Speaking of...
PlanPlus President Shawn Brayman is a frequent speaker at industry events on topics of technology, financial planning and practice management and has presented to audiences both large and small in Canada, USA, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Shawn brings a unique combination of technical, business and financial planning knowledge to any audience. Shawn is a versatile speaker on a number of topics appropriate for both professional and consumer audiences.
Despite the strong and persuasive academic evidence that the use of Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) should be an option of last resort in forecasting financial results, this technology continues to be promoted throughout the industry. This presentation is based on the research paper that resulted in Shawn being awarded the Financial Frontiers Award for 2007. The presentation shows that the application of MCS in financial planning has been, and remains, a misunderstood technology that does not deliver the results advertised by the industry. The presentation then clarifies these misunderstandings and introduces a new solution called a Reliability Forecast that can replace the Monte Carlo randomization technique with greater accuracy and versatility.
Audience: This is a technical session designed for advanced financial planners.
Over the past few years financial planning has moved from being primarily a North American phenomenon and has been adopted by over 20 countries around the world as the model for delivering sound financial advice. In some countries the regulators have moved ahead of Canada and the United States in defining and regulating financial planning, with tens of thousands of advisors getting their CFP® designation to address the perceived opportunity. Expectation is that this trend will accelerate with the introduction of ISO-2222, the new global standard defining financial planning.
The harsh reality, both here and abroad, has been that most advisors – designations not withstanding – have not been successful in transitioning their practices away from a traditional product sale and commission compensation, resulting in a reversion to business as usual practices. Various forms of consumer litigation have increased the compliance burden and continue to make it less rewarding for advisors to hold themselves out as financial planners.
Shawn Brayman has worked with financial services firms in North and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe, and will speak about how firms and practitioners are trying to address some of the regulatory and business challenges of our changing landscape.
Audience: This is a general session suitable for any financial advisor.
Nineteen years ago when Shawn Brayman sat down for the first time with a personal financial planner in Canada he heard the story of the fundamental need for an integrated solution that would allow an advisor to effectively manage a financial planning practice and their clients. Almost two decades later it seems that most planning firms are still searching for the same thing – and coming up short. Why after almost 2 decades of development and hundreds of millions of dollars being invested by firms all over the planet are financial planners still living with the same issues? Has anything changed or can we expect another decade of a piecework approach to financial planning and practice management?
Shawn Brayman will discuss some of the reasons why this ongoing quest for solutions has come up short from both a technology and business perspective and what we can expect to see in the next few years. This discussion will include an understanding and review of the objectives and sensitivity of a financial planning analysis and how some planners and firms become focused on issue not central to the service being delivered.
Audience: This is a general session for financial planners.
Consumers are bombarded with conflicting messages from the media, friends and colleagues and their financial advisors on appropriate courses of action for their investments, their financial planning and more. The landscape is further complicated by the inability for many advisors to determine when they have received a sales pitch and when they have received good objective advice.
This session will focus on the value of good planning advice and an objective approach to investing. What has research into Behavioral Financial taught us about how we make financial decisions? Why pay for advice when so many firms will give it away for free?
Audience: This is a general session for consumers.
CIFPS Conference, Calgary, June 2007 - Sensitivity Issues in Long Term Planning (A variant of Topic #3)
"Real eye opener", "Best presentation", "Provided excellent advice", "Excellent fundamentals – just the facts and nothing but the facts. Best facts presentation at the conference", "Full of useful information", "One of the best talks of the
session", "Good insight regarding challenging 'conventional wisdom' on commonly used practices and tools", "Absolutely excellent", "Excellent presentation – the best thing about it was not the information but the questions it raised in my mind. I will go home and do the research!"
FPA Seattle, September 2007 - Beyond Monte Carlo Analysis: A Replacement for a Misunderstood Practice
"Way cool, eh? Best session of the conference so far!", "One of the top sessions I have attended in five years at FPA conferences.", "Excellent living in the 'real world' – academically useful information for leading the profession to transition from accumulation to distributions.", "Finally! The cost of attending has paid off!"
Institute of Advanced Financial Planning, Montreal, September 2007 - Trends in Financial Planning
"Excellent (++++)", "Should have given him more time (+)", "Excellent – invite him back", "Relevant, informative, useful", "Excellent materials, clear presentation, good delivery", "Fabulous! He needs more time!", "Very enlightening", "Thanks for the confirmation of so many things I’ve inherently felt & done. Well presented", "Extremely informative, best Speaker I’ve heard in a very long time.", "Fabulous!!"
To book Shawn for your next conference/event contact
info@planplus.com
