A tale of two conferences

Just days will separate two key conferences aimed at financial planners and advisers next month, but Mike Taylor writes that success or failure will not be judged solely on the value of content but also by the financial bottom line.

The middle of October is looming as one of the busiest-ever times on the financial services calendar when, for the first time ever, Australia’s two major financial planning organisations will be holding national events just a few days apart. 

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) will be holding its national conference on the Gold Coast from 12-14 October and then, just a few days later, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) will be holding its inaugural ‘Professionals Congress’ in Sydney from 17-18 October. 

It is worth noting that the FPA says its congress has been timed to coincide with the FPA hosting the internationally-based Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB), and follows on from the organisation’s decision not to hold its traditional national conference in 2012 and to move to the ‘Congress’ format this year. 

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The old FPA national conference was normally held in November, but the timing of the FPA’s hosting of the FPSB has determined the dates for this year’s congress and, in doing so, has pitted it squarely against the AFA conference which has traditionally always been held in October. 

The close proximity of the two events has undoubtedly placed pressure on time-poor planners and advisers as well as causing some hard decisions to be made by the companies and major institutions which have been the traditional sponsors of these industry events. 

While the FPA has sought to focus its Congress on the development of financial planning as a profession, the AFA has sought to focus the content of its conference on dealing with clients as consumers and the reality that clients now have a greater range of choices than ever before. 

Interestingly, a common denominator between both conferences is the presence of PortfolioConstruction Conference principal Graham Rich, who is moderating a session at the AFA conference and is conducting a portfolio construction masterclass for the FPA. 

Given the closeness of the dates on which the events will be held, there will be many in the financial services industry counting heads and looking to examine delegate lists.

The FPA is already using its registration page to trumpet the presence of “over 1,500 practitioner delegates, delegates from around the world and 200 University students from FPEC Universities attending the two days of events and entertainment”. 

For his part, AFA chief executive Brad Fox has said delegate registrations are on track to at least match and possibly exceed the numbers at last year’s conference which reached 825. 

Outlining the theme of this year’s conference, Fox said ‘New Frontiers...The Age of Consumers’ was intended to help delegates “refocus on the client and client outcomes”. 

“The reality is that most clients have the freedom to cease the relationship with their adviser at any time, so the attraction, and more importantly, the retention of clients are essential to building profitable, sustainable advice businesses. The over-ride to this is the focus on providing ‘value’,” he said. 

Explaining the sort of issues which would be traversed around the central theme, Fox said that as  consumers became savvier in using the internet to seek information, the industry was witnessing what he described as the “a democratisation of consumption – power to the people”. 

“This means that they are collecting more knowledge than ever before and at times will arrive at an adviser’s office thinking they already know enough to self-advise,” he said.

“The implication for advisers is how they demonstrate their ability to add significant value to the client. And this includes providing customer service that amazes them. It is the successful integration of amazing service, interpersonal and technical skills that create client-adviser relationships of mutual great value.” 

Fox said that to guide the conference plenary content to achieve this value in the advice relationship, the AFA had leveraged Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.  

The focus of the FPA Congress will be consistent with the organisation’s agenda to transform itself from being an industry organisation into a professional association – something which was plugged by the organisation’s chairman, Matthew Rowe, earlier this year. 

And while the FPA has designated its event as a “Congress”, Rowe enjoined FPA members to attend to make it “the best event on the conference calendar”. 

The FPA’s promotional material states that delegates will be celebrating the largest community of professional financial planners in Australia. 

“Your Inaugural Professionals Congress offers unparalleled opportunities to further your knowledge, develop your business and help your client.” 

Whatever the promotional claims mounted by organisations and conference organisers, the success or failure of such events is ultimately weighed by two key factors – content and then the combined contribution of sponsorship and actual full fare-paying bums on seats to ensure profitability. 

Perhaps the real bottom line will be revealed by the timing and venues of the two conferences next year.