Blue Chip Journal - June 2019 edition

FOREWORD
A new direction for the FPI
Greetings! For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve just taken over as the new full-time
CEO of the FPI. (Ed: Read our profile of Lelané on page 18 to get to know her better.)
Fresh off the plane from a convention in Washington, I’m now sinking my teeth into
the exciting challenge of steering the financial planning profession into the future.
With your help, of course…
Conventions and awards
Our first port of call is the upcoming FPI Convention on 17 and 18 July in Sandton – our 30th
annual gathering! The convention is a fantastic opportunity for industry professionals to grow
both their networks and their skillsets (the lineup of international and local speakers is out of the
very top drawer). For me, it is also a timely chance for us all to take stock of the FPI’s strengths and
challenges and to build on the progress made in the past 12 months to forge a new and fruitful
direction for the Institute.
In the lead-up to the convention, we have the daunting task of choosing our Financial Planner
of the Year from what has been an especially stellar batch of applicants. We are currently in the
process of whittling the field down to three finalists (not easy!) whose practices we will visit for
on-the-ground evaluations of their business and financial planning processes. From these three
finalists, there can be only one winner – you’ll have to wait until the glitzy gala dinner on 17 July
to find out who it is.
Nuts and bolts
There are also plenty of other matters to address. For the sake of our members, we’ve updated our
CPD cycle to run from 1 June to 31 May annually. This will assist members who are also licensed
under FAIS to file all their CPD documentation at the same time. It is important though to note that
the recent FSCA exemption from CPD requirements (FSCA FAIS Notice 40 of 2019) does not apply
to FPI members. Members must still comply with the 35 CPD hour requirement by 31 May 2019.
4 www.bluechipjournal.co.za