IFA turns around deficit

The Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA) has recorded a net surplus of $3,625 in the year to June, 30, 2008, a dramatic improvement on the $140,821 loss in the previous year.

Friday, March 6th 2009, 7:35AM

by David Chaplin

According to the latest IFA accounts, the adviser industry body lifted its revenue by over $200,000 with conference and professional development income up from $145,574 in the 2006/7 year to $260,328 in 12 months to the end of June 2008.

Over the same period IFA membership fee income climbed to almost $700,000 compared to $607,847 in the previous year.

However, Lyn McMorran, IFA president, said the increase in membership revenue reflected a $50 fee hike rather than growth in member numbers.

McMorran said IFA member numbers have held steady over the year at about 1,400 with 1,200 classified as practitioners.

The organisation also kept expenses more or less flat in the year to the end of June, 2008, spending just over $1 million compared to $971,808 in the previous 12-month period.

McMorran said the results reflected the prudent financial management of IFA chief executive David Hutton.

However, she said conditions would be a lot tougher in the current financial year, particularly in regards to finding sponsors for the IFA annual conference.

“Many of the companies who used to support us are no longer there,” McMorran said. “In future we will need to find more clever ways of doing things [for the conference].”

While she said this year's IFA conference, scheduled for July in Auckland, would at least break even, the 2010 event was likely to be designed differently.

“It will still be a quality event but we need different options... three to four days is too much time for some advisers to set aside,” McMorran said.

She said the IFA could also experience higher expenses this year as a result of an increased number of disciplinary cases.

The Professional Advisers Association (PAA), the country's second-largest financial advisory organisation will present its accounts today at its conference in Rotorua.

According to PAA chief, Dave McMillan, the group has grown numbers by about 35% during the year with 830 members now signed up.

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