Blue Chip Issue 90

A LEAP FORWARD
INTO THE FUTURE
In 2023, the FPI celebrated looking back to where we have been while moving forward
into a future where change is a constant evolution of innovation and progress. And
with 2024 just a month old, it certainly feels like we have made a collective leap
forward into the future.
In today’s fast-paced era, financial advisors require tools that seamlessly adapt to their
evolving needs. Ferdi van Heerden, Momentum Investments’ new CEO, cautions that the
investment industry can no longer ignore technological innovation and to do so would be at
its peril. Van Heerden firmly believes that an AI-driven tech revolution will reset the rules for
investment managers (page 20).
To deal with this AI wave, you need to be strategic. It’s important to organise and optimise
data so that AI can use it. Prepare your data by identifying the 20% that is important for 80%
of the services and tasks you perform and focus on that. And then you need to ensure that
you implement security measures and protocols (page 64).
South Africa has been identified as the fifth-most affected country globally in terms
of cybercrime. Reports indicate a concerning 356% increase in impersonation fraud
between 2022 and 2023. In addition, a cybercrime report by Interpol discovered that
more than 230-million cyber threats were detected in South Africa in 2021. Cybercrime
is more profitable than the global drug trade and costs more per year than all natural
disasters combined (page 50).
Linktank concurs and goes on to say that 95% of the 230-million cyber threats
were email-based attacks. South Africa has had a 100% increase in mobile banking
application fraud and experiences on average 577 malware attacks every hour (page 58).
Trust is the cornerstone of the financial services profession, and social media can
be a powerful tool in building and maintaining this trust. Consistent, transparent
communication that reflects professional ethics and values goes a long way in solidifying
client trust. It’s about creating a digital presence that clients can rely on for accurate, helpful
information (page 18).
Blogs are conduits for conversation and driving connection with your community. They
have the power to elevate your client engagement strategy to new heights, to initiate
dialogues that build trust and foster lasting relationships. If you want to put people first and
bring out the human element in your online communication, blogs can be a powerful way to
achieve this through a scalable, sustainable strategy (page 62).
Back to celebrating Back to the Future, which was the theme of the 2023 FPI Professional’s
Convention. Turn to page 34 for a roundup of the winners from the prestigious FPI gala
awards that recognise excellence in the industry and meet Lara Warburton, 2023 FPI
Financial Planner of the Year (page 30).
May 2024 be a winning year for you!
All the best
Alexis Knipe, Editor
Blue Chip Journal – The official publication of FPI
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Blue Chip is a quarterly journal for the financial planning industry and is the official publication of the Financial
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ISSUE 90 |
FEB/MAR/APR 2024
BLUE
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