The Financial Planning Association’s Professionals Congress in Sydney on 23 and 24 November will be the first major industry event held after the result is known from the vote on the proposed merger of the AFA and FPA (see: AFA, FPA Merger Proposal).
The congress follows the 2022 AFA National Conference which is being held on the Gold Coast this week, September 21- 23 (see: Michelle Levy at AFA Conference).
A statement from the FPA says that whether members vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the proposed merger “…congress will be a critically important venue to discuss the implications for members and the profession.”
It says the congress will allow FPA members to reconnect with their peers at the first in-person congress in three years and that attendees will gain valuable insights into the many changes taking place in the profession.
Under the theme, ‘Reunite, Reset’, the congress will host a range of sessions designed to help financial planners better understand the issues facing the profession as well as provide practical tools and information enabling them to work more closely with clients and understand their changing needs, particularly in the post-pandemic environment.
Sarah Abood, CEO of the FPA, says since the last in-person FPA Professionals Congress in 2019, there has been huge change both in the financial planning profession and also in the broader community.
She says that as a profession “…we have seen a bewildering range of ongoing and proposed legislative change and grappled with a substantial fall in the number of financial planners.”
She points to the industry experiencing a pandemic, a change of government, and a volatile broader macroeconomic environment “…which have all impacted how financial planners go about their work with clients.”
“As well, the ways that clients think about their finances, their life goals and their priorities, have changed following the pandemic.”
Abood says the congress provides an opportunity for an update on all these changes, and to learn from peers as well as benefit from global best practice.
“As we mark our 30th birthday as an association, and contemplate a new start joining our colleagues at the AFA, the theme of Reunite, Reset is enormously relevant.”
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