This was an important week, both in a long-term strategic sense and from a current perspective. On the strategic front, I spoke at an annual conference in Denver. The talk went extremely well and I expect to realize some very tangible benefits as a result (more on this later). There were about 200 attendees from 14 different countries, including some of the most brilliant people I've ever met. There were PhDs, MBAs, university math professors, CFOs of some very large organizations, just to name a few.
The vast majority of those present were highly analytical in statistics, corporate finance, Six Sigma, and various other disciplines. The conference was presented by a company called Decisioneering, Inc., which was recently acquired by Hyperion, which was then acquired by Oracle. Mine was the only presentation on financial planning so I wasn't really sure how it would be received since it wasn't as steeped in the details as most of the other talks. I began by saying, "I am not a PhD or even as highly analytical as most of you, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once." With that, the room erupted with laughter and the rest of the talk proceeded very well.
The expected benefit, you ask? It's premature to say at this point, but suffice it to say that if it materializes, it could significantly affect the way financial planning is practiced and delivered to the client.
Basically, most clients have a few questions that prompt them to hire a financial planner. In reality, though, there are many additional questions the client is not even aware of, but questions that are very important. I'll write more on this at a later time.
