From March 9-11 2020, we held our national conference in Sydney at the Stanford Plaza Airport Hotel.
With the backdrop of COVID-19, it was a strongly attended, but well sanitized event with a focus on compliance.
As always, Bob Fowler kicked proceedings off introducing several new advisers and conference attendees. Norma Samson of Baharian Wealth, James Wauch of BDO Private Wealth Cairns, Tudor Cosma of Covenant Wealth, Wade Ritchie of Ritch Life Advice, John Belkner of Plan FSI, Simon Shepherd of Providence Advisory Group, Sadia Baig of Rasiah Private Wealth and Lynelle Rivers of Emerge Financial.
The first session of the morning was taken by David Andrew, Founder of Capital Partners in Perth. David discussed his journey as an adviser, the philosophy behind Capital Partners and highlighted why believed it was a great time to be a financial adviser in Australia adviser.
David Andrew, Capital Partners
After morning tea, Cris Parker, Head of the Ethics Alliance at the Ethics Centre took a session on Community Trust and an Ethical view of the FASEA Standards. This session was followed by FYG directors Peter Mancell & Jason Fowler, along with General Manager Andrew Wootton taking a session on FASEA Standards and how advisers can navigate them.
The first afternoon session was Running Effective and Compliant Reviews, this was taken by the directors along with FYG IT manager Melissa Coffey.
Andrew Inwood, CEO of CoreData took the final session of the day, looking at data trends and the granularity of growth.
Dinner that night was held at Three Blue Ducks.
Day two kicked off with Terry Bell of Business Health with research on what clients really think of you and your business.
Jesse Vermiglio of Holley Nethercote followed by looking at the Financial Services Royal Commission Legislation and what advisers need to know.
After lunch, Warwick Schneller of Dimensional Fund Advisers took a session on evaluating systematic fund managers, specifically relating to fixed interest.
Colin Benvenuto & Gavin Chapple
Managing Director Peter Mancell then looked at FYG’s investment process, model portfolios and the long term data behind it.
Tristan Dallas of Mancell Financial Group & Wade Frazer of Fowlers Group then took a humorous session on Industry Superannuation and the some of the myth making around funds.
The day’s financial session was communications discussion between FYG Director Jason Fowler and FYG Communcations manager, Daniel Crowe.
Dinner on night two was held at Bianco Restaurant.
Day three started with Emily Chen of IRESS discussing the latest from the FYG Technology Project and Xplan Portal. This session was followed by Jason Fowler and Andrew Wootton discussing the WealthEye investment portal and what advisers wanted from it.
Day 3 Wealth Eye Discussion
The final session of the morning was the FYG Cornucopia and what is happening around FYG, this was hosted by Peter Mancell, Jason Fowler and Melissa Coffey.
After lunch Jason Fowler and Andrew Wootton looked at pricing, What works? What may not? And what won’t work?
The conference was closed out by Peter Mancell and Bob Fowler reminding advisers of the value they definitely create for clients.
As always, management were incredibly impressed by attendance, engagement and feedback, especially over an extended conference.
Due to the COVID-19, the location and date of our next conference remain uncertain.