A young Financial Planning trainee has said he is thrilled to have won a £2,000 prize to fund a trip to the annual conference of South Africa's Financial Planning Institute in Cape Town.

The award for young Financial Planners and Paraplanners was sponsored by risk profiling software provider FinaMetrica and has been won by Daniel Gardner, 25, a wealth management administrator working for Succession Group at its Amersham, Bucks, office. The study award prize was offered to users of FinaMetrica in the UK in partnership with Chartered Financial Planner Phil Billingham FPFS CFP^TM of Perceptive Planning, who is organising the study tour to the conference.

FinaMetrica launched the prize to help find one of ‘tomorrow’s stars’ to attend the convention in October. It put up a prize of £2,000 to help the winner get there and meet much of the cost. The event takes place at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town from 18 to 20 October. The winner's employer needed to write a note on why they should win the award and how they would benefit from attending. The winner is also required to produce a study paper afterwards.

Mr Gardner will be travelling with Phil Billingham of Perceptive Planning and a group of experienced UK planning professionals, including Marlene Outrim CFP^TM of Uniq Family Wealth, for an intensive learning experience in South Africa. The week will include tours to successful local practices as well as meetings with an international faculty which includes leading Financial Planner Deena Katz of Texas Tech University.

Mr Gardner said: "This award is a fantastic chance for me to learn from industry professionals and to aid my development in becoming a Financial Planner. I am really looking forward to hearing from different international speakers and visiting South Africa for the first time. My experience operating here in the UK, coupled with the expertise I will gain in South Africa, will enable me to write an informative and enlightening research paper.

Mr Gardner became a Financial Planning trainee after seeking "a new challenge" after studying to be a teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge University. He said his priorities changed and he wanted to develop skills in a career that involved "complex problem solving, building close relationships with clients and the chance to build my own career." He was offered a job with Succession Group as part of their Financial Planner development programme.

More than 1,000 financial professionals will attend the convention, which is staged in partnership with the global Financial Planning Standards Board, the international provider of the Certified Financial Planner qualification. In the UK, the CISI is the provider of the CFP^TM designation. The event will include top Financial Planning speakers from around the world including leading US planners Deena Katz and Harold Evensky. 

Paul Resnik, co-founder of FinaMetrica, said: "Financial Planning will be changing rapidly over the next few years as technologies advance to improve practice efficiencies, enhance client engagement and better illustrate investment suitability. The planning community needs constant renewal through young planners like Dan to better manage those changes. We hope his learnings and contacts on the tour will enrich his future, and give value to those who work with him."

Phil Billingham of Perceptive Planning added: “It will be a busy week, and a unique opportunity to spend time with leading planners, from a number of countries, against the backdrop of a challenging and developing South African Financial Planning culture. For Dan to get the most out of this experience will involve a willingness for him to learn as well as a willingness to share his experience of the UK. We are grateful to FinaMetrica for making this opportunity possible.”

Mr Billingham says any other planners interested in attending can contact him.