Tough to separate sales from advisory

Nearly three years ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recognised the need to separate two banking functions—giving advice on financial products, and simply selling a financial product. Usually, selling a product is called distribution, and here the bank relationship manager (RM) represents the investment company or the insurance firm. In contrast, if the RM is trying to find which product suits a client based on her needs, it’s called advisory. Till then, there was no distinction made between a seller and an adviser.

Click here to read more.