Who will claim the prestigious 2024 Financial Planner of the Year Award? Mark your calendar for the FPI awards ceremony and gala dinner to be the first to find out.
Established in 2000, the award is the pinnacle of recognition in the financial planning industry. It honours the country’s top CFP® professional.
In July, the FPI announced the three finalists competing for this year’s title:
- Gareth Collier, a director and shareholder at Crue Invest.
- Rudolph Geldenhuys, a senior financial planner at WealthUp.
- René van de Spreng, a wealth manager and director at Apex Private Wealth.
Moonstone recently caught up with the three finalists to gather their insights on the competition and the industry landscape. Last month, we highlighted the journeys of Collier and Geldenhuis. Today, we’re turning the spotlight on Van de Spreng.
René van de Spreng
Van de Spreng is a wealth manager and director at Apex Private Wealth. His qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in finance completed in 2007 at the University of the Witwatersrand and a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning and Services attained in 2009 at the University of the Free State.
He has worked in the financial services industry, for large corporates and independent advisory firms, for close on two decades. He has a passion for independent financial planning, investment management, and retirement, estate, and tax planning.
The FPI Financial Planner of the Year competition is known for its rigorous evaluation process. The competition includes a thorough assessment involving the submission of a detailed financial plan based on a case study, a meticulous FPI Code of Ethics and Practice Standards audit, and a panel interview to evaluate the finalists’ expertise on legislation, industry trends, and technical knowledge.
According to Van de Spreng, the most challenging aspect was the variety of panel interviews.
“You are not sure what questions will be posed to you and could be on a variety of topics but ultimately demand a deep understanding of financial planning principles, regulations, and industry trends.”
He adds that although it is difficult to prepare for these unpredictable questions, he relied on his two decades of experience with clients and managing portfolios.
“Continuous professional development webinars, articles, etc helped with preparation of the broader industry and regulatory questions.”
Van de Spreng identifies three critical trends shaping the industry: digital innovation, regulatory changes, and behavioural finance.
He says digital innovation and harnessing tech within your business is critical.
“We are in the process of using additional tech in our business to enhance reporting to clients. Also, technology has made it easier to communicate with clients more efficiently and opened additional client communication channels.”
When it comes to staying current with regulatory changes, Van de Spreng says Apex partners with an external compliance firm. This partnership helps them to stay up to date with new regulations and refine their internal procedures.
“In addition, we utilise various webinars by external experts to stay abreast of regulation and how best to bring these into our business with minimal impact.”
He notes behavioural finance is gaining more traction within the financial services industry. Understanding how and why people make different financial decisions is important. There are emotional and cognitive factors that influence clients’ financial decisions.
“By engaging in active listening to better understand the relationship that clients have with money, together with habits, fears, and goals, we can offer more effective and personalised advice, and which ultimately builds a stronger relationship.”
Van de Spreng emphasises the importance of maintaining a consistent and effective approach to financial planning while staying updated with industry changes.
“Our business’s financial planning processes have been refined over many years and continue to be tweaked in line with best practices,” he explains.
He points out that industry changes typically do not happen overnight, so sweeping changes are often unnecessary.
“Together with relevant industry bodies, such as the FPI and ASISA, we stay up to date,” he adds.
Regular feedback sessions within the practice ensure their approach remains consistent and effective, “always keeping the client at the forefront”.
To those financial planners who aspire to reach the level of excellence recognised by the competition, Van de Spreng says the landscape of financial planning is constantly changing.
“You need to adapt, be curious, and embrace the change and challenges. Clients will pose difficult questions that you may not have the answer to, which is okay. Go and seek out an answer, engage with experts in that field, and then go back to your client. All of this helps you continue to grow and develop and become a better financial planner.”
2024 FPI Professional’s Convention
The winner of this year’s award will be announced at the upcoming FPI awards ceremony and gala dinner. The ceremony will take place on the first evening of the two-day 2024 FPI Professional’s Convention. Themed “Cultivate Growth, Harvest Excellence”, this year’s convention takes place on 13 and 14 August at Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town.
The event will take place virtually and face-to-face.
Costs:
- Face-to-face: R6 260 for FPI designated members and R7 490 for non-members.
- Virtual: R3 210 for FPI designated members and R4 037.50 for non-members.
All prices are VAT inclusive. Bulk booking discounts are available.
To purchase your ticket to attend the FPI awards ceremony gala dinner, email events@fpi.co.za or call 011 470 6000 or click here.
