FPA of MN Newsletter – July 2015

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President’s Message – July, 2015

Greetings to all,
With the year already half over (hard to believe!), I wanted to take this opportunity to revisit a topic that has been a primary focus of FPA of MN leadership for 2015, the idea of “asking, listening, and responding,” to you, our highly-valued FPA of MN members.

Know that to the extent you are willing to take the time to provide feedback, whether through a survey you receive via e-mail, an e-mail you send to Bonnie, or a one-on-one conversation you have with a Board member, we appreciate your input very much. We listen to it and, where feasible, respond to it accordingly.

Here is a small sampling of the ways we have sought to “ask, listen, and respond” throughout the year:

  • In response to the 2014 end-of-year member survey in which members expressed an interest in more practice management topics, a number of FPA committees collaborated to create an after-hours practice management series, with the first being in May on the topic of “How To Get More ROI from Social Media.” The second program in series, “The Pros and Cons of Partnerships” will take place on July 22 from 5:00 – 6:30. More details to come.
  • In response to our Pro Bono volunteers’ request for ongoing training to empower them to better serve our Pro Bono clients, we created a series of workshops following Chapter meetings on topics of relevance. Topics to-date have included a general “boot camp” to provide general training, debt/credit repair, and working with members of the military. Our next workshop is coming up on July 21st following the Chapter meeting on the topic of Special Needs planning.
  • In response to feedback following last year’s Symposium requesting additional advanced planning content, the Symposium committee put an emphasis on including content of this nature, including speakers such as Michael Kitces and Bob Keebler. Additionally, in response to feedback regarding breakout sessions, the schedule has been structured in such a way as to give attendees a better opportunity to attend the key breakout sessions in which they have an interest. In all, I think this year’s Symposium will be an extremely impactful event. To register or find out more, click here.

Be on the lookout for the remainder of the year as we continue to find ways to “respond” to the needs of our members and help you maximize the value you get from your FPA membership. As always, feel free to let me or any of our Board members know of any questions, comments, or concerns that you have. We strive to “ask-listen-respond.”

Best,

Steve Gilbertson, CFP®
612-750-5237
Accredited Investors, Inc.
steve@accredited.com


Member Testimonial

"I initially joined the FPA, over 10 years ago, because I was told it is a great organization and will look good on a resume, plus I can earn Continuing Education credits by attending chapter meetings. The colleagues who told me that were not members, nor were many people I worked closely with. So, being in Woodbury, the thought of driving to Golden Valley and walking into a meeting of complete strangers was not very appealing.

Several years ago, a good friend (who has been very active with the MN Chapter) encouraged me to attend a meeting to check it out again. And, I am so glad I did! My membership and involvement have provided me many lasting friendships, many opportunities to further develop my abilities to better work with clients and an amazing network of other professionals.

My friend took the effort to introduce me to other members and went out of his way to make me feel welcome. Today, we have the Chapter Guide program to help with that role. What a great organization we have!"

Michelle Campbell, CFP®
Director of Investment Management
Callahan Financial Planning Corporation
651.714.0323
mcampbell@cfpcorp.net


Pro Bono Workshop: Special Needs Planning and Accounting

July 21 @ 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm

Following the Chapter Meeting
Ballroom, GVCC

As a planner, how do we help children, adults, and families with special needs planning? What are the legal, accounting, and practical issues surrounding helping individuals with special needs and their families? Come and participate in this Pro Bono Workshop panel session to enhance your professional skills. Presenters are: San Asato, CFP®, Bill Franke, CFP®, and AJ Siddiqui, CPA.


FPAMN K’Nex - Discovering Growth and Continuity with Generational Partner(s)

REGISTER NOW

Presenter Aaron Hasler - Managing Partner, Finetooth Consulting
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Mozza Mia
3910 West 50th St, Edina
952-567-2700
Appetizers provided and cash bar available

The growth and expansion of a practice is an important consideration for all financial professionals. Aaron Hasler, Managing Partner of Finetooth Consulting, will leverage his transition and succession planning experience to explore the value of adding a Junior Partner to an established firm. Hasler will make the case that an ideal Generational Partner can immediately provide the freedom to grow and preserve a legacy in the long run. He will produce transparency to timelines, compensation, and the enterprise valuation of a practice and provide advice for finding the ideal business partner.


FPA of MN 2015 Annual GOLF & BOCCE BALL OUTING - August 3rd

Don’t miss the 16th Annual Golf Tournament. Plan to take a break to enjoy a day of golf at Majestic Oaks Golf Club - Crossroads Course - in Ham Lake on Monday, August 3rd.

This first-class tournament brings the Board Room outdoors so you can network with other financial and business professionals from around the state of Minnesota. The unique Scramble format opens the tournament up to golfers of all abilities.

For all of the non-golfers out there, we hope you will participate in the Bocce Ball tournament!

Our Charity Pick This Year: The ALS Association MN/ND/SD Chapter
The ALS Association helps patients and families cope with the day to day challenges of living with ALS by providing information, resources, and referrals to many sources, including a wide variety of community services. Including:

  • Hrbek-Sing Communication and Assistive Device Program
  • Jack Norton Family Respite Program
  • Durable Medical Equipment Loan Pool
  • Occupational Therapy (OT)/Physical Therapy (PT) Program
  • ALS Centers and ALS Clinics
  • Family Assistance Program

Located just 20 minutes north of the Twin Cities, Majestic Oaks features two 18-hole, beautifully groomed courses, an executive nine and a full-service pro shop. Each course boasts a unique layout designed to challenge players of all skill levels. Our scramble format opens the tournament up to all golfing abilities.

Bring a friend or bring your staff, just don’t bring the rain.
Gather your foresome and register today!


SYMPOSIUM SPEAKER - November 3, Suzette Rothberg, CFP®

REGISTER NOW

Elite Engagment
Presentation Scheduled for Tuesday, 12:40-1:35 pm
Pending CE Approval: 1 CIMA, .75 CLE Stnd
Approved CE: 1 CFP, 1 NASBA/CPE
NO CE: 1 MN insurance, 1 WI insurance

Advisors understand that strong client relationships fuel a thriving practice, but elite advisors continuously work to deepen and extend their relationships through strategies designed to convey their skill, reliability, dedication and integrity. Through ethical behavior you have the opportunity to build trust. Trust is the #1 sought after attribute in a financial advisor. There are four key components to building trust and ethical behavior.

  • Credibility – fairly representing credentials and professional competencies; displaying moral character by sharing what clients need to hear not just want they want to hear.
  • Consistency – All about delivering on commitments to clients. The spirit of doing business ethically needs to be embedded in the day to day business activities and the importance of training across the entire team and staff. It’s not all about you.
  • Connections – By understanding clients’ goals and deepening the relationship, we can be more effective with the work we’re doing; greater trust and ethical behavior leads to more candid conversations.
  • Intent – We talk about the benefits of full disclosure towards compensation as a powerful trust builder and an ethical best practice; for example, by sharing with our clients how we get paid; ie, misrepresentation of compensation is obviously unethical.

Ethics, trust and confidence play a vital role in an investor’s willingness to communicate his or her financial goals and fears with advisors. These qualities also greatly impact the level of commitment an individual will invest in a financial plan. Developing lasting bonds of trust with investors is crucial for effective advisor/client communication and helping clients achieve better investment outcomes. A large part of building trust is based on the advisors’ ethics and ethical behavior. Financial advisors with a purposeful client engagement strategy often have the most mutually beneficial relationships.


SYMPOSIUM SPEAKER - November 3, Jill Schlesinger, CFP®

REGISTER NOW!

Main Room: How Not to be a Lousy Investor or Investment Advisor
Presentation Scheduled for Tuesday, 3:40-5:10 pm
Anticipated CE: 1.5 CFP, 1.5 NASBA/CPE, 1.5 MN insurance, 1.0 WI insurance, 1.5 CIMA, 1.5 CLE

And meet in person: Jill Schlesinger, business analyst for CBS News. Jill appears on CBS radio and television stations nationwide covering the economy, markets, investing and anything else with a dollar sign. She translates complicated business and economic news into understandable, reliable topics for everyday viewers and listeners. She is a weekly guest on NPR’s “Here and Now” and also appears on American Public Media’s “Marketplace Money” – Jill is also the host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Jill on Money” which airs in over 85 markets and she writes the nationally syndicated column “Jill on Money” for Tribune Media Services. She is also an influencer for LinkedIn. These are great opportunities to check Jill out prior to Symposium.

“How Not to be a Lousy Investor or Investment Advisor” will drill down to the basics and provide you with a refresher of the nuts and bolts behind being a wise financial advisor and how you can better articulate core concepts to your clients and not let emotions lead them astray in making prudent and sound investment decisions.


FPA MentorMatch Chapter Program

Do you need guidance and support to advance in your career? Or, would you like to give back to the profession? Look to FPA MentorMatch! As an FPA member, you can take advantage of this program to receive best practices and tips from the experts. It also provides opportunities for experienced practitioners to guide and shepherd the next generation of financial planners.

Our Minnesota FPA chapter will be rolling out its own MentorMatch program in the coming months and invites you to participate as a mentor or mentee. During the six-month engagement the chapter and Career Development Committee will provide support and structured activities for both mentors and mentees. Kick-off of the first session will be in January, just in time to start your New Year's resolutions!

If you are interested in learning more or in being a mentor or mentee, please contact the Career Development Committee at careerdevelopment@fpamn.org or call Sara Kantor at 952.920.3900.


Cyber Security Update

Submitted by:
Tom Luing, CFP®,EA - Professional Issues Committee Member

We, as the FPA MN Professional Issues Committee, have discussed and written extensively on cybersecurity issues this year. This is a hot topic currently for a number of reasons: 1) the threat of cybersecurity breaches increases almost daily and 2) it is a hot topic for our industry regulators and their exams.  Whether you are a financial planner, an insurance agent, a securities broker, a tax preparer, or a vendor providing products to any of the above, we’re confident you will be scrutinizing more closely your need to develop cybersecurity policies and procedures.

As a representative of my broker dealer, I recently attended an update on cybersecurity measures put on by Professional Issues Committee colleague Keith Loveland. From that meeting, I learned a number of new things about cybersecurity that I thought I would share.

First, a new term – cyber resilience.As we become more aware of what is happening in the cybersecurity world, two things are evolving: it is becoming more widely accepted that 1)we may not be able to stop cybersecurity attacks as the leap frog game is played between the good guys and the bad guys and 2) that since many financial firms will be subjected to cybersecurity attacks, the focus is becoming more on the ability to recover from that attack.

So while past emphasis has been to focus on preventing the attack, a new focus is evolving as to how to survive an attack as well. In regards to this focus, I was amazed that the average time it takes for a firm to realize they have suffered a cybersecurity breach is 270 days or 9 months. It is amazing that we can have people in our data systems and not know about it for that long.

Our regulators have been focusing on developing standards for dealing with this industry threat. The National Institute of Standards (NIST) has developed an international partnership of small and large organizations to develop an NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. This framework can be used to identify and prioritize actions for developing and implementing a cybersecurity policy and process. This framework focuses on five key functions for a cybersecurity policy:

  1. Identify –develop the organizational knowledge to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities.
  2. Protect – develop and implement procedures to safeguard consistent delivery of critical infrastructure services.
  3. Detect – develop and implement the necessary procedures to identify whether a cybersecurity breach has taken place. Examples might be: anomalies and events; security continuous monitoring, and detection processes.
  4. Respond – develop procedures for responding to a cybersecurity event. Some examples here might include: response planning, communications, analysis, mitigation, and improvements to processes.
  5. Recover – supports timely recovery and reduces the impact of an event should it occur. Examples here might include: recovery planning, improvements, and communications.

The suggestion was also made that these cybersecurity policies be developed in conjunction with business continuity and disaster recovery plans that your firms might already have in place. Further updates on this framework can be found at www.nist.gov/framework/.

Finally, you may also want to review the liability insurance for your business. There a number of companies that offer policies that cover cybersecurity breaches.


Be A Financial Coach

Motivate others to boost savings, control spending, eliminate debt, or improve credit! Prepare + Prosper offers free tax and financial services to low-and moderate-income families, helping to build brighter financial futures. They are a long-time FPA of MN partner with national impact, relying on the talent of 550 volunteers to make a real difference in people’s lives. They are currently looking for financial coach volunteers to join the 2015-2016 team.

Financial coaches offer support, resources and encouragement that keep participants accountable for their financial decisions. Interested? Visit their website for more information or submit an application today!


Get the Latest Original Research on Investing by RPI and Journal of Financial Planning

The FPA Research and Practice Institute™ (RPI) has been engaging in original research on a wide array of subjects of importance to financial planners and the latest study is now available. The 2015 Trends in Investing Survey, done in collaboration with the Journal of Financial Planning, looks at how financial planners are using and recommending different investment vehicles today and where they will look to invest over the coming year. The survey, which has been conducted regularly since 2006, revealed that Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have supplanted mutual funds as the preferred investment vehicle by planners.

And keep an eye out for more research coming out later this year, including a social media study that was conducted in partnership with LinkedIn and a Social Security study that is being done with AARP and CNBC.


FPA Annual Conference Registration Now Open

Register now to attend the advanced technical conference for CFP® professionals – FPA’s Annual Conference – BE Boston 2015 that will be held on September 26-28 to gain new practice management knowledge, skills and resources. The schedule is jam-packed with insightful sessions that will help attendees be more knowledgeable professionals and better business owners. Confirmed keynote speakers include:

  • Olympic Gold Medalist Jim Craig
  • Futurist Michio Kaku
  • Marketing Strategist David Meerman Scott
  • Keynote Host Jill Schlesinger, CFP® of CBS News.
  • Employee Benefits Attorney Marcia Wagner

The conference will also feature a Business Rapid Fire Session and Business Consulting Lounge where attendees can schedule appointments to meet with some of the profession’s best consultants and coaches! It will be a great opportunity to talk about your business challenges and gain valuable insight into marketing, technology, success planning, business planning and much more. Registration is open and members can now save with terrific early bird pricing - Ends July 7.

Register and learn more at www.FPA-BE.org!


Only a Few Spots Left! FPA Residency - October 2015

Financial planners who are newly minted, or soon-to-be, Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) professionals, can develop a solid foundation for the careers with the right experience. FPA is pleased to offer a one-of-a-kind experience for newer financial planners through FPA Residency 2015.

FPA Residency 2015, to be held Oct. 2-7 at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Denver, Colo., provides a limited number of “residents” an exclusive opportunity to experience real financial planning scenarios and learn from preeminent thought leaders in the profession. Led by a faculty of highly experienced and nationally known financial planners, FPA Residency 2015 is an intensive case-study based learning approach that develops the skills required to become a confident and competent practitioner.

Attending residents can earn 28 Continuing Education (CE) credits or three-months experience toward the CFP Board’s three-year experience requirement. Those interested in attending must meet one of the following criteria:

  • Completed the required CFP Board-registered program and are eligible to sit for the CFP® Certification Examination.
  • Newly minted CFP® professional or a candidate for CFP® certification.
  • CFP® professional who has held the certification for three years or less.

Registration is now open, but space is limited. Register Today!


Access Exclusive Member Benefits Today

Did you know that FPA offers members a wide range of exclusive discounts on various services, programs and products designed to help you in your work and business? The FPA Member Discount Program is a unique offering for members to access great deals by some of the best program and service providers in – and out – of the financial services industry. Access the FPA Member Discount Program today to get deals on services and products for back office support, technology, marketing, insurance, education, research and much more.

And don’t just take our word for it, this is what FPA member Brian Fricke, CFP® has to say about the program: “A great way to support the mission and vision of FPA is by taking advantage of the FPA Member Discount Program. I’m not responsible for most purchasing decisions in my business, but I do make sure those that are responsible know about this great member benefit!”