Some seven years ago, this registered nurse and former government employee shifted gears to become a financial advisor for Pru Life UK. Her leap of faith brought her to new heights — in more ways than she had initially imagined.
By Jose Paolo S. dela Cruz
Bing Buan flashes her pearly whites for the PeopleAsia camera one cloudy afternoon at the PRUHouse in Pasig City. Ironically, the gloomy skies beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows couldn’t be in starker contrast to the millennial financial advisor before us, whose charming personality and infectious laughter easily light up the room.
Well, there is reason to celebrate, indeed, for Bing, who continues to break new ground with Pru Life UK, having insured more than 5,000 individuals in the past seven years together with her team.
“For every life, for every future”
“These are words we live by as financial advisors,” starts off Bing. “It is our job to educate our clients on how life insurance can be beneficial for them and their loved ones. I’ve always believed that our work is a blessing that enables us to bless other people.”
In this regard, Pru Life UK stays true to its promise. When the pandemic wreaked havoc across the world, the company provided agents with digitally accessible tools such as the PRUOne app. This app enhanced efficiency, even at the height of the lockdowns, by enabling seamless communication, real-time updates and easy access to critical information. It empowered agents to continue serving clients effectively, ensuring uninterrupted support and service during challenging times.
“I’m very thankful to Pru Life UK because it equips us with platforms and tools that help us prepare for the worst. PRUOne, for instance, has been rolled out even before the pandemic. And while we had to exert extra effort to learn it, doing so proved to be a valuable undertaking,” shares Bing.
Sibling revelry
Looking back, Bing says that her journey with Pru Life UK started as a family affair in 2017. “I was in my late twenties and I felt like I had outgrown my job as a sports and regulations officer for a government agency,” she says. Her choices back then included pursuing a nursing career abroad or opening her own business.
As such, she attended trade fairs and expos in search of business ideas, many of which were too capital-intensive or complicated for the aspiring entrepreneur. Eventually, her siblings broached the idea of being a financial advisor to Bing. “Three of my siblings were working with Pru Life UK back in 2014 and they encouraged me to give it a try,” she narrates.
“It was a second chance for me, too, since a few years back, Jonash Go [now one of Pru Life UK’s top district managers in the Philippines] interviewed me. At first, I would try to avoid him each time we bumped into each other, because I was a no-show for most of his invitations back then,” she adds with a chuckle.
With the help of her older sister, she assisted in presenting financial advice to the extended network of her siblings’ clientele, while waiting for her insurance license to come out. It was not an easy journey for Bing, but thanks to the groundwork she had laid out, along with the guidance and mentorship from Pru Life UK, she was elated when she finally earned her first million in sales as a bona fide financial advisor.
The secret, she says, is “working smart.”
“I’m not someone who needs to talk to a hundred people in a day in order to feel productive. Instead, I really study my potential clients and filter them out during the prospecting stage. That way I am able to work on accounts that would more or less yield positive results,” explains Bing, who also gets a head start by working as early as 7 a.m. every day. Bing is now the president and CEO of her very own Double Dragon
Life Insurance Agency. She has also established two direct branches and manages 500 financial advisors — 21 of whom have qualified as MDRT financial advisors themselves within a year.
Practicing what she preaches
Of course, part of Bing’s success as a financial advisor and branch manager is driven by her ability to cultivate four Double Dragon branches dedicated to genuine client success. And it’s not just about adding more warm bodies into the fold. Rather, it’s about seeking driven and passionate professionals who understand the heart and soul of the matter.
“We are all about professionalizing the business, because, as many of our financial advisors could attest, it can offer a fulfilling career,” she says passionately. Being a reliable financial advisor requires so much more than a piece of paper.
“The important part is your commitment to your client, to the business. You have to attend training, allow yourself to be mentored by the best in the industry. You have to not just be good at selling, but be good at servicing,” she says. “We want to be the financial advisors who equip them towards a more secure future — even after we’ve closed the deal.”
In line with Pru Life UK’s mission of providing easy and accessible health and financial solutions to Filipinos, Bing also says that the market seems to be evolving when it comes to its views on life insurance. Influences such as digital accessibility and heightened awareness on financial security have prompted evolved health protection needs. “Our clients, especially the millennials, no longer just view insurance from the lens of morbidity and mortality. Many of our clients, aged from 21 to 69, actually get insurance with savings, investments and even retirement in mind,” she says.
Seven years, 4,000 policies and four agency branches later, everything still seems to be coming up roses for Bing and her agency. And if her outlook in life is any indicator, one could easily say that the best is yet to come for this top financial advisor.
“Looking back, all I wanted when I started out in Pru Life UK was to finally find a career for myself. But I was blessed with so much more, not just financially, but also with opportunities to use my talents and skills to be a blessing to others. And sometimes, really, I still can’t believe it,” she concludes.
Photography by Dix Perez
