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Traditionally SIFA ran two conferences annually, but this year it has decided to trial a new format of a two-day conference and to open it up to non-members.
SIFA was established in 1994 and has built its membership around collegiality with members openly sharing deas.
“SIFA has always viewed itself as a ‘society’ where members can freely contact each other to exchange ideas, provide assistance and encouragement in a non-judgemental environment,” chairman Ross Sheerin says.
“SIFA is quite deliberately not a ‘mass member’ organisation. It’s membership numbers have generally ranged between 45 and 85. Not being large provides scope to get to know other members and makes conferences less formal, less of a crowd event and easier paced.
He says membership has traditionally been drawn from owners or associates in smaller advice practices that are not owned by product providers or who do not manufacture product themselves.
“Members being able to offer impartial financial advice has always been a key tenet.”
Indeed the group’s original name was the Society for Independent Financial Advisers, but changed to SIFA after the Financial Advisers Act included a definition of the word ‘independent’ as it applied to the provision of financial advice.
Sheerin says while the name has changed its mission has not to assist members “to provide the public with impartial financial advice while upholding the highest professional and ethical standards”.
SIFA has been active for many years in being an advocate for the ‘small end of town’ when it comes to forming regulation of the financial advice profession.
In particular, former members Murray Weatherston and Robert Oddy spent countless hours poring over consultation papers, forming and promoting views about what sort of regulatory environment we could sustain while allowing advisers to still be able to run a profitable advisory business at a reasonable cost to clients; plus, meetings with industry participants; meetings with regulators; writing submissions; presenting at select committees and advocating in industry forums.
This year non-members are being given the opportunity to attend a SIFA Conference.
For more information visit www.sifanz.org or email the secretary secretary.sifa@gmail.com
To find out more about this event and others go to our Diary page
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