Attendees at the Financial Planning Association 2015 Professionals Congress have been urged to act now to reserve places at workshops they want to attend, to avoid missing out.
With record registrations tipped at the 2015 congress, and places at workshops limited, reserving a place now is the best way to ensure entry on the day. The FPA has made it possible to secure workshop places at the same time as registering, and anyone who has already registered can also select workshop sessions now.
The workshop program is structured to cover the latest developments and issues across a range of issues affecting financial planners, businesses and the profession, including bedding down Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) changes; life insurance reforms, including the Life Insurance Framework; and the implications of the Parliamentary Joint Committee recommendations on raising professional, ethical and education standards for financial planners.
Other workshops will cover developments in technology and the impact on the profession.
In addition to the main workshop program, FPA Professional Practices are invited to attend a dedicated workshop facilitated by Business Health. The workshop takes place on Day 1 of the Congress, and is a forum for Professional Practices to share best practice insights, and to gain a better understanding of strategies, key ratios and benchmarks, analysed by Business Health.
The 24-session Congress workshop program is divided into four streams – “expand”, “grow”, “engage” and “inspire”. (see boxes.)
The “Expand” stream is designed to deepen technical capability and critical thinking to create better client solutions. The “Grow” stream is constructed to provide insights into how to enhance the operational aspects of financial planning businesses.
The “Engage” stream is all about better innovation, building trust and engaging with clients and staff. And the Inspire stream focuses on improving mental and physical wellbeing.
Each workshop session is accredited for one hour of continuing professional development (CPD).
The chief executive of the FPA, Mark Rantall, says the Congress program has been “built by planners, for planners” and the association has “road-tested” each session to assess and confirm its suitability.
The first keynote speaker for the 2015 Congress – Chris Riddell, a technology and digital futurist – was announced last month. Other keynote speakers will be announced during September.
Workshop program at a glance
Stream: Engage
This session is based on the best-selling book of a similar title. It uses data collected from thousands of businesses in Australia and New Zealand. It explores five key leadership practices guaranteed to increase workplace engagement and profitability.
Discover how storytelling can dramatically increase your leadership presence and ability to influence. This session will provide powerful tips for immediate implementation in your professional life.
Learn how to deliver effective feedback and hold the difficult conversations that you have been avoiding. Participants will discover the power of honesty, delivered with compassion and how it enables effective performance discussions.
Learn how to navigate tricky situations and avoid costly mistakes. This session addresses the risks relating to unfair dismissal, workplace bullying and grievances.
Is it better to innovate in small steps rather than aiming for the big leap forward? In this session you will learn how to solve problems, take action, test, measure and improve. Participants will discover an achievable process for everyday, small-scale but effective innovation.
This session will show you brain-based, evidence-rich strategies for improving the leadership of yourself and others. |
Stream: Expand
Should every client have an SMSF? This session tackles the advantages and disadvantages of SMSF, Industry and Retail fund choices to help you understand whether or not an SMSF may be suitable for a client. The session will also cover when to put insurance inside or outside of an SMSF. (Technical complexity: Medium.)
Risk advice is going through reform. How will these changes align with FOFA and your advice obligations? How can the new FPA Life Insurance Advice Guide help you avoid potential minefields? This session provides support and insights into providing professional risk advice. (Technical complexity: Low.)
This session tackles tax issues, including the top three most commonly used tax strategies. It also explores the differing tax treatment of non-residents and expats. Learn how foreign currency translation rules affect applicable fund earnings. (Technical complexity: High
How can you reduce the tax sting when baby boomers transfer their wealth to their kids? Hear a cautionary tale about an estate planning strategy that failed. Explore the logistics of family trusts and testamentary trusts and how they can help achieve your clients’ goals. (Technical complexity: High.)
This session will provide all the updates that financial planners need on legislative change, including from the TPB on the latest tax reform and what advisers and AFSLs need to know, from ASIC on the PJC inquiry, from the ATO on their latest online initiative and an update on tax avoidance issues. (Technical complexity: Low.)
We all grow old, but few are ready for the challenges. Discover how aged care works, and learn about the assessment and transition process for your clients. What are the latest changes to accommodation and home care packages? When can an aged care specialist provide expert advice? (Technical complexity: High.) |
Stream: Grow
What are the common issues that can lead to disputes? How can tensions be resolved before they escalate too far? What is the process of dispute resolution like, and what happens when FOS is involved? This session tells all and provides practical tips for turning down the heat.
Want to start your own practice? Interested in buying or selling the practice you work for? What are the key issues and considerations? This session unpacks the processes of buying and selling a practice to give you the knowledge to do it better.
So many consequences, good and bad, flow from identifying clients’ risk profiles. Getting it right is key to meeting your best interest obligations; getting it wrong is a recipe for disaster. This session turns the spotlight on risk profiling.
The future of risk advice is changing. How can you build a sustainable practice that specialises in risk advice? How can you transition away from commissions? Explore an example of a pricing model and discover some opportunities to reduce the cost of delivering risk advice.
Are you riding the bell curve of baby boomers reaching retirement? Or will this tsunami change everything in its wake? This session focuses on six areas of mega change and will help you understand what you need to know to embrace and manage these changes.
Disruptive technology is definitely affecting financial planners. The rise of robo-advice is taken as a threat to many planners, but could it present opportunities instead? Find out how you can adapt your practice to prosper in a time of technological change. |
Stream: Inspire
An interactive session that will show how stress affects our bodies and what to do about it. Why have we stopped moving, what is it doing to us and what can we do about it? The session will give tips and ways to relieve discomfort and highlight the improvements that can be expected.
This session highlights how mindfulness is the next revolution in supporting the best health, leadership and relationships. It will also guide you on how to practically develop self-awareness and a deeper sense of happiness and effectiveness.
This session will show you the untapped potential in using both voice and body language to improve communication and build trust. Positive results abound in lessons for leadership, presentations, sales and customer service, as well as group activities for team building.
This session highlights why it’s important to grow your own personal brand in parallel with your business brand. The session will also help you understand what social media is and how to apply it.
Our lives are often filled with superficial talk. How can we have conversations that inspire us to think in new ways, stimulate our curiosity and prompt us to say things we’ve never said before? This session will provide ideas on how to improve the quality of your conversations.
No one is calm all the time – some fear and adrenaline can be critical to our survival. Many of us will at times experience anxiety. Is this part of our human condition or a sign of personal dysfunction? Beset by a host of social pressures, how can we retain our calm? |
