34 RISKINFO MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2012 Industry • www.riskinfo.com.au MDRT 2012 Annual Meeting Wrap Highly-regarded Australian consultant, author and presenter, Keith Abraham, delivers his message to a huge audience of 7,000 advisers at this year’s MDRT Annual Meeting AIA Australia Head of Retail - Advice Services, Pina Sciaronne (left) and Vicki Writer, AIA’s NSW State Mananger – Client Development. The doors were locked after 1,200 delegates crammed into the venue to hear Vicki break-out session presentation Adelaide adviser Richard Campbell was the Australian flag- bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2012 MDRT Annual Meeting in Anaheim Canadian adviser and MDRT Life Member, Brent Peacock (left) was a welcome guest at the Aussie Night at MDRT, sharing some quality time with Queensland adviser and former Australian MDRT Chair, Stuart Farrell The 2012 Million Dollar Round Table Annual Meeting was held in Anaheim, California in June. Around 7,000 industry contributors attended the event, 6,500 of whom were qualifying financial advisers. The scale of this event makes it the largest gathering of financial advisers in the world each year, where delegates can experience a range of presentations and focus groups that span the entire spectrum of issues impacting the financial adviser. Approximately 80 advisers and guests from Australia attended the 2012 MDRT Annual Meeting. Two Australians, Keith Abraham and Troy Hazard, were afforded the highly prized opportunity to deliver main platform presentations to the audience of 7,000, while AIA Australia’s Vicki Writer presented to a focus group on the topic of referrals. Her presentation was so popular that the doors were closed to delegates after 1,200 advisers had filled the venue to its capacity. The format of MDRT Annual Meetings approximates those for Australian financial services conferences, where there are main plenary sessions complemented by numerous break- out presentations and discussions. There are trade exhibits where many institutions are represented and there is also a huge array of books, dvds and other assorted business aids available to be purchased via the MDRT Power Center Store. The numerous break-out or focus sessions covered a large variety of issues of relevance to advisers, and were categorised under topics such as: – Wealth management/retirement planning – Practice management – Risk and protection products – Marketing/branding – Sales ideas/strategies – Whole person There were more than a thousand first-time attendees, but many delegates return to this amazing event year after year in order to learn new ideas, share their own strategies, develop and maintain their personal network contacts, experience motivational presentations, many of which relate to ‘whole self’, and to generally recharge their batteries for the coming 12 months. While there were so many different messages of value for advisers, one of the more consistent messages across many presentations related to positioning strategies that would not simply achieve business success but also deliver greater value and fulfilment in the adviser’s personal and family lives. Advisers considering attending the 2013 MDRT Annual Meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, would be required to qualify via the Australian MDRT organisations’ criteria (visit: www.mdrtaustralia.net).