2018 Synchron Conference Wrap

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The enthusiasm and engagement shown by a roomful of risk focused advisers at the 2018 Synchron Conference was a refreshing affirmation of both the value advisers already deliver to their clients and the acknowledgement that every adviser can find a better way to add that value and to run a better business.

Conducted every two years, this Conference sets a benchmark in Australia, especially for the life insurance advice proposition, in terms of focus on best business practices and personal development.

Keynote speaker, Lisa McInnes-Smith, spoke about what every-day courage really means…

Senior representatives from every retail insurer attended the Conference in force, which is another indicator of the importance of this event, held this year in San Francisco for 300+ delegates comprising advisers, partners, other family members and life company stakeholders.

Presentations were made by a cross section of industry-specific contributors as well as other presenters who focused on more generic, broader-based issues relating to business building, sales strategies, relationship management and personal development.

Loving the 2018 Synchron Conference polo shirts. Well, sort of…

Integral to the shape of the Conference was the social element, which fits comfortably within Synchron’s deliberately non-corporate, family culture, which in turn is a differentiator for this licensee firm, as is the fact that it funded the cost of bringing 30 of its staff to San Francisco.

Cutting edge hologram technology was on display, which acted as a metaphor for the importance of constantly reassessing options available for advisers offered by new visual communication technologies. At the other end of the technology scale, however, the critical importance of fundamental one-on-one adviser/client connections and relationships was also given prominence.

San Francisco’s Bay Bridge

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry was referenced during the Conference, mostly in informal conversations, but at the same time was considered within a longer-term context in which the life insurance advice sector, as it always has, will continue to offer value to Australian consumers.

Synchron’s Don Trapnell noted the firm has become the second-largest risk business licensee in  Australia (second to AMP Financial Planning) and now boasts over 450 advisers, many of whom attended the Conference, where the over-riding message, while still paying respect to the current issues it faces, was all about what is right with Australia’s life insurance industry.

Synchron staff and management, believe it or not…