The Kaplan Professional Series of conferences for financial advisers and accountants have been overhauled to make them more relevant and practical.
A major change is more time allocated to speaker presentations and workshops for more thorough treatment of topics.
There will also be more emphasis on hands-on learning sessions such as workshops, panel discussions and case studies.
And anything remotely resembling a sales pitch will be outlawed.
The conferences will commence with a workshop at Sydney’s Harbour’s Edge Events Centre on 19-20 August. Money Management will be the official publication.
Michael Fitzpatrick, one of the key Kaplan Professional speakers said: “I’m excited about the new format.
“Having attended and given countless seminars over the years I’ve often felt frustrated by having to fit in a 40-minute time slot.
“For a lot of the areas and issues, you just can’t get into the meat of a subject in less than an hour and a half.
“It’s important to do justice to important issues, to give time where it really is deserved, especially when you’ve got a good speaker.”
There will be national conferences on self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), Tax Planning Strategies and Advising on Risk and Insurance.
There will also be the Kaplan Professional Financial Adviser’s Roadshow, workshops that will address estate planning and pre- and post-retirement planning.
The aim is to hold them in various states for the convenience of financial planners. The first, at Sydney’s Harbour’s Edge Events Centre on 19-20 August, is to be chaired by Mike Taylor, the Managing Editor of Money Management.
Mr Fitzpatrick said: “The workshop on death and taxes will be an exciting opportunity for financial advisers or those responsible for providing financial advice to the modern family.
“It will enable them to come to grips with the way in which modern death duties, and back door taxes like capital gains tax, can intrude significantly into the wealth of widows and children of deceased clients.
“The workshop will allow a close hands-on approach to how to identify these taxes, how they may apply in individual cases, and what strategies are available to the adviser to help deal with and minimize these taxes.
“It’s a crucial role for advisers. Unless they know what they’re doing, they won’t be able to do their job properly.”
More information: www.iir.com.au/far
Nigel Dique, Media Officer
Telephone: 02 9080 4108
nigel.dique@informa.com.au
