President’s Message

Greg Valliere of Potomac Research

Our Winter Symposium was fantastic, despite the weather and technical challenges. Swirling winds and a snowstorm caused an 8-car pileup on the Toll Road, but that didn’t stop our members from showing up at 6 a.m. for Ethics or 8 a.m. for the regular program. About 30% of our members attended and were treated to a fantastic day of learning, networking, and CE. Friday’s event, run by our outgoing chairman, Eric Hess, CFP®, was the best attended FPA NCA event in more than 8 years.

A special thanks once again to our sponsors, without whom this chapter wouldn’t run the same. There are great partners at every level of association – Preferred, Premier, Gold, and Silver. They continually support our chapter and make events like the Winter Symposium affordable for groups like ours. Most importantly, they provide tremendous speakers. Dennis Moseley-Williams, whose time was donated by Brad Pheeney of Putnam, had our cynical group of advisors laughing at 5p on Friday evening after some had been there for 11 hours at that point. Preferred sponsor Bob Ciullo of Charles Schwab contributed Kathy Jones for an engaging fixed income discussion, and Premier sponsor Jeff Kulik of Fidelity convinced Fidelity managing director Bruce Johnstone  to give his thoughts on the market and the world. They really are partners in our efforts to learn, growth, flourish, and contribute.

If you haven’t been to a meeting in a while, you don’t know what you’re missing. Listening to conversations around the lunch tables and seeing advisors interact is the thing that inspires me about FPA. Don’t get me wrong – I love our speakers and programs; but the cross-practice idea sharing and ad hoc mentorship I see every single meeting is amazing. There are always opportunities to meet new advisors with new ideas, old advisors with new ideas, or old advisors with old ideas that just work. Some of the best practices in our region were built on the collegiality fostered at FPA lunch-and-learns. In fact, one practice was just formed as a result of relationships formed at FPA.

As we continue our push for more interaction and more integration with FPA’s national NexGen group through board member and FPA liaison Laurie Belew, your presence as experienced advisors and successful business people is critical at events like our March NexGen Happy Hour or our chapter’s Career Day (more on this in a future issue). Whether it’s a formal mentorship or just a friendship formed over lunch chatter, the bonds formed at FPA are what keep our industry moving toward the coveted designation as a profession by those outside of our practices. I remember, more than a dozen years ago, studying for the CFP® certification exam while waiting for my car rental, and chapter member Wayne Zussman, CFP®, sitting in the same rental office, saw my books, struck up a conversation, and sought me out at future FPA lunches. It made a world of difference for me as a newer member and just made it more comfortable to go to meetings every month. This is part of your responsibility to grow our next generation of advisors.

On February 28, 2013, at Bethesda Country Club, we have a Media Training Program. In this presentation, Scott Peterson, our Communications and PR Director will explain key components in working with the media, as well as using social media to build your business. Remember that Media Training is required to be a member of our Media Response Team. And, yes, you do have to go through it every year unless you are a Past President of our chapter. In 2012, our chapter received more than 500 media inquiries and speaker requests. After our Media Training Program, our Luncheon Program’s featured speaker is Jonathan Salter, PhD, CFP®, and AIFA®, who will discuss recent Journal of Financial Planning research co-authored by Dr. Salter, industry veteran Harold Evensky, and Shaun Pfeiffer regarding the use of standby reverse mortgage lines of credit as supplemental income for a diverse set of retirees. This is not your father’s reverse mortgage presentation and can find application in even the most sophisticated planning practices. You need to learn more about this to better serve your clients.

If there is a particular topic or speaker that you would like to hear at our chapter, please email our Program Committee chairs, Kathleen Sindell and Bryan Beatty. 

Stay engaged. Please encourage your friends, colleagues, and the newer members of your firm, to participate in our chapter so that they can benefit from our exceptional programs and resources. And don’t hesitate to let us know how we can enhance your FPA NCA membership experience.

Best regards,

Ryan M. Fleming, CFP®
2013 President, FPA of the National Capital Area