HAVE you ever been advised, or taken the initiative yourself, to cash in an insurance policy? As the average life span of a 20-year insurance policy is less than seven years, there is a fairly good chance you have.
The Hong Kong community has always been ahead of its British counterparts when it comes to financial sophistication - or so we are told - apart from when the decision is made to cash up a savings plan.
Most of us accept the value placed on our policy by the life company and passively receive our payment, normally a modest increase above the total premiums paid.
For those who are unaware: there is a better way! An industry that is very much on the rise in Britain is the ''traded endowment'' market.
Quite simply, companies will buy your with-profits endowment or whole life policy from you for a value in the region of 15 to 20 per cent more than the insurance company is prepared to pay.
Why? Because they can sell your policy on to someone else for a higher value again.