Meet keynote speakers Sarah Abood, Professor Andrew J Scott, David Sharpe CFP® and Adam Spencer and find out more about select sessions from the FPA’s Professionals Congress event coming up in November 2022.

Sarah Abood
Chief Executive Officer, Financial Planning Association of Australia
Sarah Abood is Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). She has over 25 years’ experience working in the financial services industry and she is a passionate advocate for financial planning.

Sarah has a deep understanding of the financial planning profession, and the demands of running a financial planning practice. This was gained from her nine years as CEO of Profile Financial Services, a privately-owned and self-licensed financial planning firm and FPA Professional Practice.

Before joining the FPA as CEO, Sarah held the position of chief operating officer at HOPE Housing Funds Management. She has also worked in senior change and transformation, and marketing roles for some of Australia’s leading financial institutions. Sarah holds a BA from the University of Sydney, an MBA from Macquarie University (MGSM) and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Professor Andrew J Scott
London Business School
Andrew J Scott is Professor of Economics at London Business School and a consulting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. Through multi-award-winning research, writing and teaching, his pioneering work and ideas inform a global understanding of the profound shifts reshaping our world and impacting us all, and envision the actions needed for us to flourish individually and as a society. Board member and advisor to a range of corporates and governments, he is co-founder of The Longevity Forum, an organisation aimed at achieving healthier longer lives, and member of the Cabinet Office Honours Committee (Science and Technology).

David Sharpe CFP®
Chair, Financial Planning Association of Australia
David became Chair of the FPA Board in May 2022 after a year as Deputy Chair, and has been a financial planner and FPA member since 2003. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, has completed a Diploma in Financial Planning and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Distinction) from Curtin University. David runs his own self-licensed financial planning firm, Globe Financial Planning, based in West Perth. In 2016 he was shortlisted for the FPA CFP® Professional of the Year Award.

Prior to being elected onto the board David spent four years on the FPA Western Australia Chapter, including two years as Chair. David can often be found in various media roles (TV, radio and print) advocating for the value of advice.

David chairs the Professional Standards and Conduct Committee, the Regional Chapter Committee and is also a member of both the Governance and Remuneration Committee and the Board Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Adam Spencer
Master of Ceremonies
Adam Spencer is a famous Australian media personality and mathematician. He likes to describe himself as “nowhere near Australia’s best mathematician – but possibly it’s best known”. Adam was completing a PhD in Pure Mathematics at the University of Sydney when he won a national Raw Comedy championship with Triple J, Australia’s youth radio station. He went on to become one of Australia’s most respected, wittiest and thought-provoking breakfast radio commentators across Triple J and later ABC 702.

His dexterity at being both mathematical – he has authored seven best-selling books for talented maths students – and verbal – he was voted best debater in the world at the 1996 World Championships – makes him a curious customer indeed. Adam is currently the Ambassador for Science and Mathematics at the University of Sydney, and his latest book, Maths 101, for Dumb Dads and Desperate Mums, was released in December 2021 by Hardie Grant.

Adam, Andrew, David and Sarah will be presenting the keynote session The 100 Year Life to open the FPA Congress on Wednesday 23 November 2022.

Congress Highlights

Expect practical tips, insights and more from 20+ workshops and panel discussions at the Reunite Reset FPA Professionals Congress in Sydney. Here are a handful of sessions to give you an idea of what to expect across the two-day event.

Aged Care Advice – Pricing, Tips and Business Models
Assyat David, Aged Care Steps, Kerry Darton, Clarity Financial Advice & Jason Burley, Burley Aged Care Advice
In this session, aged care specialists discuss their experiences with choosing their business models and how they bring aged care into conversations with clients. They will also share practical tips on how to price the advice and an action plan to get started.

Finatical curiosity: How to convert more business through curiosity
Jacquelyn Mann and Eleece Quilliam, Invesco Consulting
How can you engage more effectively with your clients, and build a foundation of trust from the outset? Invesco Consulting has spent more than two decades studying the adviser/client relationship. Their research shows there are eight categories in every clients’ life they want their financial planner to know and understand, but they won’t give up this information easily. This interactive workshop shares new ways to quickly learn as much about your clients as possible by using the natural order of curiosity.

How to identify genuine SMSF needs for clients
Peter Burgess, Deputy CEO / Director of Policy & Education, SMSF Association & Liam Shorte, SMSF Specialist Advisor™, Verante Financial Planning
This panel session explores client motivations and drivers for establishing an SMSF. Key findings from recent research will be used to explain the different SMSF investor segments and advice needs. As well as showing how SMSFs perform relative to APRA regulated funds, the session will examine how underlying characteristics such as fund size and asset allocation relate to fund performance.

Professional practice workshops 1 & 2
Jason Andriessen, MYMAVINS & Angela Martyn, Personal Financial Services Pty Ltd
This practical workshop will unpack scoping advice within a client’s defined parameters and explore how best to determine the level of ongoing service a client needs, while remaining compliant at all times. Jason and Angela will also cover referrals from partners and clients and how to manage prospects who aren’t suitable as your client.

Helping to unpack ‘disability’ and its implications for clients
Andrea Natoli, Participate Australia & Cris Parker, The Ethics Alliance
What is a disability? What are your rights, obligations and duties to your client experiencing a disability? This session will cover this as well as issues stemming from a disability that may impact financial advice– conscious & unconscious bias, cognitive impairment due to ageing and the economic power of people with disabilities and their carers.

How to ethically exit a client
Kathryn Creasy, Capital Partners Private Wealth Advisers & Robert Kimberley, Financial Planning Association of Australia
Kathryn and Robert look at circumstances where it might be appropriate for a planner to bring a client relationship to an end, looking at common scenarios, the regulatory implications and a best-practice approach.