The theme for this month’s annual Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) conference is fusion. However, a quick perusal of the speaker line-up may lead delegates to wonder if this is a typo, and by fusion, IFSA actually means fission.
The conference, boasting a stellar line-up of eclectic speakers representing a broad-range of disciplines, will allow for some interesting and perhaps even heated debate on the issues facing the super funds and financial services industry (see highlights, left).
“One of the things about this conference is that we’ve not been scared. IFSA has been prepared to put on the podium people who may hold different views…[as] it’s important at a conference to have a divergence of views,” says the deputy (though soon to be) CEO of IFSA, Richard Gilbert.
With senators Ian Campbell and Nick Sherry, Australian Consumers’ Association’s Catherine Wolthuizen, and ABC’s Alan Kohler presenting, sessions will be far from dry for delegates in attendance.
Other sessions to attend include those where FOLIOfn’s Steven Wallman, Allen Consulting’s Vince Fitzgerald and the University of Queensland’s Jon Stanford will be sharing their views.
Gilbert says the aim of the conference is to generate new ideas for the industry going forward.
“By new ideas I mean policy and mechanisms to achieve that policy — we’d like to think that superannuation will become better articulated within the industry — and the people at the conference will see how we can do things differently and better.”
Gilbert says the fusion theme of this year’s conference aims to highlight the industry becoming increasingly inter-twined and inter-dependent.
“It’s senseless to talk about a better retirement income system without talking about efficiency increases in wholesale investment management…[and] you can’t talk about a better retirement income system if we don’t become more customer focused.
“Equally, you can’t become more customer focused if there is regulation making it difficult for you to make contact with your customers,” he stresses.
One of the issues to be covered at the conference is the international taxation regime.
“There is a need for a more superior international taxation system to lower the friction on investments as they move in and out of funds to offshore destinations,” Gilbert says.
“With 20 per cent of funds held offshore, the international tax review will be critical for calculating how superannuation funds are going to get better diversification and hopefully better returns.”
According to Gilbert, the conference also aims to help super funds improve their competitiveness. “Those delegates attending the superannuation sessions, and the main sessions, will hopefully have a better idea of how to fuse the interests of their customers with the interests of their business,” he says.
He believes that is something all super fund trustees should be interested in because superannuation is now a mainstream consumer product in a very competitive market.
IFSA’s intention is to have speakers who have either not voiced their ideas at a major conference before or have interesting views on issues.
