Blue Chip Digital

Financial advice: trust, courage, growth and excellence

The purpose of financial advice is to assist investors and guide them to make informed decisions to achieve their investment objectives, says Edward Semenya, Alexforbes. However, he concludes that the true value of financial advice lies in the tangible actions and unique perspectives that financial advisors offer clients (page 46).

Hannes van den Berg, Momentum Advice, says that only when you understand advice, do you understand its value. An advisor offers a holistic approach to financial planning by considering all aspects of a client’s life and financial circumstances before advising on a financial plan. He says that positioning the value of advice is critical to the growth of the industry (page 20).

Rob Macdonald, Fundhouse, says that acting in the client’s best interest takes courage despite the risk this may pose to the client, the relationship and potentially to the financial planner’s income (page 66).

And while on the topic of courage and financial advisors – it is time for the 35th FPI Professional’s Convention and the theme is Cultivate Growth to Harvest Excellence. We pay homage to this theme by announcing the three runners-up of the FPI Financial Planner of the Year Award 2024: Grant Collier, Rudolph Geldenhuys and René van de Spreng. Blue Chip congratulates all three of you and celebrates the growth that you cultivated and the excellence you are harvesting (page 26).

And so, too, we celebrate other financial planners who have shown courage and cultivated growth to harvest excellence: Lara Warburton, CFP®, winner of the 2023 Financial Planner of the Year Award, who encourages other financial planners to enter this competition and view it as a part of your personal growth as a professional. (Don’t miss her article on page 70.) Kim Potgieter, CFP®, won the FPI It Starts with Me Award 2023 for her unyielding dedication to promoting the CFP® certification (page 34). Olwethu Masanabo, winner of the FPI Diversity and Inclusion Award 2023, is celebrated for promoting the inclusiveness of diverse communities in the profession (page 33). Meet Stephan Lombaard, the 2023 Top Candidate Award winner on page 32.

While we celebrate those who cultivate growth to harvest excellence, we honour Lelané Bezuidenhout, FPI CEO, for growing the FPI to what it is today and making it an Institute of true excellence. Blue Chip speaks to her on page 28.

See you at the conference!