On Monday at AMP’s Circular Quay headquarters in Sydney, five teams of university students will compete in the final of the 2015 AMP University Challenge in an event that showcases the quality of future entrants to the financial planing profession.

This year a total of 367 students registered for the challenge, and a total of 108 students, split into 61 teams, formally submitted a discussion paper on a hypothetical client case study as the first stage of assessment. Five teams were selected on the basis of their discussion papers and in Monday’s final they will compete in a series of tasks designed to test their technical knowledge, ability to interact with clients. These include a professional development workshop, a technical quiz, and a role-playing session where they will present strategic recommendations to a hypothetical client.

There are two teams of two members, one team of three members, and two solo entrants, and for the first time since the inception of the challenge there is an equal split between female and male entrants. Most entrants (43 per cent) come from NSW, with strong (29 per cent) representation from Victoria and growing representation from the ACT (13 per cent, up 9 percentage points on 2014). About three quarters of entrants in the challenge found out about it via their lecturer or tutor, up from about half of all entrants last year.

The teams will be judged by a panel made up of practitioners, academics and industry representatives:
• Associate Professor Mark Brimble, head of finance and financial planning, Griffith University
• Dante de Gori, general manager policy and conduct, FPA
• Lisa Barber, director and principal at Hillross Aspire Wealth
• Andrew Heaven, AMP financial planner at Wealth Partners

The winners and place getters in the challenge will be announced on Monday evening.

Because why not?

Stephen McLay, who along with Matthew Baldi (both pictured, with AMP Horizons director Amelia Constantinidis) won the 2014 University Challenge, says that before he entered all he knew about it was that “it was an optional submission as part of our penultimate financial planning assessment piece – and I did it because why not?”.

McLay says that participating in the challenge taught him quickly that “personality and personability gets you a long way in this industry” and that competing in the challenge reinforced the fact that financial planning is a career he wants to pursue.

“It definitely got me more excited about becoming a financial planner,” he says.

McLay says after the 2014 University Challenge he received a job offer from a financial planning  firm, but he opted to compete the Honours in Economics program at Griffith University. He says he is close to completing applications for a couple of financial planning positions.

He says taking part in the University Challenge was definitely worthwhile.

“Even if you think the outcome is unlikely, having the confidence to do something pays off a whole lot more than not doing it,” McLay says.

Prize money

The winners of the 2015 challenge receive prize money of $4000 and a further $2500 will be made to their university as a grant or a donation. They also receive complimentary registration at the 2016 AMP Summit in Adelaide, and complimentary registration to the 2015 FPA Professional Congress in Brisbane. They receive a one-year student membership of the FPA, a CCH book pack, and one-year subscriptions to specialist publications including Professional Planner.

McLay’s advice to this year’s winners is to “go to both conferences, bring a LOT of business cards, and use them!”

“And invest the prize money – of course,” he says.

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