Financial Planning Students Attend FPA Annual Conference in October 2009

11/19/2009

 

Escorted by adjunct CBA faculty member, Douglas Robinson, four financial planning students had the professional opportunity of a lifetime. From October 10 through October 13, 2009 they attended the annual Financial Planning Association (FPA) conference in Anaheim, California. The four students, Jennifer Blinkhorn, Nicole Burkhart, Katie Nentwick, and Todd Veppert, through the sponsorship of the Finance Department Advisory Board and assistance from the FPA, observed a snapshot view of the life of a financial planning professional. They interacted with students from other programs, and networked with professionals from all over the world.

 

They investigated products and services offered to the financial planning profession by many vendors. And, they had the opportunity to listen to nationally known speakers and to participate in specifically focused technical sessions addressing many issues in the field. “The experience was educational, motivating, and exciting,” said Todd Veppert. Todd also noted that he had many opportunities to talk with professionals about career opportunities and to discuss current and future issues in the financial planning field. “It is one thing to get the classroom technical definitions and learn from a book… and quite another to hear practitioners.”

Nicole Burkhart enjoyed the varied sessions that discussed current issues in the financial planning industry. One of her favorite discussion sessions was the topic “The 10 Toughest Client Questions Ever.” She noted that it was valuable to hear the insight of professionals dealing with everyday uncertainty, both from clients and the economy. She also found general sessions, where nationally recognized speakers addressed the full body of those attending, to be exciting and informative. She especially enjoyed the motivational talk delivered by Burt Jacobs, founder and CEO of Life is Good. Nicole reported that the conference “definitely had an impact on me, and I learned a tremendous amount.”

Similar experiences were reported by Katie Nentwick and Jennifer Blinkhorn. Katie noted that the guiding values of the Financial Planning Association, “Competence, Integrity, Relationships, and Stewardship “ manifested themselves in all aspects of the conference. Katie also liked her interaction with students from other schools. “Dialoguing with some of the top finance students in the country not only taught me about how other finance programs around the nation operated, but it filled me with tremendous pride to be… representing The University of Akron.” Like Nicole, Katie was particularly impressed with Bert Jacobs and his approach to life.

Katie is currently interning in the insurance marketing division of ValMark Securities, Inc. Attending some of the sessions involving insurance showed her how her educational experience and internship experience is providing her with tremendous benefits. “I felt as though I was able to distinguish myself from other students in my level of knowledge concerning insurance.” Katie highly recommends that all students seek internships during their education. ValMark Securities, Inc. sponsored a dinner with the students and current Valmark-UA alumni who attended the conference.

Jennifer echoed the sentiments of the other participants. She noted that “every aspect of the conference was an incredibly beneficial learning experience, and I hope that future financial planning students will have the opportunity to attend the conference in years to come.” She too was impressed with the topic coverage of the educational sessions, both from breadth and depth perspectives. She, like the others, was extremely pleased to have professionals with interest in hiring students in the future come by the exhibit table to talk. She found it to be in “excellent network networking opportunity.” And, they had some fun, too.

All four students reiterated that this was the experience of a lifetime in their short professional careers. All hope that the department can continue to offer students this most rewarding experience.

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