Keynote & Workshop Topics
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Financial Advice & Services
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The Dangers and Opportunities Ahead
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As the Financial Panic of 2008, the Great Recession of 2009, and the crises that have struck governments in Greece, Ireland, Iceland, and now Wisconsin have shown, we live in unsettled and perilous times. Indeed, the levels of indebtedness of the federal government and the compounding burdens of Social Security and Medicare are leading investors and financial markets into uncharted territories, threatening us with a possible third major crash in a decade. Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, strategic planner, and one of today’s leading futurists. In this overview of tomorrow’s world, he deals with:
• The potential for further financial crises. With the level of indebtedness within major developed countries, there is a real risk of a renewed financial crisis, this time triggered by sovereign debts. At home, the risk of state and municipal defaults are relatively small in financial terms, but could produce major shock waves that could lead to a much bigger crisis.
• The technological revolution of the last 20 years has changed the way people communicate, the way businesses plan and operate, the way organizations market, sell, and supply, and the way governments deal with their constituents. Yet, the real technological revolution is just beginning, with changes that will make those of the past decades look tame in comparison. These range from the emergence of everyday robots, computer intelligences, and the rise of transhumanism. These changes will transform human interaction, customer service, productivity, and labour markets, conferring enormous first-mover benefits on those that take advantage of such changes.
• Civil strife is rising from the perceived differences in compensation and security between civil servants and private sector employees. This is a indirect consequence of the aging of society and the lack of adequate anticipation from many governments and corporate planners, and will poison the debate on the country’s future.
• The burdens that an aging society will place on government revenues throughout the developed world, and the subsequent shifts in power and influence in geopolitics and global trade.
• The strengths of the developing world are widely publicized, but their weaknesses don’t get as much attention. Yet, the problems that automation create for employment, the limits to growth that water shortages are imposing, a lack of much-needed infrastructure, and the problems of crony capitalism will come back to haunt them.
Someone always benefits from change, and with the range and extent of the changes ahead, there is both more danger, and greater opportunity to make gains than at any time since the end of World War II. We are headed for a hazardous and exhilarating time, and only those with foresight will benefit.
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Scary Times: The Prospects for the Financial Funds Industry
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The next 10 years will be significantly different from the 10 years just past. First, the potential remains for nasty surprises that could re-ignite a financial panic, and dump the global economy back into recession. Chief among these is the potential that the U.S. government could become insolvent, with all that this implies. Assuming that this doesn’t happen, then what will happen with the U.S. and global economies, and what are the risks and opportunities ahead of us. Beyond this, the technological advances of the next 10 years will make the changes of the past pale in comparison, with massive implications for productivity, automation, employment, and the global marketplace that go far beyond most investors' expectations of "more of the same." As well, many investors are concerned the the looming retirement of the boomers will drain cash from the markets, leading to another stock market crash – but that’s not going to happen. And finally, investor psychology has undergone a once-in-a-generation shift that threatens to push funds, and fund managers, back to where they were in the 1970s, which CDs were the investment of choice. Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a strategic planner, and one of today's leading futurists. In this presentation, he lays out a road map of the future for the funds industry, and challenges participants to seize the opportunities ahead. The future we are facing will be wild, exciting, and scary; the costs of not preparing for it will be enormous.
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Planning for the Planners: The Future of Meeting Planning in the Financial Industry
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Samuel Johnson once said that the prospect of hanging in the morning focuses the mind wonderfully, and the financial industry is certainly finding its focus. It has received a kicking the likes of which it has not had this generation, and arguably not since the Great Depression. This makes has made it difficult to create meetings that are attractive and relevant to industry players – but what’s to come? Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, strategic planner, and one of today’s leading futurists. In this presentation specifically tailored to meeting planners who work with and serve the financial community, he describes:
• The prospects for the financial markets and the global economy: when will the pain abate?
• The aftermath: who's likely to remain standing? And how will the major players’ (especially banks and insurance companies) positions change?
• The forces that will drive change in the financial community’s future, including the prospects for new financial instruments and client needs, shifting demographics, rising global competition and opportunity, increased longevity, postponed retirements, and the rapid changes in jobs and work in tomorrow’s world; and
• The changes coming to meeting planners: the inroads and innovations coming from technology, the intensity and intent of younger meeting planners, the changing attitudes of suppliers; and how societal shifts are forcing changes in content and presentation styles.
The times ahead are going to be harder for all purveyors of financial advice and instruments, yet that merely underlines the need for superior preparation. Richard’s presentation provides a roadmap of what’s ahead for the industry and those meeting planners who work with it, and identifies the pivotal issues and approaches the offer the most promise.
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Dark Clouds & Silver Linings: Facing the Future of Investing
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The future hasn't happened yet, but many people act as if it has, and is predictable. The truth is that the future will catch us by surprise – but that doesn't mean we can't prepare for it. Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a strategic planner, and one of today's leading futurists. In this presentation he maps out some of the issues facing investors in the future, including:
- What if we're wrong? We all expect that the economy is approaching bottom, and will steadily improve. But what if something else happens, something less predictable? What might it be, and how should we prepare?
- The past 20 years have been a period of relative demographic calm, but the next 20 will be anything but. Three key cohorts are moving into new stages of their lifecycles, which will precipitate dramatic changes for individuals, society, governments, and the markets, and two others will have dramatic long-term implications.
- Technology is the predictable wild card. Not only is the rate of change accelerating, but the rate of acceleration is increasing. Accordingly, we only think we know what to expect, but the reality will be much more startling.
- We are seeing a shift in power in the global economy. America will remain the largest and most influential player, but its influence will be diluted by other players growing in importance, lead by China, India, Brazil and Mexico.
The future ahead of us is going to be vastly different than the present. Those who are prepared will prosper; the rest will be left behind.
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The Next Fifty Years in Investing: or, How to Avoid Making Dangerous Decisions in a Crisis
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Because they are inundated with information, investment professionals tend to believe that they have seen and heard it all, and worse, that they know it all. Yet, each of us knows that there is so much more that we don't know that when a crisis hits the markets, as it has now, we tend to be overly impressed with the urgency of the emergency and forget or overlook the bigger issues. Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a former institutional investor, best-selling author, and is, today, one of today's leading futurists. In this long-term overview, Richard points out what's important, as opposed to what's urgent, including:
- Where does economic growth come from, and why is it going to be harder to come by? And is there hope we can change that result?
- Which nations have hidden weaknesses that threaten their relative prosperity?
- How will you be able to tell those nations that will move ahead compared to those that merely plod forward? What's the touchstone of success?
- Everyone knows that technology will continue to be a game-changer; but how? What technological advances are we not expecting, or if we are expecting them, are we not prepared for? And where will they lead us?
- And what's the one wild card that virtually no one is talking about that will wreck the finances of nations and change the future of society and humanity, gradually at first, and then with gathering momentum?
John Maynard Keynes once famously said that in the long-run we're all dead, but for a pension fund, which must think in terms of decades, today's urgent issues must be kept in perspective. This presentation deals with the important issues that will decide the long-term success of a pension fund.
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Anticipating Wealth: Tomorrow's Edge for Financial Advisors
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Every investor longs to buy an IBM in the 1960s, or a Microsoft in the 1980s, or even the broad indices in the post-war period because of their dramatic growth patterns. That's part of the potential offered by investing in emerging economies: to invest in tomorrow's above average growth. Rapidly growing economies host more companies that can show outstanding growth and offer superior returns than mature economies. Moreover, aside from increasing diversification in a world where currency swings and economic surprises are virtual certainties, foreign investing offers financial advisors a competitive edge, and a more sophisticated way to seek out superior returns, even when North American markets are in the doldrums. Advisors who are knowledgeable about international investing can differentiate themselves from competitors in a crowded marketplace, and enhance their clients' returns at the same time. In this global prospectus, futurist and Chartered Financial Analyst Richard Worzel surveys the investing landscape of tomorrow's world markets, and identifies what will be hot, where, and why, plus assessing the key conditions for growth, and the traps that await the unwary, offering advisors a leg up into the future.
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How High Is Up? And How Do We Get There?
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The financial services industry is going through a transformation. Driven by changes in technology, demographics, and government regulation, the industry is being re-shaped in fundamental ways. Richard Worzel explores these changes in a dramatic and far-reaching presentation. He will touch on:
Technology: how the next wave of the IT revolution will alter the financial services industry.
Consumers: how changing consumer expectations and needs will intersect with demographic changes to transform the relationship between financial service providers and their customers.
Governments: how the shift in the role and responsibility of governments, and what and how they regulate business and social life, will play a major role in shaping financial service providers.
If you work in the financial services industry, this is the one presentation that you need to hear.
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Where's the Money? The Future of Financial Planning
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Why is the economy acting this way, and why have the economists all been so wrong for so long? Why are clients behaving so strangely, and how do you integrate the new technologies - websites, blogging, RSS, and podcasting - into your offerings? Among other topics, this keynote address on the future of the financial planning industry will identify the four, key demographic groups that are shattering the demographic calm we've experienced for the last fifteen years to pinpoint where the opportunities lie; help you discover what your clients really want; explore the dangers and opportunities being produced by the global and North American economies; and finish by unearthing the sales potential of this uneasy and uneven economy. Where's the Money? will help you and your people make more money by providing perspective, pinpointing opportunity, and creating sustained motivation to explore and exploit a unique period when everyone's uncertain, and market share is up for grabs.
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Simple Confidence: Creating Your Desired Financial Future
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(Client Appreciation Event)
Just when things seemed to be setting down, the rules changed again. Microsoft cleared the anti-trust hurdles and seemed to offer a clear, steady choice as a future investment - until Google popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and challenges them in ways they had not expected. China continues to hold out enormous promise, but is it safe to invest there? Household names in established industries, like General Motors and United Airlines, are teetering or going bankrupt, underlining that risks clearly still exist, yet Allan Greenspan warns that the 'risk premium' in the market is too low. And safe investments in fixed income securities offer little or nothing in return. How does an individual cope with these conflicting trends to shape a secure financial future? This survey of tomorrow's investment markets by futurist and Chartered Financial Analyst Richard Worzel explains the apparent contradictions in the market place and will help you and your advisor map out a strategy to give you the simple confidence you want and need for your financial future.
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