Blue Chip Issue 85

BLUE CHIP FINANCIAL

BLUE CHIP FINANCIAL PLANNER OF THE YEAR help the consumer-at-large understand the difference in professionalism and quality that is available to them in the advice space. I also think that the role of a financial planner is extremely diverse, and it is important that this gets more defined for both financial planners and clients. Financial planners and clients need to know where to draw the line from an advice perspective. What are your long-term objectives – including those on diversity and inclusion? My long-term objectives are to continue building a financial planning practice that always puts the client first. To do this, I am driven to build an inclusive and diverse team of passionate colleagues who learn that the role we hold in someone’s life is so valuable and important. I believe that I need to set our business clear and achievable diversity and inclusive goals from a staff, provider and client perspective, if we want to see this business grow and flourish in the long term. Upskilling, mentoring and sponsoring will always be a cornerstone of how we manage all staff that join my business. I am driven to build an inclusive and diverse team of passionate colleagues who learn that the role we hold in someone’s life is so valuable and important. HENDRIK SPIES, CFP® Chartered Accountant (SA), Principal of Spies & Associates, Old Mutual PFA How has the process of applying for the Financial Planner of the Year Award benefitted your business? Have you made any significant changes to your business during the application process? Applying for the award has given me an opportunity to step back and reflect on how far I have come as a CFP® professional. At the same time, it has also given me an opportunity to envision an even brighter future for my practice. The application process has once again made me appreciate the importance of the CFP® professional credentials. It has also inspired my three partners to enrol for the qualification next year. Do you believe that the FPI can improve the selection process in any way? I believe that all CFP® professionals should automatically be included in the selection process. I am convinced that there are many more amazing CFP® professionals out there with strong practices from whom we can learn a great deal. If the FPI can visit some of these practices in person and spend time with them, I believe it would further enhance the prestige Ours is not simply an industry; it is a profession which can and should be ranked amongst the best of professions. that is already connected to this fantastic award. It will be my absolute privilege to be part of such a process in future. What are the changes you would like to see in the financial planning industry? For me, it all comes down to education. One obviously needs an education to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, but I believe education is much more than that. As CFP® professionals, we have a duty to educate the public on why it is so important to use a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®. We also have a duty to show the wider financial planning industry that ours is not simply an industry; it is a profession which can and should be ranked among the best of professions. In 2018, I joined two clients to start a school in my area. Today our school educates more than 150 learners. My dream is to see CFP® professionals rise from the ranks of these learners in 20 years from now. What are your long-term objectives – including those on diversity and inclusion? My team and I are on a drive to grow our practice over the next two years by employing young planners and assisting them on their journey to qualify as CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS®. I know there are many young planners out there who, with the right guidance, can become successful CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS®, and my team and I see it as our responsibility to assist this next generation of CFP® professionals. Our goal is to help these young planners build their own practices – an initiative which obviously benefits the younger planners, but more than that: it also paves the way to a future where more clients can be reached and given access to quality financial advice. This is especially important in a country like South Africa where we have a very diverse population, both economically and Hendrik Spies, CFP®, socially. To ensure that every South African Chartered Accountant has access to quality financial advice, it is (SA), Principal of Spies & our responsibility to help create a diverse Associates, Old Mutual PFA group of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS®. At the end of the day, this is what financial planning is all about – changing people’s lives. How fortunate are we to be in a position where we can make a real difference. My dream is for more people to understand this and make it their daily goal. 28 www.bluechipdigital.co.za

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