Apr 25 2012 8:00AM

Data Gathering - An "Inside-out" Approach

Explore how the data gathering process affects financial planning techniques, including connecting quantitative data to clients’ lives and ultimate goals. These concepts are supported by examples, experiences, and take away worksheets to help you create a more robust data gathering process.

Apr 25 2012 9:00AM

Breaking Down the Barriers, How to Help Your Clients Help their Parents

Bob will discuss one of the greatest problems facing financial advisers and their clients, how to open up communication with their elderly parents and make sure that they have done the things necessary to protect themselves and their family. Financial advisers have been very successful at working with clients to create and manage realistic retirement plans. But too many have overlooked the critical legal, financial and emotional issues that these people will have to face when their parents begin to fail. All too often families will wait until a crisis occurs to act. And then it is often too late. In his talk Bob will share with advisers techniques to open up a meaningful conversation with their parents. He will discuss the critical legal and financial steps necessary to avoid a family crisis. He will present tips that are often overlooked in long term care planning. He will review the many programs available to assist families in paying for long term care. Advisers will walk away with a practical checklist of the issues that need to be discussed and how to handle them.

Apr 25 2012 9:00AM

Building a Better 401(k) - Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences

Since the first pension plan in the late 1800s, retirement plans have evolved as government and industry have continually sought to improve upon them ... and make them more effective as times and needs have changed. But even with the best intentions, some ideas haven’t always worked out as planned. Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences examines five common practices — used in retirement plans today — that can potentially go awry: Offering a large selection of investment options; Offering company stock; Using style boxes to select investments; Seeking to reduce liability with a fiduciary warranty; Frequent fund replacement to maintain a “best-in-class” menu; All of these practices are backed by good intentions. Understanding the potential pitfalls of each and how to help clients avoid them can help advisers make their plans more successful — with better outcomes for all concerned. This is an advanced presentation designed specifically for advisers who have already made retirement plans a part of their practice. The goal is to make advisers even more effective in serving clients and, ultimately, their employees who are saving for retirement.

Apr 25 2012 9:00AM

Estate Planning for the Entrepreneur

Family businesses are a critical engine of the US economy and an important source of new business for financial planners, insurance professionals and other estate planning advisers. In this session, David Leibell and Dan Daniels, two lawyers who've worked with business owners for years, will share their knowledge and experience with dozens of family businesses to help FPA members serve this important client population.

Apr 25 2012 10:20AM

Helping Investors Better Manage The Risks of Our More Volatile & Increasingly Less Certain World

Learn a fresh, new, non-technical, holistic way to meet the enormous, unmet investor need to better understand and manage uncertainty and risk. This program demystifies risk and risk management, plus introduces a simple, user-friendly, step-by-step risk management planning process that can be applied to any risks. It also overlays & enhances the effectiveness of risk management initiatives you're already using. Using this method you'll be able to address risk in a positive, proactive, empowering way, that builds increased investor trust in you because you're helping them reduce both the likelihood and impact of painful, negative surprises. After the presentation, you'll have a new, deeper understanding of risk, and how to help clients manage the risks of our less certain world more effectively. You'll also never look at risk and risk management the same way again.

Apr 25 2012 10:20AM

Social Security Planning

Find out how Social Security may be impacted for this generation and the next. What are the most recent proposals to changes in Social Security and how that may impact people who are anticipating the benefits. How to build clients a financial plan with the uncertainties of the system.

Apr 25 2012 10:20AM

The Client Wealth Cycle: Guiding the Post-Crisis Investor through a New Realty

Investors have changed - and perhaps forever. Two bear markets in 10 years have taken their toll on their psyche. Now more than ever, advisors need to better understand the impacts of the new economic reality on the various stages of their client's wealth cycle. Equip yourself with the tools you need to meet your client’s goals.

Apr 25 2012 12:00PM

Outlook for the Financial Markets

Hear from The Hartford's market expert and national spokesperson Dr. Bob Froehlich on his insight into what shapes the investment landscape from an economic, global and market perspective.

Apr 25 2012 1:30PM

Empower your Fiduciary Process – Get Ahead of Regulatory Changes

A fiduciary standard of service governs almost all aspects of advisor interactions with their clients. Many advisors already adhere to strict standards of fiduciary duty. To formalize and make oversight of practice activities more transparent and compliant can require significant effort. This has traditionally resulted in reduced efficiency for the practice. We will discuss how an integrated set of solutions can empower advisors to act in the best interest of their clients and creating better efficiencies for their practice.

Apr 25 2012 1:30PM

Wealth Preservation and Business Owner Succession

This session will discuss the usual ways to structure a death buyout and the tax ramifications of each. Also covered will be taxation and insurance funding choices, such as whether insuring the best option for death buyout funding and what is the tax treatment of the premiums, cash value if distributed, and death benefit. The presentation will also cover the incapacity clauses in buyout agreements (good idea or not), and funding choices for disability buyout and income replacement. The session will wrap with a discussion of the practical considerations when broaching the subject of business succession with a client who did not surface it; specifically, wealth preservation, risk management, asset protection and understanding the risks and concerns a business owner may have and tools to help the planning process to incept.

Apr 25 2012 1:30PM

What Do We Know About the Sources of Expected Return?

Dr. McDermott will present a synthesis and review of the theory and empirical work on the sources of expected return as well as the rational vs. behavioral markets debate. The specific sources of expected return explored will be market equity, size, value, momentum, credit, duration, and liquidity. Also, he will discuss sources of investment risk not associated with increased expected return (e.g., foreign exchange).

Apr 25 2012 2:50PM

Foundations and Principles of Alternative Investing

Deepen your knowledge of choices among alternative asset classes and strategies. Help increase your knowledge on various ways to access alternative investments. Review characteristics of various alternative strategies.

Apr 25 2012 2:50PM

Planning Opportunities for Clients in 2012: Capitalizing on the Changing Tax Landscape

The expiration of the "Bush tax cuts", escalating federal budget deficits, and an upcoming presidential election year present unique planning challenges and opportunities for clients in 2012. Given short-term certainty, and longer-term uncertainty around income and estate taxes, how can you help your clients prepare effectively? In this session we will examine the current tax landscape and potential planning opportunities including: Understanding the driving forces behind federal budget deficits; Evaluating the 2012 tax environment; 10 tax and estate planning strategies for clients to consider.

Apr 25 2012 2:50PM

Real Estate: The Fourth Asset Class

Stocks, Bonds, and Cash are considered the 3 main asset classes. Investment Real Estate makes up $10 trillion of market cap in the US but is often considered an alternative investment and lumped in with all other alternatives. The objective of this presentation would be to outline the reasons why Commercial Real Estate makes sense as a portion of a clients portfolio and how it can increase return while lowering volatility.

Apr 25 2012 3:45PM

Will a Debt Tsunami Crash on America’s Shores?

David M. Walker will discuss in the historical change in role of the federal government, the growing deficit and debt problems facing the nation, and the forces driving these problems. Along with the problems facing the nation he will show how the U.S. compares to other countries and discuss the potential disastrous implications if we do not restore fiscal sanity. He will also discuss a range of non-partisan solutions and reforms covering areas such as the budget process/controls, social insurance programs, health care, defense, the tax code, and political reforms.