates and has a shorter payback period, it offers policyholders a greater financial flexibility. Policyholders with unexpected financial needs can withdraw funds from the policy’s cash value, if any.
Says Tse, “With any financial plan, it is always wise to have funds available for use at all times.”
*note: the above article is customer case sharing of personal experience on related insurance products purchased and is for reference only. the features and returns shown are to be read as examples only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. it is not and shall not be considered as advice on purchasing any insurance or investment products. it does not constitute any offer or solicitation of offer to subscribe, transact or redeem any products. investment involves risk. You should carefully read the product offering documentation, the account terms and conditions and the product terms and conditions for detailed product information and risk factors prior to making any investment. the above life insurance plans are underwritten by Manulife (international) limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) (“Manulife”) and distributed by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) limited (the “Bank”). the Bank is acting as an insurance agent of Manulife.