University Challenge turns up financial planning’s bright lights of the future

The high calibre of university-qualified entrants to the financial planning profession has been illustrated vividly with the winners of the AMP University Challenge 2014 announced last night following an exhaustive selection process that for some participants began back in March.

A final-year duo from Griffith University, Stephen McLay and Matthew Baldi (pictured), took out first place in the 2014 challenge, after impressing the judges with their technical skills in creating a statement of advice (SoA) and their interpersonal skills during a role-playing session.

The 2014 challenge attracted 413 registrations, with 154 students working as individuals or in small groups making it through to the final stages. The top five prize winners were recognised at an awards event at AMP’s Sydney headquarters.

Students at Griffith and La Trobe are required to enter the University Challenge as part of their studies.

“We had to submit this as part of one of our assignments at Griffith,” Baldi says.

Deakin University doesn’t make the challenge compulsory and Harman Singh, who placed fifth in the overall competition, was that university’s sole entrant.

AMP Horizons director Amelia Constantinidis says the the full-day assessment of the finalists started with ice-breaker exercises, followed by a technical quiz, titled “Who wants to be a financial planner?”. They were then required to present an SoA “in a role-playing situation, in front of the judges and an audience”.

They then made a further presentation on an idea to help increase the penetration of financial planning from the current estimate of one in five Australians.

“Each team exceeded our expectations today,” Constantinidis says.

“If any of them decide to pursue a career in financial planning, the future of the profession is in definitely great hands.”

For the finalists themselves, the day was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating.

“I did the quiz at the start and was pretty nervous,” Baldi says.

“Steve was did the role play and the speech, which was good. All the training they gave us on the day really helped us to calm down.”

McLay adds that “if it wasn’t for our coach, Gavin [Morgan, planner development coach and trainer at AMP], we wouldn’t have won”.

Experience

McLay says the experience of the challenge has convinced him he wants to pursue a career in financial planning.

“A day like this is fantastic, for everyone to get involved – the university, the teachers, everyone who has helped us today, it’s just incredible,” he says.

“Today has been an event that has just showed me that not only is it a career that I’m attracted to, but it would suit me – like a calling.”

Steve Helmich, AMP’s executive director of financial planning, says the quality of entrants in the University Challenge indicated that the future of the profession is bright.

“For someone like me, who’s been around the financial planning world for so long and so heavily involved in it, I get very excited and really enthused about the future when I see the quality of people here today, and the quality of the people who will be entering the financial planning industry into the future,” Helmich says.

“Australian will be in great hands, with great advice from great financial planners in future.

“It was close. the judges had a hard time splitting everyone. All I would say is whether you finished first of firth today, you should feel proud of what you’ve done and if you want to enter the financial planning world as a planner, I can tell you you’re entering it at a great time – a time when that one-in-five Australians that you had to talk about today will grow. So the opportunity is enormous.”

The winners’ prize package includes $5000 cash for the individuals; a $10,000 grant for their university; registration to attend the AMP planners’ conference in Perth in 2015; registration to attend the 2014 Financial Planning Association Professionals Congress in Adelaide in November; one-year’s student membership of the FPA; and CCH text books.

Professional Planner is a media partner to the University Challenge.