offered to their corporate customers. however, over the years, we have noticed that for some insurance brokers, fa activities and revenue from the advisory business have eclipsed that of their core insurance broking business. mas is concerned that insurance brokers may not have sufficient management expertise and compliance capability to oversee and manage the fa portion of their business. lowering distribution costs our fourth key thrust is to lower the cost of distribution, so that we can keep the overall cost of life insurance products affordable for singaporeans. direct sales of simple products the online channel is one of the ways in which we can lower distribution costs. we have seen the use of direct sales via the internet for the distribution of general insurance products such as travel insurance and motor insurance. why not life insurance? the industry could explore the use of the internet as an alternative distribution channel to offer life insurance to consumers at competitive prices. online distribution will also mean that products will have to be simplified. simple term life insurance via the internet could be a good way to help lower cost and make affordable insurance protection more readily available to a wider population. and simple term life insurance is sometimes all that a person needs to protect against risk. mas would like to see the sale of simple term life insurance products through the internet. bis central bankers ’ speeches commission - based remuneration and distribution structure but customised financial advice is still required for the more complicated insurance plans, tailored to suit individual and family needs and circumstances, and for those who want to supplement their term life insurance. to lower costs for such products, we must address some of the underlying inefficiencies in our remuneration and distribution structure. fair will fundamentally review the commission - based remuneration and distribution structure. in singapore, insurance products are distributed through insurance agencies, banks, and financial advisory firms. the premiums for these insurance products include charges that cover mortality risk, as well as various expenses incurred by the insurer, such as distribution and management expenses. a substantial proportion of the premium in the earlier years goes to paying for distribution expenses. over the life of a policy, this cost can account for as much as 8 % of the total premiums paid. a key driver of this cost is the multi - tier distribution structure that is common in singapore ’ s insurance companies and large fa firms. the commission - based, multi - tier distribution structure involves representatives in the upper tiers having a share of the commissions earned by lower - tier representatives who provide insurance and financial advice

funds are increasing their allocation to asia, specifically in asian real estate. singapore can play an important role as a gateway for global investors to access asian opportunities via our capital markets. as a leading home for global fund managers, total assets under management in singapore exceed s $ 720 billion with over 50 % of these funds invested into asia pacific. the singapore exchange is an established listing venue for regional property companies based in singapore as well as foreign property developers. alongside singapore ’ s vibrant reit market, we offer a strong value proposition for real estate players to tap on singapore ’ s capital market to finance the rapid growth in the asian real estate sector. singapore ’ s real estate investment trust ( reit ) market singapore was the first country in asia to introduce a regulatory framework to facilitate the offering of real estate investment trusts ( reits ). this framework allows property companies to securitise their completed real estate assets in the capital markets, realise capital gains and re - invest into developing new properties. by offering investors direct exposure to assets with stable cash - flows, reits tap a new pool of investors who are seeking higher - yielding securities, including pension funds and insurance companies. since the first reit listing in 2002, the singapore reit market has become the largest reit market in asia outside of japan. currently, singapore has 16 listed reits, making up a total market capitalization of over s $ 26 billion. singapore reits offer investors access to a diversity of real estate assets including retail malls, office buildings, industrial properties and serviced apartments. in 2006, we also saw the first dedicated hotel reit as well as asia ’ s first healthcare reit. several key factors have contributed to the growth of the singapore reit market. our established and robust, yet pro - business regulatory framework and competitive tax regime have drawn the attention of global investors, attracting the securitization of not just domestic, but increasingly offshore assets. the number of cross - border reits listed on the singapore exchange has increased, further consolidating singapore ’ s status as a regional reits hub. these reits offer global investors exposure to properties throughout asia pacific via the singapore market, including properties in china, hong kong, australia, indonesia, vietnam, malaysia and japan. to sharpen singapore ’ s edge as an asian reits hub, it is crucial for us to maintain a conducive environment both for issuers and for investors. to this end, mas regularly reviews its regulatory regime to