Sydney BFPer’s (and anyone else is always welcome) now have a monthly get together to have a chat for an hour or so about various topics of interest.

Meeting at the FAAA office on the 3rd Friday of the month.

The agenda is:

7.30 am – 8.00am BYO Breakfast (café downstairs also).
8.00 am – 9.00 am Discussion Topics, decided at each meeting.
9.00 am – 9.30 am Meeting over, leave the building.

Come along and be a part of our community.

Previous topics covered in the last couple of meetings include;

• Key man risk.
• Is a single adviser AFSL a viable structure going forward?
• Succession strategies -as either acquiring mutually aligned wealth management firms via tuck ins or buy out and discussing the synergies that come with that approach.
• Fees matrix
• Legislative update
• How do you deliver advice?

The BFP’s 20^th anniversary lunches were held recently in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.

With great turnouts and  attendees representing the breadth of our community, this was a great opportunity to network and share ideas with members from across the spectrum (recently retired, longer standing and newly licenced members). There was a lot of laughter and camaraderie – with members deeming it a great success.

Thank you to all those that could come along and join in the fun. We look forward to seeing you all again at the virtual conference on Friday 16th September.

Read More about the 20th anniversary lunches

BFP members and their staff had the opportunity to participate in an online forum being delivered by three BFP members who are on the FPA Board – Marisa Broome (Chair), David Sharpe (Deputy Chair) and Alison Henderson who currently leads the Policy and Regulations Committee.

The presentation provided insights into:

• The role of the FPA Board
• How the board interacts with FPA CEO and corporate team
• Board composition
• Committees
• Individual roles within the board
• Questions

Session was delivered on Wednesday 16th March at 1:00 pm (AEDT)

• What services can you effectively outsource
• Why would you do it
• Is it cost effective?
• Can it be tailored to suit your business?
• Opinions of other AFSL / Practices who have outsourced.

Session is being delivered on 21^st October 2021 by Nina Forbes, Director, Strategic Outsource Solutions.

As more content is digested on mobile, as attention spans shrink and the workforce shifts to online channels, companies need to adapt the way they communicate.
Communicating successfully now means being able to reach people where they want to be reached – via video (either pre-recorded or live) in concise, sharp and compelling content pieces.

This webinar will arm you with skills to create your own engaging video and presentations-to-camera.
It will offer practical tools and resources to take back into your workplace, helping you communicate better with new and existing clients.

Session is being delivered on 12 October 2021 by Alistair Reid, Head of Communications at Talaria Asset Management.

Exclusive BFP members only session on Cyber Security for Financial Planners hosted by FooForce – a leading Australian Managed Service and Security Provider with clients across Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States.

In this webinar FooForce will provide an overview how to ensure that you have in place the cyber security measures your business needs to protect you and your clients.

FooForce, we will cover:

• The cyber-security threats your business faces
• Where the biggest threats come from
• The extent, reach and cost of cybercrime
• Cyber security awareness
• How cyber criminals target your staff
• Cyber security and the rise of remote working
• Reducing and eliminating internal risk factors
• The 10 simple steps you can take now to protect your business from cyber-attack

Session is being delivered on 22 September 2021 by Frances Russell, CEO of FooForce.

An event hosted by DFK Australia New Zealand – an international accounting association.

In this webinar we’ll provide an overview how to master the core components of a good plan and how to create your own guide your focus and actions in the coming months.

Presented by Melissa Healy from DFK Everalls in Canberra and Steven Tindale from DFK Gooding Partners in Perth, we will cover:

• Getting clarity on the direction you are taking your business;
• Evaluating opportunities and making decisions quicker and easier;
• Using your business’ resources (time, money and people) more efficiently;
• Establishing a prioritised action plan for what needs to be done by when;
• Motivating your team with an inclusive vision
• Developing and implementing more effective marketing
• Improving customer service and
• Improving the profitability, value, and saleability of your business

Session Date: 9 November 2021

An event hosted by DFK Australia New Zealand – an international accounting association.

If you struggle to pay your business bills on time.

If you find it hard to free up cash to do the things you want to do.

If you’d like to take action to improve your profitability.

If you want to feel fully in control of your business again.

Join us for this highly valuable, practical & insightful webinar workshop where we’ll share key strategies to get it under control and working for you and your business.

Presented by Tony Nguyen from DFK Laurence Varnay in Sydney and Michael Gray from DFK Gray Perry in Adelaide, this live online Masterclass will help you begin to isolate the gaps to close in your cashflow management strategy and identify the opportunities to increase your profitability.

Session Date: 28 September 2021

BFP members session, delivered by Dimensional’ s Julia de Simone and Eleanor Kirkpatrick , on implementing FASEA’s set of principles and core values into our advice, and interactions with clients and the community.

This practical and theoretical workshop explored the 5 values that underpin the Code of Ethics, presenting a decision-making framework, and providing the forum for participants to practice implementing the framework to an ethical scenario via a case study.

Session date: 7^th September 2021

An event hosted by DFK Australia New Zealand – an international accounting association.

59% of business owners have yet to form a Succession Plan or Exit Strategy for their business.

Are you one of them?

If you’d like to enjoy a painless and profitable exit from your business, join us for vital guidance as we cover the 7 steps for Succession Planning Success in our webinar, a part of our continuing “Better Business” Series.

Stephen Bushell from DFK Gooding Partners in Perth and Gary Nugent from DFK Nugents in Melbourne will walk you through the most common issues to consider and challenges to overcome for a smooth transition including internal and external options, timelines, valuation guidelines, tax implications and more.

Session Date: 31 August 2021

BFP members were provided the opportunity to hear Business Health’s learnings from principals of business owner over the last 21 years.

The session addressed the following key topics:

• What are the dynamics of the average advice firm (revenue, staffing, client management, expense levels, profitability, etc)?
• The key themes and trends emerging from the Business Health data. What’s changed over the years? What hasn’t?
• What can be learnt from the top performing firms?
• What are your best clients and staff thinking?

Session date: 12^th August 2021

BFP Members recently had the opportunity to hear from Marisa Broome, FPA Chair, and Dante De Gori, FPA CEO, during a special briefing session.

Dante and Marisa were asked to comment and inform us on a range of topics, including:

• Update on FPA and their advocacy work
• ASIC Adviser Levy
• ASIC’s remediation process from both a compliance time frame and cost perspective
• ASIC’s market monitoring approach
• Potential to extend FASEA Education exemptions
• Key learnings from FPA survey
• Expected impact on FP community and clients should those yet to sit the FASEA exam (43% post Jan sitting) not sit or not pass the FASEA exam.

The slide pack and recording of the session are available to BFP members via the following links

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uglftlyhc6omzeg/GMT20210407-034619_Recording_1920x1080_Trim.mp4?dl=0

The session was delivered on April 7th, 2021.

Kinetic Compliance provided a series of 3 training sessions for Responsible Managers which covered the following crucial areas:

1. Legislative landscape – Includes amendments to the Fit and Proper person test, reference checking protocol, changes to breach reporting and remediation, proposed changes to renewal and FDS format and written consent.
2. Fees: Case studies in ‘fair and reasonable’ – Ongoing fee arrangements and requirements to seek written consent from your clients to charge initial and ongoing advice fees via a product supported by case studies
3. Complaints Handling – Explore the upcoming changes to Internal dispute handling and ASICs new regulatory guide 271

Training delivered on 12^th, 19^th and 26^th of February 2021 by Nadia Docker and Charlie Huang, Kinetic Compliance.

Being efficient leads to better client and staff engagement and helps drive profits.  This session covered a raft of core business aspects including:

• How to identify opportunities for change
• The process improvement pyramid and the role of technology
• How to engage your team with change
• Listening to your team members
• Common problems, common solutions, and quick wins
• Anticipating issues in implementation

Session delivered on 26 November 2020 by Patrick Flynn, Simply Kaizen Pty Ltd.

People present the single biggest challenge for most businesses, and at the same time, they are critical to the businesses long term success.

This session focussed on two key questions:

• Are you confident that you are securing the right talent for your business?
• Do you know how to help your staff reach their potential?

Session delivered on 24 November 2020 by Christine Bau, People Focussed.