The 2016 Financial Planner of the Year, Bruce Fleming, reached the finals of the awards in 2014 and 2015, so winning the coveted prize the third time round has been all the sweeter for him.
Each year, at its annual convention, the Financial Planning Institute (FPI), in association with Personal Finance, honours one of its members – all Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals – with the FPI Financial Planner of the Year Award. The competition is tough, and the award highly sought-after among financial advisers.
After a stringent judging process, Fleming, from Citadel Wealth Management in Cape Town, was announced the winner.
“We would like to congratulate Bruce as the new FPI Financial Planner of the Year. We acknowledge the level of professionalism and ethics adhered to by him as a CFP professional. This award recognises the individual, with understanding of [his or her] role, and it showcases the highest standard of financial planning advice provided to [consumers],” Godfrey Nti, the chief executive of the FPI, said at the awards ceremony, which took place at a gala dinner at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday.
Nti added: “[Fleming’s] role as the new FPI and CFP brand ambassador is to continue elevating the financial planning profession. We certainly look forward to working with him in promoting the institute and the CFP [brand], as well as creating awareness of the value of professional financial planning.”
An overjoyed Fleming said: “It was definitely a tough process, but it was worth it in the end. Entering the competition for the third time, I am looking forward to working closely with the FPI and continuing to [uphold] the high standards set by the institute. My role is to help everyday people make the right decisions when it comes to their financial future. I am grateful for this honour.”
Francois le Roux from Old Mutual Private Wealth Management in Johannesburg and Yolande Botha, from Galileo Capital in Johannesburg, were the runners-up in the competition.
Personal Finance asked the three finalists what a consumer consulting a financial planner for the first time should expect.
Fleming says the planner must be genuinely interested in your unique circumstances. “In terms of the FPI’s practice standards, the planner needs to explain who they are and what they do, inform the client about the purpose and value of financial advice, and detail their competencies. The planner then needs to conduct a high-level discussion to determine the consumer’s needs and define the scope of engagement.”
Le Roux says the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act prescribes that a planner should follow certain steps in an advice process, which include gathering all necessary information, conducting an analysis of your affairs, choosing products that are appropriate to your needs, and recording all of this in a client advice record that should be signed off by both parties.
Le Roux says the FPI goes much further, however, requiring “CFP professionals to follow an internationally accepted six-step financial-planning process”.
Botha says communication and transparency are key. “There must be simple and understandable communication. Transparency is very important, particularly in the services offered, what the fees are and how they will be charged, and how the recommended products will work for you. You should expect your planner to be approachable, knowledgeable and experienced; there are no dumb questions when talking to your planner. You should expect to be treated honestly, fairly and with integrity,” she says.
With what aspect of their finances do people need most help?
“That is the joy of being a financial planner,” Fleming says. “Everybody is unique and so are their specific circumstances. As financial planners, we need to appreciate that and help [our clients] in the specific areas that we identify they need assistance with.”
Le Roux pinpoints retirement planning as the greatest financial challenge for most people. “The statistics of people actually retiring in a financially independent position are alarmingly low.
“Furthermore, bad cash-flow planning seems to be common. Very often, people don’t know exactly what they earn and what they spend. That’s a recipe for disaster. I have been keeping a personal budget since the day I started working. This brings discipline and focus: necessary ingredients for good personal financial management.”
Botha says she finds that people need most help with understanding how financial products and investments work, “so that they avoid irrational decisions in difficult times”.
PROFILES OF THE TOP THREE
Bruce Fleming is an advisory partner at Citadel Wealth Management in Cape Town. He has been involved in the financial planning industry for about 20 years. He began his career as a legal adviser at Old Mutual, assisting some of the top financial planning businesses in the country. Before that he was practice development manager at Acsis. He has been consulting to private clients for the past 16 years, first at Consolidated Financial Planning and now as an advisory partner at Citadel Wealth Management. Fleming has been married to Noelene for 15 years and the couple has two children, Abby (10) and Luke (8). He loves playing golf and travelling with his family.
Francois le Roux is a financial planner at Old Mutual Private Wealth Management in Johannesburg. He was admitted as an attorney in 1991, and was a partner in a Pretoria law firm until 2000. He joined Old Mutual’s Private Wealth Management as a financial planner in February 2001, gaining 15 years’ experience in lifestyle financial planning in the high-net-worth market. He is a proud mentor to aspiring financial planners in the Financial Planning Institute’s mentorship programme. Le Roux is married to Hannali, and they have two children, Carlé (15) and Fanie (18). “I am a certified workaholic. I go to gym, because I feel compelled to get some exercise, but must admit I don’t particularly like it. What I love is mountain biking, which I took up about two years ago. I am out there every weekend on my bike, and love every moment,” he says.
Yolande Botha is the head of wealth management at Galileo Capital Wealth Management in Johannesburg. She started out as a pharmacist, but changed careers in 2002 and became a marketing consultant for Sanlam Life. In 2006, she joined Galileo Capital and found a home for her passion in life. She has been a Certified Financial Planner professional since 2008. Botha is married with a five-year old son. “For relaxation, I love to read. I’m training for a half marathon and scuba diving is a passion,” she says.