President's Message: Connecting with the Nex(t) Gen(eration) of Planners

 

As we write 2012 into the books, we can look back on what turns out to be a pretty quiet year in the context of the last decade: another volatile market, another vitriolic campaign season, and another year of devastating extreme weather. And, as a bonus, the world didn’t end, as some said the Mayans predicted it would. Now, we know that we can plan another year of programs and events for our chapter of the Financial Planning Association.

Programs for 2012 were incredibly strong, with attendance up for every event. We almost reached capacity for our Winter Symposium in January 2012 and we did reach capacity for a few luncheon events. We expect this year’s event on February 1^st to be a sellout with capacity at the Dulles Hyatt limited to 300. This year’s event will have professional production, so in addition to phenomenal content, we should have a smooth, well-run show. Check out the agenda.

As we enter 2013, our focus moves from Programs, which have reached a new level, to integrating the next generation of planners into the fold. In order to grow our chapter from the current 820 members to 1,000 or more of the nearly 11,000 financial services professionals in the Greater Washington area, we need to reach out to new planners and to each of your next tiers. FPA NCA seems to have connected well with business owners and with senior planners at many firms in the area, but we have not reached deeply into organizations to pull in their support staff who might one day buy the business. We have not connected well with recent college graduates from CFP programs at Virginia Tech, Shepherd University, or other local schools that offer a CFP undergraduate or graduate program.

So, one of our primary goals for 2013 is to engage the next generation with the idea that engaging them means a larger pool of qualified employees, associates, and future partners for all of us. FPA has a membership group for those 36 and younger called NexGen, for exactly this purpose. For 2013, we made the NexGen Liaison a board level position, replacing mentorship. NexGen members want jobs at stable companies and a long-term path; they’re not looking to take over the world, as some of you may have heard. Well, they do, but from dozens of conversations I’ve had on the subject with professors, NexGen members, and their employers, want to learn from you and then be there when you’re ready to sell all or a part of your business to them. These are people who want to work for the firms that are members of the chapter – the names you see at meetings every month, large and small.

In addition to increasing membership and connecting with NexGen, our three other goals for 2013 are pretty simple: deliver the best speakers at the best programs in locations that keep getting better; have a 20^th anniversary golf tournament that sets a new experience and fundraising bar to launch us into our third decade of giving back; and to deliver a valuable experience to our sponsor-partners who make a reasonably priced experience possible for all of us.

Thank you to Eric Hess, Brad Pheeney, James Bogart, Kevin Knull and Rachael Decosta Martin for their combined 30 years of service to the board. Their contributions will be missed as we move on with them. And a final thanks to Peggy Nelson, our executive director, who continues to herd cats with aplomb.

As always, if you have any ideas, thoughts, comments or concerns about anything we’re doing on your behalf at the chapter, please don’t hesitate to let me or any of the other 2013 board members know.

Happy New Year! Good luck in 2013. We wish you a healthy and prosperous year for yourselves, your clients, and our sponsors!

Best regards,

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