How it works
It's usually done at the first meeting, on your firm's fact-find form or app. There are two kinds of fact. Hard facts are the numbers: income, assets, debts, monthly outgoings and the cover they already have. Soft facts are the rest: what they're worried about, what they want for their family, and how they feel about risk. The hard facts say what's possible. The soft ones say what matters.
In Singapore, MAS Notice FAA-N16 lists what you have to take reasonable steps to collect and record before recommending a product:
- financial objectives and risk tolerance
- employment status
- financial situation, including assets, liabilities, cash flow and income
- the source and amount of regular income, and financial commitments
- current investments, including any life policy
- whether the amount to be invested is a large part of their assets
- for a life policy, the number of dependants, and how much support each needs and for how long
The fact-find is also checked afterwards. The first non-sales KPI in MAS's balanced scorecard, in Notice FAA-N20, is understanding the client's needs. Your firm looks at whether you collected and recorded everything relevant, whether you did it before or after advising, and whether you influenced the client's answers. For an adviser paid on commission only, 60% of each quarter's variable income is measured against these KPIs, and a poor grade reduces it.
Worked example, with a made-up client: a couple in their thirties with a child of two and a home loan. The hard facts take about 20 minutes: two incomes, the loan balance, S$30,000 in savings and one employer group policy. The soft facts come out when you ask what would happen if one income stopped. They want the loan paid off and their child's school fees covered. That answer, not the savings figure, is what the recommendation has to meet.
Where it shows up in your week
What a client tells you at the fact-find matters at every step after it. The funnel counts Set to Opening to Closing to Closed, against the team, so you can see where your cases stop.
Related terms
Questions advisors ask
You can still proceed at their request. Document their decision and tell them in writing that the product's suitability is then their responsibility.
No. The fact-find collects the information. The needs analysis works out what it means and which product suits them.
MAS's balanced scorecard checks whether it was done before or after advice was given. Do it first.
Whenever the client's circumstances change, such as a new job, a child or a new loan, and at each review.
Sources
- MAS Notice FAA-N16, Recommendations on Investment Products, last revised 29 December 2025, paragraph 11, read 2 November 2026
- MAS Notice FAA-N20, the Balanced Scorecard Framework, last revised 29 December 2025, paragraph 4.3.1 and Annex 1, read 2 November 2026