Initially, I was a little confused as to why it was classed as an 'inaugural' event as I was pretty sure that the Financial Planning Association of Australia had held annual conferences before! The explanation provided was an interesting one. The event had been rebranded as a congress and the style and content changed dramatically so that there was no reliance on products and providers.
The content of the congress was therefore all about personal or business development. The sessions were presented by very competent individuals indeed. I attended some presentations where I made copious amounts of notes, and others where none were needed. However, it is important to note that there was nothing on the agenda where I thought that we have missed something here in the UK or where I thought we are behind in our way of thinking.
In some ways, I feel that we have an advantage over our Australian friends due to the compulsory superannuation system they have "down under". For many, this is their only source of client work and income so it's much harder to transition to a fee-based service.
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I was however interested to learn that they have a common term as 'scoped' Financial Planning. This is something that I have struggled to understand; how a Financial Plan can be created without covering all areas and still be a financial plan?! I am going to find out more regarding this and explore this area with an open mind.
I am hopeful that if it is credible it may be a way to introduce a lower cost version of Financial Planning, which would be particularly relevant to those for whom having the means to pay is a deterrent, as they may not be able to afford a full plan. In the past, my own attempts at 'limited advice' financial plans have failed miserably and ended up as full plans for the cost of a small report! I hope that we can make some progress as the more we can make Financial Planning available to all the better.