Countdown to Celtic Manor: IFP Conference highlights in focus
The biggest Financial Planning event in the UK is just a week away, with hundreds of delegates expected at Celtic Manor.
The IFP annual conference begins next Monday, with three days of expert speakers, debate, networking and the gala awards evening ahead.
Here Financial Planner Online looks at some of the key highlights for the conference day by day.
Monday
The day starts with pre-conference sessions at 10.30 exclusively for Accredited Financial Planning Firms.
The IFP AGM takes place at midday before the opening address at 1.55pm with Steve Gazzard, IFP chief executive.
The conference opens with Doug Carter's session on 'clients forever.'
Sessions later in the day include portfolio construction using closed-ended funds from Jacqueline Lockie FIFP, CFPCM, head of training at the Association of Investment Companies plus Platform Due Diligence with Rory Percival, the FCA's technical specialist and Mark Polson, principal of the Lang Cat.
Tuesday
The morning features keynotes from IFP President Rebecca Taylor FIFP, CFPCM, Partnership chief
executive Steve Groves on retirement opportunities and Dr James Rouse on the neurobiology of high performance.
Delegates can then choose from sessions including a workshop on building a business plan or on introducing a Centralised Investment Process.
The new 'hangouts', informal, open forum sessions allowing for discussion and debate with either Doug Carter or Mark Polson then take place.
Later in the day, there is a session on defamation and social media with Andrew Brook-Dobson, director at Brook-Dobson Brear and Michael Clarke, partner in commercial litigation at Clarke Willmott.
There will also be a planner-led session on how to create inspirational and profitable businesses, all topped off with a keynote session from Royston Guest on raising the bar.
The Gala Dinner Awards evening hosted by BBC Breakfast News' Steph McGovern concludes the day.
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
Wednesday
There are sessions on listening, language, social rules and negotiation from Richard Mullender, a hostage negotiator, as well as a comprehensive IHT update session from Peter Legg, head of IHT Planning Matters and another on pensions changes.
There are also sessions on goal setting and building a business by design.
Ethics
Financial Planners can fulfil almost all of their annual Ethics CPD requirement at the conference with sessions from Dr Tom Simpson of the University of Oxford who will look at the notion of trust and explore what the Financial Planning community can do to ensure trustworthiness. He will discuss how to facilitate rational trust among the public.
Chris Keeble will examine the challenge to achieve business purposes while sustaining peoples' goodwill, through virtue as a guide to goodness. The sessions are designed to be more than 'box ticking' and to genuinely challenge delegates' thinking.