Jeremy and I recently attended the annual CISI conference, rubbing shoulders with the elite of the UK Financial Planning community.
It is an event we always look forward to, knowing we will return energised and optimistic, and armed with a fistful of ‘golden nuggets’ to help improve what we do here.
Both of us are I’d say ‘lifelong learners’ and whilst throughout the year we attend other events, read and listen to podcasts the CISI conference is, in our view, the big one!
A Bit of TAG
You may have heard Jeremy reference the ‘TAG’ group (Trusted Advisor Group). TAG is comprised of six of the UK’s best financial planning businesses and is something that we feel honoured to be a part of. We all share a common (evidence based) philosophy around investing, as well as a strong commitment to helping clients live their best lives.
From my perspective I am still amazed that the ‘mechanics of money’ is rarely mentioned at the conference.
I probably shouldn’t be though, as now being into my fourth year at Brett Investment – and having attended three CISI conferences – I understand that real financial planning is not just about numbers; it’s also about helping you define what your ‘best life’ looks like whilst helping you identify what (if anything) is getting in the way of you living it.
With this in mind I was struck by how much the content was around asking clients better questions, listening more intently and helping people understand and manage their emotions more effectively.
The Chimp Paradox
As Jeremy mentions in his article the star of the show, was Professor Steve Peters, a consultant psychiatrist and best-selling author for his book ‘The Chimp Paradox’. With great humour (and detail), Steve discussed how the mind is structured and functions, challenging us to consider how we manage our own psychological health.
Additional Takeaways
Away from the Chimp, we heard from a range of other speakers, all experts in their field, discussing the likes of technology integration, the broad future of financial planning and robustly discussing the purpose and delivery methodologies for all client meetings.
At this stage of my career, I can’t help but lap it all up. We are fortunate to be a part of TAG and supported by the CISI and are very much looking forward to future conferences and being involved in shaping the future of financial planning!
