Chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planning Nick Cann welcomed delegates to the IFP's first Accredited Financial Planning Firms conference today.

The theme of the conference, which was the first event the IFP had held exclusively for firms on the register, was 'Great Minds Think Alike'.

It aimed to give members a tailored programme especially on the issues which firms had cited as being important to them and also give them a chance to network with their peers.

Mr Cann said: "We're achieving all that we hoped for today, we established the agenda for the day based on what firms told us they were interested in and what they would get benefit from so the response has been very positive."

The first set of speakers were Darren Shirlaw from Navitas IP and Brett Davidson from FP Advance speaking on strategic planning and business growth.

They spoke about how firms needed a second product type which was often more popular than their first product. 

Mr Shirlaw said: "If you're an adviser firm and you get 90 per cent of your revenue from advising clients, now is the time to add on your second product stream."

He gave the examples of estate planning or accumulation as being subjects firms could add on to their existing service.

Mr Davidson spoke about firms should tailor their approach to reflect different customer segments and develop new marketing strategies to reach these different groups.

He also spoke about the importance of innovation: "In many companies, innovation, customer focus and solutions are just rhetorical claims which lack substance.

"Innovation is just another way to make something, do something or sell something. It is something which Financial Planners are already doing."

Other speakers at the event include Abbie Tanner from A Business Innovation, Nick Blake from Vanguard and Jon Pittham from Clients First.