It's a wrap: Future Ready Wellington

Future Ready Wellington kicked off on Tuesday 14 March 2023 at Sky Stadium. Here's a summary of all the key highlights.

We would like to acknowledge all of our generous sponsors, speakers and MCs, and members of the FSC Professional Advice Committee for their hard work in helping bringing this event to life.

Morning

Political keynotes and a conversation with the regulator

We kicked off the morning with in-person addresses from Hon Dr Duncan Webb (Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs) and Andrew Bayly (MP for Port Waikato and National Party Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs).

Both speakers touched on the need to shift the dial for vulnerable groups: the elderly, women, Māori and Pasifika, as well as ensuring we have a competent and professional financial advice industry. They also mentioned advancements in technology, including open banking and blockchain.

Then Partners Life's Mark Banicevich facilitated a conversation with Michael Hewes, Anita Frazer and Derek Grantham from the FMA, which was followed by an economic update from BetaShares' chief economist David Bassanese.   

Wellbeing tips + getting your business future ready

Katie Hunter from AIA Vitality left us with three wellbeing tips:

1. Take time each day to create a list at the end of each day of 3-5 things to do the following day.
2. Block out time in your diary for you, whether that's 30mins on the couch doing nothing, hitting the gym, or spending time with friends.
3. Focus on your breathing. 

Following this, we ran a panel discussion about getting your business future ready with experts Don Trapnell, Josie Vella, Mark Banicevich, Anna Schubert and Melanie Purdey who spoke with FSC CEO Richard Klipin.

The conversation continued the wellbeing theme by taking a more holistic approach to health and wellbeing, touched on the importance of soft skills and human bonding. Don and Josie shared their experience with the Next Gen programme across the ditch in Australia, sharing learnings for the NZ delegates in the room.

Midday

Trailblazers panel

The FSC's Head of Content Clarissa Hirst facilitated a kōrero with two young advisers Josh Cuttance from ShareNZ and Calum MacLeod from PolicyWise, who shared their thoughts on embracing digitalisation, how businesses can attract young talent, and how they'd like to see the industry change in 5-10 years' time. 

Meet the Professionals

Our audience broke into small groups for the Meet the Professionals sessions on a range of topics, including:

• How to promote your business in a crowded market
• How to simply and effectively structure your next presentation
• Passive vs active: Is the debate over?
• Creating a QA programme
• and more!

Afternoon 

Masterclass

Life after Licensing: Future Ready your business

This interactive, practical session was specifically designed for small and medium sized FAPs to start businesses thinking and getting processes in place to take the strain out of yearly regulatory returns, maintain licensing requirements and be future ready.