FI Consult

The Business Assurance Deficit No, this is not the underinsurance of shareholders and key persons but rather the shortage of advisors and advice in the business space. We see business assurance - or financial planning for businesses and their people - as a vital service that is under-provided. It's also an opportunity for advisors to either widen their offering or specialise. Either way, entering relationships by working with businesses to mitigate risks and provide cash flow opens doors to getting in front of business owners and their employees. Also, it often leads to personal financial planning for individuals and sometimes presents the possibility of employee benefits. However, there are too few advisors that embrace this area of advice, some of the reasons being... ~ Skillset ~ Mindset ~ Support ~ Network ~ Strategy ~ Confidence ~ Intimidation ~ Longer lead times Financial planning businesses would do well to support their advisors to pursue business assurance clients. It does require some specialist knowledge and skills, as well as a certain approach to connection and relationships. Business owners, directors and shareholders may receive financial advisors differently to personal financial planning clients, but the approach and offering is something that can be developed fairly easily. FI Consult supports advice businesses and their advisors to strategise, plan, pursue and deliver professional advice to business clients. Our offering in this respect is: ~ Consulting, training, coaching & mentoring ~ Business development ~ NEW: Shadow Boxing ~ NEW: Come-alongs Our lead consultant and trainer is a financial planning veteran, with 30 years of experience, that grew a significant book by working with business owners. More information at the bottom of this page: https://lnkd.in/dcYBxXDG

Our own David Kop CFP® will be sharing on the topic. Market Conduct a journey of 13 years and counting, at the PROpulsion day of CPD this Wednesday. We hope to see you there

Next week Tuesday we will be hosting what we believe is a one-of-a-kind workshop on Client Charging & Advisor Remuneration. These two topics are highly relevant, and are being spoken about all the time, but in closed quarters and not in the depth and not with the impact to make a difference. Our workshop will unpack the current reality and explore what is possible in terms of creating practical and sustainable frameworks that can be implemented immediately or over time. Our two industry experts will facilitate a full day of in-depth understanding and development and attendees will depart armed with tools that they can confidently take back to the business and act on. We have confirmed our venue as Bryanston Country Club in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Its quiet and tranquil positioning is suitable for a day of productive work. Attendees will have everything they need to remain energised and attentive. We still have a few tickets available. Please click on this link for more detailed information on the agenda and to purchase your tickets: https://lnkd.in/dYJ3XgPJ

In the initial RDR discussion paper issued in November 2014, there were 31 proposals relating to adviser remuneration. As of the December 2019 update. 12 of these proposals were finalised, 9 in public consultation, 4 at the informal discussion stage, 2 being discussed internally and 4 at various stages. We expect the issue to be finalised with the finalisation of the COFI bill and the conduct standards that will come after that. However forward-looking financial planning businesses are not waiting for the regulation, but looking what is best for the business and their client. Join us on 17 September 2024 at the Bryanston Country Club for a full-day workshop where we unpack the important topic of Client Charging. More details on our website at www.ficonsult.co.za

After a long time in the making, we have just published our end-of-year events page! Most businesses follow a conventional approach to their celebrations but we discovered that businesses want more. They want to provide their staff with more of a differentiating experience, much like they would for their clients, but they either don't know how or don't have the capacity. That's where we come in. We work closely with you to co-create something exceptional, or we make suggestions if you are at a loss for ideas. We have partnered with event planners and curators of experiences across the country and we provide our clients with end-of-year events that are anything from small and intimate to, large and insane! More info on the new page: https://lnkd.in/dzFRcRtb

The venue has been confirmed: Bryanston Country Club. So for everyone on the fence because of travel, come on over to the 2191 area code and spend the day with us! All details here: https://lnkd.in/dYJ3XgPJ

The quote that Jason is referring to is 'Train people well enough so they can leave; treat them well enough so they don't want to.' An important component of both our 1- and 2-day strategy sessions is culture. Considering the people-dynamic of your business is paramount to your growth success. Strategy ~ Operations ~ Human Engagement

There is a traditional acceptance that the financial advisor needs to develop new business i.e. get new clients. The larger businesses build brand that the advisors can leverage, and smaller businesses do the same, but possibly more niche and often in the names of the advisors themselves. The combination of the big and small business strategies are useful but there exists some middle ground that is not being adequately explored - a business development function, driven by the business, picked up by the advisors. Some of the larger, often listed providers, have relationships with large entities that they mine. These are called 'worksites' and advice businesses present to and place advisors in those businesses. Most opportunities are lost, or at least the hit rate is embarrassingly low, because the strategy is inadequate, the execution is average and the advisors do not carry the requisite skills. Due to the size and nature of the providing business, these worksites are most often government departments, parastatals, unions or some other 'officially' associated entities that businesses and their advisors hope to benefit from. It's largely a failed strategy but they continue because it's still worth the investment... and certain boxes are ticked. What if a similar strategy was adopted but executed to perfection? The financial planning business focuses on both building brand and creating events, off of which the advisors can benefit. These events can be through strategic relationships and higher-level agreements; they can also be once-off or regular. Either way, the business drives the activity and creates interest en masse, and the advisors support the activity by following up with members / attendees and moving the macro presentations to micro conversations. We can say through experience that this formula works but it relies on a vision, a strategy and a plan, carefully executed by the right people in the right way. And then the advisors that are fortunate enough to participate in the program need to be adequately skilled and experienced in the arts of professional networking, relationship building and financial planning. They also have to be of the constitution to align with the potential clients that are being made available through the initiative. Any misalignment - at a business or advisor level - will guarantee failure. This may sound complicated but once we share stories and explore possibility, the plan tends to unravel and the execution becomes about getting the right people on the project and taking action.

What is an annual review? Something I have to do because of legislation? A feedback session? A tracking session? A value demonstration session? It is all of the above. It is an important part of your overall client engagement strategy and will increase your revenue per client when done right.

Over the last 14 months, we have realised a deep need for business / practice management services in micro, small and medium sized financial planning businesses. Few businesses have access to advisors that can assist with strategy and operations, and those that are 'thrown in' free of charge usually deploy people and programs that are limited in impact. Our consultancy services have been well-received but there remains a gap for the smaller business that is trying to innovate and grow; those that want to take their business to the next level, and either don't have the capacity, or don't know how. As a result, we have created an offering that is highly effective and affordable. This Business Management Mastermind is a regular, online meet-up of business representatives that have an interest in evolving their business in terms of systems and processes, including administration and compliance. These sessions are facilitated by David Kop CFP® and held every two weeks over Teams. Each session is 90 minutes long and each group goes for 6 months. There is an agenda but it is loose enough to also work with what individuals, themselves, bring to the group. The objective is always to grow your businesses in the best way possible. The investment required to participate in the mastermind is a very attractive R1,500 per person, per month, for 6 months. Our next group kicks off in October.