I have never heard selling cars described as a profession or selling groceries being called one. Yet people who sell life insurance or unit trusts insist that their field is a profession.And they don’t liken themselves to one of the quasi-professionals in financial services such as accountants and actuaries. Rather, they compare themselves with a much older profession: that of the medical doctor.I am not sure why being involved in sales should be considered inferior or even shameful; it is a very necessary part of a functioning economy. And the reality is that it is hard to imagine that doctors, or even accountants, are being threatened by the opening of a new digital sales channel.The argument against robo advisers reminds me of the argument about whether to keep the trading floor of the JSE open. At the time it was said that, unlike other countries, SA needed to preserve the personal touch, and that nobody would want to trade on the screen. That seems ridiculous 20 years after the...
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