MDRT 2017 Annual Meeting – Orlando

13,000 adviser delegates from 54 countries attended the 2017 MDRT Annual Meeting held in Orlando, Florida in June, which boasted a strong Australian influence in a number of areas.

Intended each year to inspire and educate advisers, this years’ Meeting witnessed a diverse range of presentations and events ranging from main platform messages delivered to all 13,000 delegates, through 70 break-out (focus) sessions to the more intimate ‘ConneXion Zone’ presentations.

Australian MDRT advisers and other Australian industry contributors were prominent in the messages they delivered from the main platform, focus session and ConneXion Zone stages, where it became clear that the Australian adviser is at the vanguard of the evolving global financial advice narrative.

Australian leadership within the global adviser community was also evidenced on different occasions where advisers from other regions such as Asia and North America confirmed they were looking to take their own cues from countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, which have expereinced significant regulatory reforms brought on by the fallout associated with the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.

The strong Australian flavour at MDRT 2017 was also reflected in their involvement in the various MDRT organising committees that delivered this year’s event, including Queensland adviser, Susan Paterson, who led the team responsible for the main platform speakers and MDRT Executive Committee member, Ross Vanderwolf, while other Australian speakers and entertainers included singer, Dami Im, innovative business thought leader, Peter Sheahan, clinical psychologist and hypnotherapist, Dr Janet Hall and magician extraordinaire, Vinh Giang who, through revealing the secrets to the working of some of his his magic tricks, made the critical point: “Solve the problem by changing your perspective.”

Advisers were offered wisdom and the sharing of peer experiences across seven different topic streams which included:

  1. Client Strategies
  2. Marketing
  3. Practice Management
  4. Protection
  5. Top of the Table (qualifying level)
  6. Retirement/Wealth Planning Strategies
  7. Whole Person

Australian advisers, advice business owners and other industry stakeholders who presented across the spectrum of these topic streams at this year’s Meeting, from main platform to focus sessions and ConneXion Zone narratives included:

  • Roy Hall
  • Godfrey Philips
  • PJ Byrne
  • Matthew Collins
  • Alex Braun
  • Marc Bineham
  • Angus McQueen
  • Mark Rando
  • Jeffrey Scott
  • Jenny Brown
  • Gino Saggiomo

The honour of being the Australian flag-bearer at this year’s opening ceremony was given to Melbourne adviser, Brad Isaac:

The Australian contingent of advisers (brilliantly led by outgoing Australian Chair, Adam McCann) and other industry stakeholders at this year’s MDRT Annual Meeting stayed in close contact, mostly by way of ‘What’s App’ technology.

The Aussie group ensured that, outside of the great business and personal growth messages they took home from this year’s event, they also optimised a wide spectrum of networking opportunities at all hours of the day… and night.

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