Dealer groups pass the buck… err, briefcase

Australia’sfinancialservices industry is known for its competitive nature, its willingness to out wit, out perform and out launch its opposition. However, it seems out running could shortly be added to this list.

To mark the official opening of the Queensland chapter’s Financial Planning Week, four Queensland-based dealer groups swapped business meetings for a chance to compete in a briefcase relay.

The four teams — Professional Investment Services (PIS), QInvest, Barbacan Benefits and a combined team of Aylesbury Financial Group and Saville Securities — took to the pavement of Queensland’s Queens Street mall to compete in a 25 metre relay.

The teams, represented by six members each, had to run down the mall and pass a briefcase to another member of their team and then run back. Each team member had to continue running in the relay twice. In the end, Aylesbury Financial Group and Saville Securities finished victors.

A spokesperson for the Queensland Financial Planning Association says the event was just an opportunity to show planners are being humans, “through a fun event, where people in suits were actually making fools of themselves.”

According to the spokesperson, the briefcase relay went hand in hand with the chapter’s financial fitness test. The fitness test involved planners talking to members of the public about their ‘financial fitness’ and raising public awareness for financial planning.

In other more relaxed activities being held as part of the association’s main promotional week, a number of lunch time seminars and addresses were held in all the capital cities.