Capitalise on opportunities to improve your industry standing
There is an old Greek proverb which says that there are no perfect people in the world, only perfect intentions. This would suggest that while mankind approaches a situation with every intention to do the right thing, there is very little practical advice on how to achieve this.
This may be true for the financial services industry. While there are a number of advisers in the industry who are able to find the right balance between serving client’s best intentions while maximising profitability, there is always room for improvement.
Giving practical advice to the adviser is the core theme for the 2015 Discovery Financial Planning Summit which will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre on 19 May.
The road ahead
Looking into a crystal ball is dangerous as everyone will get a different vision as the ball mists up. However, trying to identify future trends is a necessary step for many advisers to take as they look to offer the best advice to clients.
The Financial Planning Summit will be opened by Adrian Gore, Group Chief Executive of Discovery, who will talk about the future of financial planning. This could be an interesting talk bearing in mind the level of change we are experiencing in the country and the increased industry pressures on compliance and containing costs.
Gore will be followed by a talk by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene who will give more insight into the road ahead for South Africans in the current economic climate. Nene has had a baptism of fire to the start of his tenure as Finance Minister and has introduced many economic changes which suggest that we need to make short-term sacrifices in order to realise long-term gains.
The current environment
The morning session will be followed by insights into what the current financial services industry looks like, both from a local and from an international perspective.
Following the address by Gore and Nene, there will be a group panel discussion where the group will focus on the current global perspective on financial planning. This will be interesting for those in attendance as many global markets have already gone through the changes that South Africa is yet to face.
The South African financial services industry is characterised by an intense level of competitiveness where advisers are competing against each other for a section of the population who can afford financial products and financial advice. Because of this, advisers look for any way in which they can get the advantage over their competitors. Peter Rosengard will be speaking on a topic which will pique the interest of advisers in the room when he talks about lessons from the world’s greatest insurance salesman.
This will be followed by an address by Jonathan Dixon, Deputy Executive Officer for Insurance at the Financial Services Board, who will discuss the much debated Retail Distribution Review.
Self-examination
We are all aware of the current challenges that we face in South Africa, and many of us have called for change in a country that has so much potential. Mahatma Gandhi once said that we need to be the change that we wish to see in the world.
This calls for a great deal of self-reflection and self-actualisation whereby we need to look at our role in society, and the financial services industry, and the role that we can play to make it a better place. Nazmeera Moola will be addressing the audience on the current state of the nation, which will provide a perfect opportunity for advisers to ask themselves the necessary hard questions that need to be asked, such as how they can fit into the current environment and sell to the greater section of the population.
This will be followed by a talk by Nicolas Boothman who will be providing tips on how to be the most likeable financial adviser in the room. This will no doubt prove to be entertaining and insightful and is a question which every financial adviser has most probably asked themselves at one stage or another during their careers.
Editor’s Thoughts:
Financial advisers need to have the correct tools to do their jobs. This is one of the rare opportunities in the industry where advisers will be given practical advise on how to acquire these tools and to use them effectively in an industry where advisers need all of the help that they can get. Whether you do business with Discovery or not is irrelevant, see this as an opportunity to gain some insight into a dynamic industry which is changing at a rapid pace. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts jonathan@fanews.co.za.
