He told Mr Chua he was indispensable because no one but him understood his policies. But Mr Chua assured his client that despite leaving the company, he would continue watching over the latter's portfolio with Prudential.

It was during his National Service (NS) years that Mr Chua had his first brush with insurance. A mechanical engineering diploma holder, he had been dreading what life would be like as an engineer and was looking for an alternative.

He was also looking for an insurance policy. As it happened, it was through his insurance agent that he found his career path.

Mr Chua started working part-time as an insurance agent, moving into it full-time after completing NS. The perks were clear. "I get to control my time. I can choose to rest if I want to," he said. "I also get to control my income. I will need to work harder if I want a better income."

Tough it out
The first few years as an insurance agent, however, were lessons in rejection. Cold calling remains a painful memory. "I don't like it. I get very demoralised," he says.

"But in the beginning, you don't have a client base, so you really have to bite the bullet and call people."

He recalled the common responses he got from others. "'Insurance? Oh, I'm not free. Insurance? Oh, I have a lot of plans already' - you get a lot of those, especially from friends," he says.

But the rejection lost its sting over time. A person may not be ready to listen to you now, but he may change his mind two years down the road, explains Mr Chua.

"I pretty much struggled in my first two years as I tried to find my bearings, because my job requires a lot of self-discipline and self-motivation."

"The job is about whether you can grasp the concepts of financial planning, like assessing the needs of the client and offering different solutions.

"It's also about building the relationship with someone so he will trust you to handle his financial portfolio. I've known people who know products inside out but they are unable to build relationships, so they can't get work done," he says.

Despite the difficulties, Mr Chua managed to earn $30,000 in his first year of full-time work, giving him the motivation to strive on.

Work and play
Since then, he has made the progression from selling insurance to offering financial planning.

Mr Chua's clients have stayed with him over the years and have become more affluent, while new clients come from referrals and his "networking" activities.

Mr Chua, who scuba dives and plays volleyball, basketball and ultimate Frisbee, uses his hobbies to network. "I enjoy sports and at the same time, people get to know my business. I'm not there to solicit business, but I'll make it known that I am in this line," he says.

Things have gotten easier after his years of hard work, and with people being more open to financial planning now, Mr Chua's future is also looking secure.

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