Alliance of Comprehensive Planners Announces Featured Speakers, Special 'Homecoming' Plans for 2018 Annual Conference in Miami

WILMINGTON, N.C., Aug 22nd, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP), a community of tax-focused financial planners who provide comprehensive planning strategies for their clients on a fee-only retainer basis, has announced the featured speakers and special plans for the 2018 ACP Annual Conference. This year's annual ACP conference will be held Nov. 6-9, 2018, at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. The Marriott is in the heart of downtown at the intersection of the Miami Arts and Design districts. Early bird registration rates (which expire Oct. 8, 2018) are in effect now. Participation is open to all interested financial professionals; one does not need to be an ACP member to attend.

Companies interested in sponsoring the ACP Annual Conference will find more information here: http://2018.acplanners.org/sponsors. The agenda is available here: http://2018.acplanners.org/home.

SPECIAL CELEBRATION AND HOMECOMING PARTY
A special ACP Celebration and Homecoming party will take place on Thursday evening, Nov. 8, 2018. This evening event is being underwritten in part by Bert Whitehead, a pioneer in the fee-only financial planning industry. Whitehead's behaviorally based financial theories are the foundation of the ACP system. He is the founder of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners, as well as his own practice, started in 1972, Cambridge Connection Inc. Books and popular marketing and client material developed by Whitehead include: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things with Money: Overcoming Financial Dysfunction and the ever-popular Deduct It! Deduct It! Charitable Contribution Tracker.

"I am sponsoring the upcoming ACP conference to celebrate the growth and evolution of our organization," said Bert Whitehead, JD, MBA. "I especially want to reach out to former members of ACA and ACP who got their start with our organization and now have their own viable firms. Many of these became my close friends, and I think they would be impressed by the forward momentum of ACP. Many ACP members, of course, helped train and mentor these alumni who would also like to get together again. Accordingly, I am sponsoring a hospitality reception at our conference in Miami."

Former members have two options for attending: (1) They may attend the full conference at the member rate of $695 (early bird), $795 after Oct. 8; this rate includes the opening night reception and the special homecoming event. (2) Former members may attend just the reception and the special homecoming event only for $75 per person.

FEATURED SPEAKERS WILL EDUCATE AND INSPIRE
Sales and training expert Rob Jolles, marketing and PR professional Marie Swift and "the father of financial life planning" George Kinder will keynote at this year's event.

Best-selling book author Rob Jolles, principal of Jolles Associates Inc., draws on more than 30 years of experience to teach people how to change minds without manipulation. His programs on influence and persuasion are in global demand, reaching organizations in North America, Europe, Africa and the Far East. He shows clients not just "how to" but also "why to," and stirs individuals and companies to create real, lasting change. His best-selling books, including Customer Centered Selling and How to Run Seminars & Workshops (4th Edition, March 2017, John Wiley & Sons), have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His newest book How to Change Minds (June 2013, Berrett-Koehler) has become an instant classic.

"Surely you know plenty of people who need to make a change, but despite your most well-intentioned efforts, they resist. Why? Because people fundamentally fear change," Jolles said. "Whether you hope to make a sale or improve a relationship, know that changing someone's mind is never an act of coercion but rather one of compassion. In my keynote presentation, my goal is to leave the ACP attendees with an understanding of the six stages a client goes through when making decisions, the three critical decision points clients face within those stages and how to work in a consultative manner within those stages to help clients move past their fear of change."

Industry influential and marketing/PR pro Marie Swift, founder and CEO of Impact Communications, is known for bringing good ideas to financial advisors through her speeches, presentations, podcasts and written works. Over the past 20 years, Marie's articles and expert comments have been published by Forbes.com, MarketWatch.com, Barron's, Wall Street Journal, NAPFA Advisor magazine, MorningstarAdvisor.com, Horsesmouth.com, Financial Planning magazine, Financial Advisor magazine, On Wall Street magazine, Research magazine, RIABiz.com and ThinkAdvisor.com. PR, social media, digital presence, selling skills and all forms of marketing and professional communications are her key areas of expertise. She has spoken at major industry conferences such as IAA, FPA and NAPFA events, and other national conferences hosted by allied institutions such as Barron's, Fidelity IWS, TD Ameritrade Institutional, Schwab Advisor Services, Pershing Advisor Services, Kinder Institute, Garrett Planning Network and many more.

"Does it ever seem to you that certain other financial planners and investment advisors have some sort of 'magic fairy dust' when it comes to being successful and standing out more significantly than you do? Chances are they have stumbled onto or developed a business building strategy that works for them," said Swift. "What are those success strategies ? and how can you learn from their examples? That is exactly what I will share during my business building session at the ACP conference. Attendees will leave with a proven model for creating a strong marketing plan, examples of how other fiduciary advisors are successfully marketing their services today and tips on being a better communicator and content creator."

Book author and speaker/trainer George Kinder, founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, completes the featured speaker list. Kinder has been named "One of the 35 most influential people in financial services," "one of the top Icons & Innovators in the financial planning industry," "the first of 15 transformational advisors whose vision most changed the industry" and has been inducted into the Financial Planning Magazine Hall of Fame. His expertise has been featured in: The Financial Times, New Model Adviser, Forbes, Time Magazine, FP Today, The Journal of Financial Planning, InvestmentNews and The New York Times, among many others. Harvard-educated Kinder has revolutionized financial advice for more than 30 years, training over 3,000  professionals in 30 countries in the field of Life Planning, a method considered to be the gold standard for advisor-client relationship skills. In addition to his new book A Golden Civilization (pre-orders available on Amazon October 2018), he has written three books on money: The Seven Stages of Money Maturity; Lighting the Torch; and Life Planning for You; and one on mindfulness, Transforming Suffering into Wisdom; as well as a book of photography and poetry, A Song for Hana. 

"Life Planning can reliably deliver the most exhilarating, pragmatic and meaningful financial planning meetings for your clients," said Kinder. "In my presentations at the ACP conference, I'll discuss Life Planning's five-phase EVOKE^® process and how its roots in mindfulness and listening skills reveal clients' dreams of freedom and then deliver them. Through lecture and experiential exercise, we will consider the inner listening/mindfulness skills required for mastery of client conversations and the significance of great listening in successful client engagement. I will identify the three phases of initial client meetings that develop relationships of trust and explain how to help clients move from trust to inspired action on their financial plan. I will close with themes of my new book A Golden Civilization and provide fresh approaches to economics and democracy and the role financial planners will play."

More information on the featured speakers is available here: https://2018.acplanners.org/content/featured-speakers.

SEVEN STAGES WORKSHOP
On Nov. 5 and 6, 2018, as a pre-conference option being offered the two days immediately preceding the ACP Annual Conference, Kinder will be leading his signature "Seven Stages of Money Maturity" workshop. "This workshop trains advisors to help their clients find freedom and financial security by developing clarity and ease around their relationship to money," Kinder said. "Advisors will learn how to improve their listening, relationship and inspirational skills. We will discuss the psychology of money and provide a model for understanding and developing client relationships as well as one's own relationship to money."

Being an ACP member is not required to participate in this special Two-Day Kinder Workshop. Furthermore, anyone participating in the Kinder workshop may also stay to attend in the 2018 ACP Annual Conference at the ACP member rate.

2018 COMPETITION FOR STUDENTS
ACP also recently announced details of the second annual ACP Tax-Focused Case Study Competition. This competition is designed exclusively for undergraduate students in personal financial planning programs registered with the CFP Board of Standards. Each competing student will review the hypothetical scenario provided, including relevant background information, financial data and a hand-written tax organizer, then execute the tasks stated at the end of the case study packet. More information is available here: ACP Case Study Competition Announcement.pdf.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANNERS (ACP)
The Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP) is a community of tax-focused financial planners who provide comprehensive planning strategies for their clients on a fee-only retainer basis. ACP members are required to maintain the CFP^® or CPA/PFS (or equivalent) designation, complete ACP's rigorous training program and meet some of the highest continuing education requirements in the industry. To learn more about this fiduciary network or to find a certified ACP member, visit www.ACPlanners.org.

Press contact:
Leesy Palmer or Marie Swift
Impact Communications Inc.
800-974-7753
[email protected] 

SOURCE Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP)