The North-East’s CISI branch committee met on 30 November to outline the 2018 programme. Prior to the meeting we requested for all members to assist us in completing a survey. The survey was very useful highlighting CISI members wants and needs well and we thank you for your participation in the survey.
There was a particularly strong response for sessions related to Personal Development and associated skills. In the meeting held, the committee asked two follow-on questions:
- What does personal development mean to each CISI Member?
- How can we delivery branch meetings that encompass a range of skills from key areas such as financial planning, wealth management and back-office operations.
To help answer these questions, the Committee evaluated the demographics of the region’s members. Colin Anderson, the CISI regional coordinator, broke down the region’s membership statistics showing that the gender breakdown of members is 60% male and 33% female. These were further broken down by age as follows:
This data showed that the region has a lot of members in the early stages of their careers, where personal development and associated skills can have a meaningful impact for long-term success. The younger age is believed to be due to a large intake of members from Northumbria University and Newcastle University Business School who received student registration as a result of studying the CISI Foundation Course. This is worthwhile for Employers to take note for those interested in future recruitment opportunities from the regional network.
The consensus was that the programme should include personal development for members, but should balance these sessions as an ongoing sub-theme throughout the year rather than in one-off, standalone events. The committee noted that many firms operate their own in-house training and so any such sessions to be delivered by the CISI should be complementary where possible.
Topics under the theme of Personal Development were discussed with suggested topics including negotiation, effective client communication, marketing skills and finally routes for further professional qualifications, such as providing access for members to learn more about the CFP six stages of financial planning for those interested in taking the CFP license.
Two members of the committee noted a keen interest in promoting greater diversity. Any female members interested to discuss further are asked to please contact Dr Emma Black or Natalie Turner for more information.
Since becoming Branch Chairman, I quickly realised the strong relationship that my predecessor Nick Swales developed with the both Northumbria University and Newcastle University. Nick remains on the committee in addition to his CISI board responsibilities. One topic both Nick and I are passionate about is helping the younger generation (aged 16 and over) find information when considering a career in financial services. Such assistance could extend to participating in project work with our region’s universities. These will continue to be explored over the months ahead.
The committee agreed on the region’s program for 2018 and I’m delighted to share the events with you as follows (NB: dates, timings and venues will be announced shortly):
22 February 2018 – Royal Station Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5DH
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – are you ready?
- Why wealth and financial planners should still consider and discuss offshore planning with their clients.
7 March 2018 – Royal Station Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5DH
Theme: Economics and Politics
- Mauricio Armellini Agent Bank England North East Mauricio will deliver a presentation about the UK economic outlook from the perspective of the Bank of England. He will share the Bank of England’s forecast for growth, inflation and unemployment, as well as discuss the main judgements of the Monetary Policy Committee that sit behind their interest-rate decisions
- Open forum to discuss with North East Committee how we can support our members in the region
4 May Theme: The Power of Effective Client Communication
- Communicating with clients is a major challenge for financial advisers. This presentation discusses the importance of having a well-structured client communication strategy. It considers the challenges in connecting with clients, reviews the results from Dimensional’s Global Investor Survey and Benchmarking Study, and introduces a powerful framework for effective communication.
TBA September 2018 - Theme: Behavioral Finance and Vulnerable Clients
- Vulnerable Clients – it may not just be the obvious, so we’ll cover the recent updates to the FCA’s Occasional Paper No. 8 and Financial Lives study;
- Behavioral Finance - Framing the Question – It is not what you say it how you say it. This session will be delivered by Northumbria University who has carried out extensive research on this subject. They will give you an understanding how different questions can have different outcomes.
TBA October 2018 – Theme: Diversity- How will affect the future and the way we work
- This session will focus on diversity and will be of benefit to everyone from business owners and regional directors to individual members and their clients. This will be a forum format which members who attend will share their practices to help establish a blueprint for success.
Personal Development is our overarching theme for 2018
The committee is here to help you. Remember the phase “shy-bairns-get-nowt”.
All you have to do is ask. Financial services plays an important role within the region and it is our aim to build up the profile of the CISI to work with other professional bodies to improve the voice of the North-East.
We are looking forward to speaking with you all in due course and seeing you at the events over the year to come.
In the meantime, both I and the committee hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2018.
James Clancy
President of the CISI North East Branch