Success Forum 2000, which kicks off Sunday at the John B. Hynes Memorial Convention Center in Boston, marks the first national convention of the FPA, the 29,000-member organization formed by the Jan. 1 merger of the International Association for Financial Planning and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners.

The significance of the first FPA Success Forum is that "it represents, in a sense, the culmination of the work in the merger process," according to president-elect Guy Cumbie, who takes the reigns of the FPA in January. "It's the first real, full-blown gathering of the financial planning community."

The historic union in January of the two formerly competitive organizations marked a cultural shift for both the ICFP, which was built around the Certified Financial Planner credential, and the IAFP, a group based on an open platform that included non-CFP professionals, such as lawyers and broker/dealers, and created a new organization with the goal of becoming the unified voice for the young financial planning profession.

Though the name of the event comes from the former IAFP's annual meeting, which was also called Success Forum, the first FPA event will look different than the previous conference, according to conference chair Mark Balasa.

"We've tried to capture the best of both organizations," Balasa said. "This event will be a little different."

Organizers expect about 2,400 attendees at the three-day event, a 25 percent increase over last year's IAFP meeting in San Antonio and some 600 vendors and support staff, Balasa said.

Much of the focus of this year's event will be on the future of the planning profession, he said. "Because of Mark Hurley's Paper (The Future of the Financial Advisory Business and the Delivery of Advice to the Semi-Affluent Investor), there's been a lot of discussion on where the marketplace for small advisors is going."

A crush of online providers, such as myCFO and Financial Engines, rushing to enter the market, and new and increasing competition from the accounting, mutual fund and banking industries are forcing small and sole practitioners to think about their futures. Improving technology and the shift of large organizations from transaction-based services to advice are also driving change in the financial planning profession.

The FPA event includes a professional education track called Bridge the Gap, drawn from the annual event of the former ICFP, with sessions geared toward newcomers to the professions. Sessions include Running Your Financial Planning Practice as a Business, led by Mark Freedman, president of Freedman Financial Associates in Peabody, Mass.; Conducting the Initial Consultation, led by Eileen M. Sharkey, a partner with Sharkey, Howes & Javer Inc. of Denver; and Presenting a Financial Plan, led by Kyra Hollowell Morris of Morris Financial Concepts in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Another ICFP influence is the Special Issues education track, which includes a CFP Board of Standards Ethics Course led by noted ethics and compliance expert Katherine Vessenes, president of Bloomington, Minn.-based Vestment Consulting, and a session called, "Online Trading, Friend or Foe?" with Chip Roame, managing principal of Tiburon Strategic Advisors of Tiburon, Calif.

Other event highlights include a keynote address by astronaut and former U.S. Senator John Glenn, who kicks off the event Sunday morning, and an economic forecast Monday afternoon by investment advisor and author Harry S. Dent, who will discuss the factors driving an unprecedented economic boom that he says will continue through 2009. Consultant Marvin Zonis will speak on the impact of the international economic and political climate on the financial markets in a keynote address Tuesday morning.

While practitioners sharpen their skills in the classroom sessions and shop for services and products in the resource center, FPA leaders will continue the task of building the new organization. Much of the nine months since the creation of the FPA has been spent grappling with operational issues, according to FPA president Roy T. Diliberto.

"Mergers take a long time. They don't become accomplished just because the groups have legally merged," he said. "We're trying to merge the two cultures and to develop our own."

One trait of the combined group that's new for both associations is an increased commitment to career development, Diliberto said. FPA leaders are concentrating on the development of a career track for financial planning professionals and on increasing the number of CFPs, which now stands at around 34,000. FPA leaders are also developing an advocacy program with a presence in Washington.

-- By Melissa Klein

Send comments to information@smartpros.com

Back to NewsLine