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FPA 2011 National Conference Newsletter Thursday 17 November 2011

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By practitioners, for practitionersProfessional development will take centre stage at the Financial Planning Association 2011 National Conference, according to chief executive, Mark Rantall.

This year’s conference program has been designed to continue to lift FPA members’ professional standards.

“We have themed this year’s conference ‘Together we’re raising the bar’ because we recognise it will take a collective effort to transform the financial planning industry into a universally respected profession,” Rantall says. “The conference offers FPA members an important opportunity to discuss and debate the many aspects of what it means to be a professional financial planner in the post-GFC era, as well as working through practical means to achieve this in a post-FoFA world.”

The conference content has been created by a select committee of FPA practitioner members, the majority of whom are CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals, and includes a series of ‘Masterclasses’ led by well-known experts, on areas such as implementing the FPA Code of Professional Practice into your business, and getting ‘fit’ for FoFA.

The FPA Portfolio Construction Masterclass, presented by PortfolioConstruction Forum, is

back by popular demand, and this year’s session features a gathering of representatives from the leading fund research houses in Australia – Lonsec, Mercer, Morningstar, Standard and Poor’s, van Eyk and Zenith – in a panel session.

You’ll head back to your business motivated and inspired after presentations by Olympic gold medallist Kieren Perkins and creative guru Todd Sampson, as well as a wealth of practice management and technical sessions.

It’s been seven years in the making but finally, Australia’s first lady of financial planning, Gwen Fletcher AM, has finished her autobiography – Running Between the Raindrops.

From front cover to back, the book is an absorbing read from one of the true pioneers of financial planning in this country.

In a very honest and sometimes confronting account of her life, Fletcher outlines her early years growing up as a Baptist minister’s daughter, to her years working with the American army during the Second World War, to her stint working as a Parliamentary Minister’s assistant, through to her business years and finally financial planning.

This extraordinary lady, who introduced a formalised education program for financial planners in 1983 through her Investment Training College, was instrumental in brokering the deal to bring the CFP® certification to Australia in 1990.

Fletcher also played a pivotal role in campaigning for and organising the merging of the International Association of Financial Planners (IAFP) and the Australian Society of Investment and Financial Advisers (ASIFA) to become the FPA in 1992.

For her services to the development of the financial planning industry through the establishment of national organisations and training and education

Gwen Fletcher releases autobiography

Continued on page 2

Mark Rantall,Financial Planning Association

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2 | fpa 2011 national conference newsletter | THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER, 2011

Planners wake up to philanthropic need

Trusts in the spotlight

Australian financial planning firms are lagging behind when it comes to addressing the philanthropic ambitions of their clients, according to director of Social Ventures Australia and Third Link Executive, Chris Cuffe.

However, the pressure offshore financial planning firms are placing on local offices to take this area of advice more seriously and the growing number of private ancillary funds (PAFs) are key indicators that philanthropy is on the rise in Australia, he says.

Cuffe will speak on the topic ‘Philanthropy – it’s good for your business’ at 1:00pm on Thursday alongside Kelley McLendon CFP®. They agree that there are a number of real benefits for planners who address philanthropy.

Cuffe says that when a financial planner hears the word philanthropy, they think they

are going to lose funds under management.

“Generally the reverse happens,” he said, as funds are captured in a dedicated vehicle like a PAF and its assets are invested in perpetuity. “For an adviser that is just one positive.”

McLendon says discussing philanthropy with clients provides three big wins: it is good for the client, it is good for the community, and it is good for the planner’s business. When it comes to the latter,

McLendon will provide statistics from the US that prove just how beneficial it can be, although she concedes that Australia has some catching up to do.

During their session, McLendon and Cuffe hope to provide useful information on the various structures for giving, so financial planners can feel prepared when the topic arises with their clients. But McLendon notes that it is not always up to the client to mention their philanthropic ambitions.

“It should be part of the normal conversation you have with the client, and should absolutely always be part of that first discussion with a new client,” she says.

Cuffe believes that another major benefit of advice in this area is that clients with PAFs often involve their family, providing the opportunity for planners to build relationships that last through generations.

Trusts will take centre stage in two consecutive sessions today, with their benefits and pitfalls coming under the spotlight.

Hall & Wilcox special counsel Emma Woolley will question whether trusts have retained their safe haven status in the face of various challenges, including the wholesale review of the taxation legislation in relation to trusts.

“Trusts have come under greater scrutiny from a tax planning point of view,” says Woolley, noting that the management of trusts is likely to become more complex and potentially more expensive.

Yet despite various challenges, Woolley argues that the benefits of trusts remain. The key for financial planners is to ensure they know the needs of their clients, have an understanding of trust structures, and foster greater referral relationships with

experts in the area, she says.

Diamond Conway partner Michael Schneider will explain the part trusts play in estate planning and will illustrate the importance of all a client’s key advisers being aware of what arrangements have been put in place.

Schneider referred to a recent situation where the estate plan that a financial planner had put in place was ruined by their client’s new accountant, who did not realise the impact his changes made on the plan. The changes effectively left the client exposed for 18 months and could have been avoided with better communication betwaeen the key advisers.

Emma Woolley will present on ‘Threats to discretionary trusts’ at 10:10am, and Michael Schneider will speak on ‘Trust succession and estate planning’ at 11:10am.

Chris Cuffe, Social Ventures Australia and Third Link Executive

programs, and for her role as a mentor to women in the finance industry, in 2007 Fletcher was made a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM). This was followed two months later with an equally prestigious award, as her peers in the US presented Fletcher with the Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award from the FPA USA. This was the first time someone outside the US had been presented with this award.

Gweneth Edith Fletcher, the minister’s daughter who went through so many incarnations to ultimately become one of the founders of the financial planning industry in Australia and a key player in the field of global financial planning, truly believes that nothing in life is inevitable and no problem is insurmountable. She urges us all to have courage, to believe in ourselves, to gather friends and family close, then head towards our dreams.

Running Between the Raindrops is a fascinating walk through time – not just of an exceptional lady’s life but of the financial planning profession. But it’s much more than that. It’s the account of how an individual with sheer drive and passion for improving the financial circumstances of everyday Australians, helped build a profession.

Fletcher’s story is masterfully written and researched by Julie Bennett. The book will be officially launched today at the FPA National Conference and available for purchase at the Future2 stand located outside the main plenary hall. The cost of the book is $39.95 (including GST), with a hard copy version available at $49.95.

All proceeds from Fletcher’s book will be donated to Future2 – the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession set up to assist disadvantaged young Australians. Gwen Fletcher is the patron of Future2.

Gwen Fletcher releases autobiographyContinued from page 1

Gwen Fletcher AM

fpa 2011 national conference newsletter | THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER, 2011 | 3

Against the odds

Regain control of your life and work

Many Australians will remember Kieren Perkins OAM’s nail-biting swim at the 1996 Olympic Games. Unwell and having only just scraped into the final of the men’s 1500m freestyle, the odds were on fellow Australian swimmer Daniel Kowalski, but Perkins came back from Lane 8 to dominate the race and win an Olympic gold medal. It was just one achievement in a stellar career which saw him break several world records and take home many medals.

Since retiring from swimming, Perkins has forged a successful career in broadcasting and business, most recently with NAB Private Wealth as head of business development and acquisition, Queensland.

As the financial services industry faces yet more uncertain times, Perkins will share the lessons he has learnt about thriving no matter what the obstacles.He says sport prepared him well to succeed in business.

“It doesn’t matter what the technical expertise you are trying to deliver is – there are

fundamental mindset skills that are needed to deliver to your potential consistently. High-level international sport certainly provides that,” he says. “The main challenge in business is the ‘grey noise’ it is enveloped in. Sport is a clearly defined and focused pursuit and you are constantly surrounded by people who are as committed as you to deliver outcomes.”

Perkins believes it is important to see opportunity in uncertainty, rather than challenge.

“I believe we have the skills and expertise to understand the strength within our own mindset, but we often take it for granted.”

Kieren Perkins will speak on ‘Going for professional gold’ at 3:45pm today.

Working smarter, not harder is the key to a more balanced work and life, according to Cyril Peupion, managing director and co-founder of Primary Asset Consulting.

He says many of us have never been taught how to work.

“Most of us are committed to our role and want to do a

good job. We are neither lazy nor unwilling. But we are not always working efficiently,” Peupion says.

He will share some simple tips on how to feel more in control at work and home, such as his ‘think quarterly, plan weekly and act daily’ formula.

Highly successful people are very clear on their goals in both their personal and

professional life – and they apply absolute focus to these areas.

“The key is not only to decide what you want to achieve, but as importantly, you also need to decide what you will not do.”

Find out how to get this type of clarity and stop being overwhelmed in Cyril Peupion’s session at 10:10am.

FPA encourages stronger partnership with educatorsThe financial planning industry must engage with the country’s top educators to create a pathway to professionalism, says FPA chief executive Mark Rantall.

Associate Professor at Griffith Business School, Mark Brimble, together with FPA chief professional officer Dr Deen Sanders, will present the latest financial planning research during the Academic Showcase session, a first for the FPA Conference. The FPA believes that much of the research in progress at the moment may shape the future of the financial planning profession.

“The academic showcase is an absolutely critical development block for an emerging profession,” says Rantall.

The FPA recently established an Education Council in conjunction with major universities around Australia, which will work on the curriculum pathway for financial planners.

“There are in excess of 500 students specifically studying financial planning around the country and it’s important that that group is encouraged and advised how they enter into the profession and have a career in financial planning,” says Rantall.

It is particularly important considering the average age of financial planners – over 50 per cent will look to retirement after just 10 or 15 years, he notes.

“This Education Council is a formal body and for the first time we have actually established something that helps work through the specific curriculum leading to the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® pathway,” says Rantall. “We think that this is a norm in many more established professions and is something important for the FPA to pursue.”

The Academic Showcase session is at 1:00pm today.

Kieren Perkins OAM,NAB Private Wealth






Getting the professional edge

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Practitioners gathered ahead of the main event to enhance their skills in key specialist areas at the pre-Conference CPD Pro Series workshops, then joined fellow delegates for the welcome networking reception.

1. Rob Shakespeare CFP® (NAB) and Bernie Ervin AFP® (Centric Wealth).

2. Andrew Dunkerley (NGS Super), Maria Maganic CFP® (NGS Super), and Darryn

Studdert CFP® (NGS Super).

3. Tony McGovern AFP® (Local Super) and Ray Bailey AFP® (Local Super).

4. David Southwood CFP® (BUSS (Q) Building Super) and Julie Dalling AFP® (QInvest).

5. John Hewison CFP®, Nathan Lear CFP®, and Gleen Fairbairn CFP® (all from

Hewison Private Wealth).

6. John Castle CFP® (Hillross) and Andrew Harris CFP® (Minerds Bell Consultancy Group).





7. Sonia Cruz (Gold Seal), Charmian Holmes (Gold Seal), and Deidre Stewart

(Eastwoods Wealth Management).

8. Rene Canuto CFP® (Canuto Pty Ltd) and Delma Newton CFP® (Total Portfolio

Management).

9. Wayne Lear CFP® (Conscious Money) and Michael Summers CFP® (My Adviser).

10. Annick Douat (BT Dealer Groups) and Greg Szwarc (NAB).

11. Brian Quarrell CFP® (Wheeler Financial Services), Roger Phipps (Bennelong

Funds Management), and George Flack CFP® (Flack Advisory).

12. Carolyn Holmes-Hannaford (Dimensional), Jolanda Brezovec (SAVII Plus), and

Paul Turner (Dimensional).

13. Nicole Aubrey (BT Investment Management), Mal Gee (ING Direct), Deirdre Keown

(PortfolioConstruction Forum), and Krysytna Weston (PortfolioConstruction Forum).

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Avoiding technical traps

Not just for the elderly

Contribution caps remain one of the trickiest areas of financial planning at the moment – both because they are relatively new, and because of the significant liabilities that arise for the fund member if the caps are exceeded.

With insurance, there are factors such as affordability, deductibility of premiums and policy features when structuring insurance, as well as longer-term issues such as availability of insurance proceeds and taxation when a benefit is paid.

“Brought together, there appear to be two competing priorities: maximising super contributions under available contribution caps without incurring unwanted excess contributions tax, in order to maximise retirement savings, and potentially ‘wasting’ that opportunity to use contributions to fund insurance premiums,” says Deborah Wixted, executive manager, technical services, Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Wixted will show that there is scope to achieve both objectives for many clients, and provide advice on how to avoid some of the common pitfalls.

“By being aware of potential pitfalls, planners can better avoid them and so ensure that the advice given to a particular client is the best possible advice for their situation. By learning from the mistakes of others, planners can ensure they don’t repeat them themselves.”

Deborah Wixted will present ‘Contribution caps and insurance pitfalls – getting it right’ at 11:10am today.

Understanding aged care may be more important to financial planning businesses than they might think.

“More than half your clients should expect to live past their mid-80s,” says Louise Biti CFP®, director, Strategy Steps, who presented the ‘Advanced aged care situational’ workshop as part of the pre-Conference CPD Pro Series yesterday.

And those clients who believe they will be able to access aged care regardless of how much money they have may be in for a shock.

Biti says the reality is that if a client or their family member requires low-level care and they don’t have the money to pay for an accommodation bond at an

aged care facility, they may not be offered a place, or it may be in a location or for a type of accommodation (such as a shared room) that would not be their preference.

“Having money or assets that they are willing to use to pay a bond gives clients more choice and flexibility to have the lifestyle that they would want,” Biti says.

With this in mind, planners should also consider addressing aged care with clients in their 50s and 60s, from a pre-planning perspective, to ensure sufficient assets will be available should they require care in the future. Clients in this age group are also very likely to be facing these issues for their parents or other family members.

Building on basic knowledge of the legislation around aged care and its funding, Biti took workshop attendees through a series of scenarios to examine how it actually works in practice, and how planners should move through the advice process with clients and interact with aged care facilities on their behalf.

Deborah Wixted, Colonial First

State Global Asset Management

Louise Biti CFP®, Strategy Steps

Discovering valueWith many financial planners wrestling with how to ensure clients understand the value of their services in a fee-for-service world, Huthwaite International partner Christina Foster facilitated a workshop yesterday on ‘Value creation: standing out in a sea of sameness’.

Recent Huthwaite research shows that when choosing a financial planner, prospective clients most wanted someone who focused on understanding their needs first. What clients found most upsetting was that “the solution was already formed” when they went to see the planner.

Foster says the research also shows that people value what they say and their own conclusions more than what they are told, and they value what they ask for more than what’s freely offered.

She says the mistake many planners

make when working through a questioning process with clients is jumping directly from problem-based questions to offer a solution, which often results in clients back-pedalling. Instead, by continuing to ask the clients insightful questions, they are able to come to an understanding of the problem themselves.

“I want clients to tell me what they need, and I want to take them on a journey of discovery. You need to get to the stage where they think about what the problem means to them, and what the future would look like if those problems don’t exist. Once you are there, you can then demonstrate the ability to provide services,” Foster says.

Being able to demonstrate this understanding of the clients’ needs will increasingly become more important than simply displaying skill or competence when differentiating a financial planner from their competition.

At least 25 per cent of financial planners’ time is spent managing the emotional aspect of the client relationship; however it is an area in which few receive training. The FPA is committed to providing relationship training for professionals to support this critical skill area.

“Emotional intelligence helps planners to work through the jungle of emotions with clients,” says Wayne Lear CFP®, principal of Conscious Money, who presented the ‘Emotional intelligence for relationship performance’ workshop with Helen Parker, director of Parker Lear Consulting and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney.

They outlined the latest emotional

intelligence research, based on a branch of psychology called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and took participants through a series of experiential exercises to allow them to define their own values, and more fully understand how emotions activate their physiology and guide their thinking and responses to clients.

With a focus on the “strategic use of emotions”, Lear and Parker also explained how planners can gain control of their own emotions through techniques such as mindfulness to enable them to be more available to help clients through their own issues.

However, managing emotions does not mean avoiding difficult or

painful situations or conversations.

“Developing an effective emotional orientation is about accepting that a certain amount of emotional pain is part of the human condition,” Parker says.

Emotional intelligence skills therefore help planners to professionally communicate in a way that deepens the client relationship and builds trust – even when discussions become emotionally charged.

For those interested in learning more about emotional intelligence, Sue Langley will present a session on ‘The emotional intelligent adviser’ at 11:55am on Friday.


Academics share latest researchOver 60 academics attended the inaugural Financial Planning Research Symposium held at Griffith University earlier this week.

The two-day conference was conducted by the Financial Planning Academics Forum (FPAF), comprising of academics from Australia’s 17 tertiary institutions actively involved in the personal finance and investment discipline.

FPAF co-chair Associate Professor Mark Brimble said financial planning was at a critical junction in its move to being recognised as a profession and it was important that academics played a role in this transition.

The symposium saw a number of academics present their research and white papers to delegates on a wide range of topics including financial literacy, frontier markets, superannuation, ethics, risk mitigation strategies, and the value of financial planning advice.

Professor Michael Drew was provocative in his panel session, which discussed MySuper and the future of default option designs in superannuation. He argued strongly against the traditional 70/30 split in default funds, which typically applied to four out of five fund members, by using his research and analysis to

challenge accepted belief and asset allocation outcomes.

The FPAF was formed at last year’s FPA National Conference on the Gold Coast with the aim of bringing academics involved in the teaching and research of financial planning together to collaborate and provide a vehicle for academics to participate in the financial services industry.

Professor Brimble acknowledged the support of the FPA, which along with AMP Horizons Academy and Victoria University, was a principal supporter of the symposium.




Managing emotions for better client relationships



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