Financial planners want personal development support


The need to build a growing and sustainable business in an ever-changing industry has emerged as a key concern for financial planners who attended this year's Financial Planning Association (FPA) professionals congress.
The program of the congress — which took place on 17 and 18 October in Sydney — was based specifically on needs identified by FPA members, who rated personal development on a par with the desire to expand technical education.
This included support in improving personal time management and consumer-targeted sales and marketing.
"Congress was an opportunity for the professional planning community to come together and celebrate our successes and the success of our peers as individual practitioners," FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said.
"We are engaging with delegates to receive structured feedback to ensure we continue to provide our community with the development it needs, and the feedback we have received so far confirms that the congress program met the needs of the community."
Rantall said the congress also encouraged planners to engage more with social media and aimed to ensure they were equipped to do so.
"We hope that the valuable conversations from the congress continue in the social sphere and we look forward to being a part of it," he said.
Recommended for you
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
New Zealand’s financial regulator is following the footsteps of its Tasman neighbours and proposing to conduct a review on improving the accessibility of financial advice and advice business models.