Insurance and MLM companies ought to be taken to task

For a long time, I have been receiving emails from employers wanting to view my resume. You may think that I may be a high-flier with many big corporations out to headhunt me. This is certainly not the case. My inbox is always flooded with "financial" companies. some shamelessly market themselves as MNCs simply because they sell financial products such as insurance from big companies like AXA and AIG.

Insurance and MLM companies ought to be taken to task for irresponsible advertising and shady practices in recruitment processes. This includes posting on websites such as jobsdb and jobscentral but sometimes omitimportant information on purpose so as to lure unsuspecting potential job applicants (often fresh graduates) to join their companies.


MLM, especially, is an evil business practice and does nothing to improve the lives of the average wage earner, neither does it value-add to the economy. Prices of products such as that of magnetic mattresses, air purifiers and magnetic bracelets have no scientific basis and at best, serve as ornaments and accessories for gullible people.


Yet, these MLM companies blatantly claim their therapeuticand healing effects for chronic ailments and even terminal illnesses. While some MLM companies sell health
supplements which serve more than the placebo effect, these supplements are often overpriced and the quality equally dubious. There is also no scientific proof as to whether detoxification is beneficial for humans.


The more famous variants of supplements today are based on anti-oxidants such as those of tea extracts, mangosteen extracts and herbs with alleged properties of improving overall health. Not everyone is suited for these supplements and most, if not all MLM companies do not practice much corporate responsibility. They do not engage doctors to assess the health of their "clients" (which are also their employees) before proceeding with such treatments and medications.


Granted, MLM is good if the product is useful and of low cost. It could also serve as a sideline for people who wish to supplement their paltry income. However, the prices of these products are grossly inflated through direct selling/marketing (which was the original intent of MLM preachers), instead of being cost effective (low cost). Therefore, the purpose is defeated and the despicable top management (upline) of the pyramid scheme profiteer from the unscrupulous inflation of prices of useless goods to naive consumers (downlines who are coerced into joining as "associates" and "managers" after paying a huge sum of money to the company to join as a member) while giving empty promises of profit-sharing. The members are then encouraged to con their own families and friends into joining the MLM company as members. This rampant recruitment is hardly monitored by government even though many of these are unfair and illegal business practices.


While Im on this topic, I guess the insurance sector deserves a notable mention too. The insurance sector had been dealt with crushing blows to its confidence after AIG was in trouble due to the mortgage/leveraging crisis in U.S. early this year. Things did not improve as more stocks crashed, companies merged in a bid to merely save the businesses, work-force/production was cut due to the lack of demands and many companies went bust/insolvent or at least cash-strapped. The final straw came when the Maddoff Ponzi scheme saga was uncovered and many prominent investors were left high and dry. Both Wall Street and Main Street were in a terrible mess which many likened to the Great Depression (only now to be known as the Great Recession)


A few months later, the insurance sector is still struggling to restore their reputation and improve on the impression still fresh in people's minds. How many people truly believe the claims of insurance companies now? Especially when these insurers and mega-corporations invested our money in dubious and risky products and eventually had to be bailed out by governments around the world? While when we sometimes defaulted on premiums, these companies chased us for payment and threatened to void the policies.


So, they started recruiting more people recently in an attempt to restore investors' confidence and also to hopefully bring in more contracts. On a side note, insurance is rather similar to MLM (with the promises that are not always fulfilled and a somewhat "intangible" product) and not everyone knows the contracts' terms and conditions and the policy's liability under all conditions. Insurance companies now peddle a range of financial products for investment purposes.


How much is revealed to the potential investor is dependent on each agents' conscientiousness and personal morals. More often than not, hard-selling tactics conveniently leave out the necessary issues that investors have to take note of (such as risks and implications). These products are packaged into seemingly risk-less investments though the truth is far from it. Thanks to a certain lack of protection and transparency for both investors and policy holders in Singapore. Which is why, some consider Singapore is a safe haven for employers and errant/irresponsible/profiteering businesses.