An information night for up-and-coming financial advisers at the University of New South Wales saw attendance that far exceeded expectations.
The event, put on by the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), featured a panel session with AFA's NSW state director Marc Bineham, AFA's NSW GenXt chair Jo Brassett and Macquarie Bank's head of insurance Justin Delaney.
The AFA had hoped to see at least 40 to 50 students attend, but ended up with a full capacity 75 and a further 70 on the waiting list, according to Bineham.
The panel session, which ran from 6pm to 8pm, covered topics such as how to get started in financial planning, current changes affecting the industry and their experiences in financial services.
A question and answer session at the end yielded more questions than the panel had time to get through, including:
- How will current global market uncertainty and a flight to safety affect the delivery of advice?
- How can students make their resumes more appealing to potential employers?
- What qualifications are deemed most valuable (including a discussion around the current RG146 qualification)?
- What experience undergraduates should look to gain before they finish their tertiary study?
Bineham said the event could definitely be considered a success – the students snapped up all the available application forms for the AFA's $20 per year student membership offer – and was particularly impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of attendees.
A large number of students still remained at the conclusion of the one-hour networking session that followed, with all the panel members taking further questions and Money Management even fielding questions from interested students on the media's role in financial services.
Bineham said this type of event is important in helping students in undergraduate courses gain an understanding of where their studies may lead.
The association would hopefully be running more of the events in the near future, and possibly including recent graduates who are now fulltime professionals on the panel to make the content even more relevant to students, he said.
