Northern Ireland

Robert Stevenson, the current Branch Chairman for The IFP in Northern Ireland, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^CM professional  for about 10 years, being the second CFP^CM professional in the province. Initially he shared the Branch Chairmanship with David Crozier, but has been performing the duty as Chairman on his own for the past four years. Robert has recently been elected un-opposed as Chairman for another two year period starting in January 2012.

Robert's duties include organising the meetings for the region each year which are planned about one year in advance. He is also responsible for the smooth running of the meetings and reporting back to the main office of the IFP as required. Another key requirement in the duties are to increase both attendance at meetings and also encourage membership of the IFP itself.

Robert runs his own Financial Planning business in Ballymena, SRG Financial Management Ltd, so he is well aware of the pressures and changes currently coming to bear on advisers and planners. It is for these reasons that he is well placed to plan meetings that are now very relevant to all attendees.

From a very low start, numbers attending the meetings have seen a steady increase and meetings now will see 25 on a regular basis. For 2012, Robert's objective is to try and push that number up to 30+ on a regular basis.

"Our meetings have been very well attended and the feedback on the content has been excellant" says Robert. " We are always looking for new attendees at our meetings and I would urge anyone who is interested in the IFP, but has not yet attended a meeting, to come along and see how we operate. Visitors will be made very welcome"

Introduction to the branch

The Northern Ireland Branch of the IFP was established about 10 years ago after the first two CFP^CM professionals were qualified in the province. Since then, meetings have been held on a very regular basis, with the content changing to meet the changing times. With RDR just around the corner, you can be sure advisers will face many more changes and these needs will be reflected in our meetings.

In 2012, topics covered in our meetings will include Tax Updates, Long Term Care Planning, Ethics, Promoting your Business and several other topics, all geared towards either practice management or skill improvement. The aim of the meetings is to either provide advisers with higher technical knowledge, better skills, or improved business management skills. We hope, that by learning from the different seminars that are held, that attendees will improve their ability to act as true financial planners for their clients.

For 2012, most of our meetings will be held at the offices of RSM McClure Waters in central Belfast. Most meetings are held on a Wednesday between 12.00 and 2.00pm. However, sometimes meetings are held at different locations/times to suit circumstances and we have been known to hold working dinners that have been well received.

There are ten meetings scheduled for 2012 and we would be very pleased to see all existing and new attendees at those meetings. Meeting details can be found on the IFP site or by contacting the Branch Chairman, Robert Stevenson, either by telephone on 02825 640919 or email, robert@srgfinancial.com.  You will be made very welcome.

How to attend these meetings

Attendance at branch meetings are free to IFP members.  Non-members and guests are welcome to attend, the first two meetings are free of charge, thereafter a non-members and guests will pay a charge of £10 per meeting. To attend any branch meeting you will need to register with Robert on the email above.