Convention opens with razzamatazz
The 1999 FPA convention has opened in a blaze of nationalism in Sydney.
The 1999 FPA convention has opened in a blaze of nationalism in Sydney.
Known widely as the Financial Planning Association’s moment of razzamatazz for the year, the opening ceremony included three performers and the Australian Youth Choir belting out renditions of Advance Australia Fair, Waltzing Matilda, I Love a Sunburnt Country and I Still Call Australia Home.
Included in the show were some of the more bizarre elements that often characterise the FPA convention openings of the past. This year the 2600 delegates witnessed a trio of performers on stilts with representations of the Sydney landmarks plastered to their heads.
On a more serious note, incumbent FPA chair Wes McMaster handed over the helm to Ray Griffin.
McMaster told delegates he was “proud” of his time in the top job at the FPA, citing the boom in financial planners achieving Certified Financial Planner status plus the continued growth in members, which is now averaging more than 20 per cent a year.
“But the greatest achievement the FPA has made in the past eight years is that we have positioned our members as professionals,” he said.
He said FPA members looked after $118 billion for more than 3.7 million Australian customers.
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