This is a rare occasion when I, as marketing officer, come out from behind the scenes and share my experience at the UFS School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL). No interesting graphics, catchy tag lines or well-written editorial from a respected financial planning practitioner.
This overview captures 12 years of my life during which my career and personal journey have led me to unexpected places – figuratively and literally. This call comes from inside the UFS SFPL.
In December 2013, I accepted the role of marketing officer for the UFS Faculty of Law and School of Financial Planning Law. One of the most important aspects of marketing is understanding the company’s core offering and its target audience. The task seemed clear enough; I put on my big-girl marketing shoes in two units focused on legal education.
My classification of financial planning education as pure legal education is a dead giveaway. Upon assuming my duties in January 2014, it became clear that I had a lot to learn about the financial planning industry before I could speak or write about financial planning education. Luckily for me, I was welcomed by a team who had plenty of advice and enthusiasm to lighten a cumbersome task.
Over the years, I’ve been privileged to witness the school’s immense growth. From a team of four people, we expanded from the Centre of Financial Planning Law to the internationally recognised School of Financial Planning Law. Our academics became thought leaders on various aspects of the industry. I have watched our alumni take top places in the competency exams and industry and seen them appear year after year as finalists and winners in the prestigious FPI Financial Planner of the Year Awards.
In this milestone year, as SFPL turns 25, we look back with pride not only on what we have achieved, but also on the journeys of our students and alumni. We have tons to be proud of. It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, though. Tiresome accreditation processes, sleepless nights of the academic team as they established financial coaching as a recognised profession, developed various industry-relevant academic programmes, broke new ground in research, introduced a South African perspective to financial psychology, contributed chapters in books and highlighted the role of finfluencers in the daily money decisions people make. All of this while tackling the challenges of being human.
I have the deepest respect for the work ethic of our team and how each member puts in everything, and then some, into making the student experience a positive and memorable one. I attribute this mainly to the magnificent administrative team, who always strive to treat every student as an individual and not just a student number. From enquiries and applications to registration and the duration of studies, every student matters.
My colleagues have been my biggest cheerleaders. SFPL has given me the opportunity to start an LLB and continue my studies. Today, I am a PhD candidate in Mercantile Law and a part-time law lecturer. When I feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, the team is there with advice and reminders to breathe. It’s not every workplace that one gets opportunities to grow and discover oneself in ways one hadn’t even previously imagined.
Delivering presentations on aspects of financial planning internationally wasn’t anything I thought I would be equipped to do. It’s in these reflections that I am exceptionally honoured and proud to be part of a team that lives our institutional motto of “inspiring excellence and transforming lives through quality, impact and care”.
I make special mention of Adv Wessel Oosthuizen, the founder and first director of this pioneering institution in financial planning education. As we mark this milestone anniversary, we honour the giants who built this School – the shoulders from which we have been able to rise to greater heights.
I wish Team UFS SFPL many more years of excellence.
Moleboheng Moshe-Bereng, Senior Marketing Officer
School of Financial Planning Law, University of the Free State
