Nathalie Burrows, Editor at EBnet
After the bar was set so high on Day 1, Day 2 of the 2025 FPI Convention had a lot to measure up to – and I was not disappointed. It dawned on me, as the speakers dealt with issues like building relationships, finfluencers, rebuilding trust and storytelling, that the professional financial planner has to be so many different things all at once.
This seed was planted in my mind by Derek Notman, Founder & CEO of Couplr AI who, believe it or not, registered on dating apps to do his research on how people connect through tech. Derek used his findings to build a model on how to attract, match and engage the right clients. He talked of the science of trust and then delivered this key statement: “Money is private, I’d better trust you before I share my personal financial situation with you.”
Building trust is one of those “x factor” things. Sure, there’s tips and tricks, like always do what you say you’re going to do, but there’s also a chemistry and an ability to communicate the right message – and the importance of it.
Nicola Langridge, recipient of the 2025 FPI Financial Planner of the Year award, spoke of the power of storytelling. Oftentimes, instead of numbers and products and ratios, clients want to be heard, be met where they are in their financial journey and be presented with a holistic solution that supports their goals, needs and dreams.
One of my personal favourites of Day 2 was a panel discussion entitled: From Planner to Finfluencer: Own the Feed, Keep the Client. What great insights from the expert panel of Tim Slatter (Slatter Communications), Rizanne Oosthuizen (ProfileMe) and Juanita Vorster (Business Strategist) – brilliantly managed by facilitator Samkelo Mkhize (Digital Production Manager at the FPI). How to build an online brand, or presence, or personality is often felt as scary by financial advisors. How to get attention digitally is overshadowed by the fear of looking stupid, or making a mistake, or becoming a trending meme for all the wrong reasons. The panel discussed great ideas and tips on how to start and what to focus on.
The best piece of advice:
Don’t: Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Do.
Just: Think. Do!
And refine your messaging and delivery as you go along. Instead of trying to be perfect, rather build a journey of conversations, taking your clients along with you. This, they said, will build trust.
Katherine Gibson (FSCA) updated delegates on the roll out of their new SupTech platform, part of that being the Integrated Regulatory System – which will use an automated risk model fed by a streamlined version called the OMNI-Risk Return that collects standardised conduct and risk-related data. This will then generates a single, consolidated risk profile for each financial institution which will enable more consistent, comparable, and forward-looking supervision while reducing compliance burdens for institutions. It supports early risk detection and resource allocation for the FSCA’s regulatory response. The go-live date: end of 2026.
On the topic of finfluencers, Katherine debated whether regulation was required, and reached the conclusion that probably not, but if so, then softly. And on AI, her warning was clear: There may not be bespoke AI legislation but that does not exonerate you from not taking your client’s best interests to heart.
So yes, a professional financial advisor wears many hats when it comes to protecting a family, helping individuals retire comfortably or making sure they are able to reach their financial goals. The trick is to stay in touch with the latest thinking, to adopt a curiosity mindset and try new things (Tik Tok anyone?), and to always act with ethics and integrity. Don’t worry about being perfect, your clients will appreciate the fact that you’re normal, just like them.
Thank you to the FPI for an inspiring and motivating 2 days.
ENDS
