Practice Management: Cruising to higher standards
CFP Geoff Nairn reports on the best conference he has attended in 20 years.
Thursday, July 27th 2000, 12:00AM
Without a doubt, PIMS 2000 was the best conference I have attended in over twenty years in the industry. From every perspective – organisation, venue, calibre of speakers, value and applicability of conference content and the sheer variety of workshops, expert led discussion groups, personal development meetings and small think tanks – the conference gave huge value for money.
The Oriana is one of the worlds most modern high-speed luxury cruise ships. It cruises at 28 knots, which for the adventurous is more than enough to ski behind! At maximum capacity it can carry over three thousand passengers together with a compliment of 760 crew.
I stepped on board at 5 pm on Tuesday 6th June with 400 delegates from the UK, and 200 international delegates from Europe, Asia, Canada, South Africa and Australia. In addition there were 220 exhibitors from the funds management industry, insurance companies, professional associations, research houses and regulatory bodies. During the first night, after an address on Maximising Growth and Competitiveness by the Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, we watched Southampton and the south of England slip by over dinner as we steamed out towards St Peter Port in Guernsey, Channel Islands.
For the next two days we worked from 7.30 am to 10.30 pm taking in various key note addresses, one on one meetings with exhibitors, personal development counselling sessions, expert led discussion groups, small group think tanks, presentations and workshops. There was plenty to select from for everyone regardless of their style of practice, with both insurance and investment being equally catered to. The conference had quite a heavy technology slant to it, with workshops and presentations on developing effective websites and Internet marketing being very well supported.
The opportunity to meet with advisers from different jurisdictions operating within (in some cases) extremely draconian regulatory environments gave me cause to reflect on the comparative paradise in which New Zealand advisers operate. Some international environments have three regulatory bodies, and one even has a regulator to regulate the regulators!
We were dropped off back at Southampton at 8.30 am Friday 9th June at the end of the conference, after having again steamed through the night. I still marvel at the calibre of the organisation that pulls this annual function together. A fortnight prior to leaving New Zealand I received my personal agenda for the conference which had been developed from my on-line (via the PIMS 2000 website) selections. From start to finish I knew exactly with whom I would be meeting, and which sessions I would be attending during the two days and three evenings.
Although the venue was exciting, this was no junket. We worked hard, had little time to play, and were presented with vast amounts of information, techniques and skills to absorb. The qualifying criteria to attend was huge – a minimum of $NZ150,000,000 funds under management (FUM) and $NZ3,000,000 annual practice revenue. Because of this the conference attracts the best operators in the business. As a member of the Broadbase Group, I was permitted to aggregate the group’s FUM and business revenue to meet the minimum standards. This was quite fortuitous, as our own practice (Broadbase Egmont Ltd in New Plymouth) by itself fell just short of the benchmark.
The cost was one week of my time to get there and back, plus the cost of getting from New Plymouth to Southampton and back. The exhibitors took care of all other costs for the conference once we were on board. Check out the conference website at www.PIMS2000.com.
Without a doubt, we will be back next year.
Geoff Nairn, is a Certified Financial Planner, and runs Broadbase Egmont based in New Plymouth.| « The British are Coming | King builds an empire » |
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