'Contestants also understand the importance of personality and the 'soft side' much better so, in a way, everyone is improving.'

Dr Cheng explained that a key objective, when originally devising the event, had been to give Hong Kong's financial planners a chance to demonstrate their professional excellence through healthy and fair competition. By showing their work was up to the highest international standards, they could also raise the profile of the sector and increase public awareness of the need for a holistic approach to personal investment.

'Having the awards has helped to achieve that goal,' he said. 'People have to write a full plan, present it well and show they can help clients in a holistic way - not just selling products. The competition provides a channel for individuals to practise these skills and to be recognised.' He emphasised that this year's 12 or so judges, who were drawn from the fields of academia, regulation and international finance, would take a 'very serious approach' to assessing each of the three rounds. Without giving too much away, he said they had clearly defined criteria for reviewing the initial written plans, with specific weightings for items such as information disclosure, client analysis and suitability of advice. This ensured a careful system of grading, which was not arbitrary or dictated by chance.

'To be fair and systematic, we stick to the grading criteria quite strictly, although there is always a small percentage for discretion,' Dr Cheng said. 'We also try to encourage the judges not to talk [to each other], so they grade independently and don't persuade or influence their colleagues.'

Regarding presentations, which played a big part in the second and final rounds, he said thorough preparation was essential, even for financial planners with years of experience presenting to clients. Therefore, the general advice for all contestants, who made it beyond the first round, was to use plenty of visual aids and let them lead the presentation. It usually made sense to have a slide or graphic to accompany every major point and illustrate the main issue. Doing that would help the judges who, it should be remembered, were not full-time financial planners and, like any client, needed something to hold their attention and help them understand the overall concepts and more detailed suggestions.

'One important aspect people don't always think about is that some judges will deliberately challenge the presenter to see how they react and whether they have good emotional control when faced with adverse conditions,' he said. 'The [content of] the answer is not the main thing then. The judges will be looking more at body language, expression, whether you smile, and if you are professionally polite when asked 'nasty' questions.'

Confirming various details of this year's competition, Angeline Chin, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK), noted that, as before, there were separate categories for practitioners who worked for banks, insurance companies or IFAs (independent financial advisories). Individuals have to submit their first round entries by no later than May 14.

Ms Chin said these should include three hard copies of a written financial plan, prepared for an actual client and endorsed by the applicant's supervisor, manager or human resources department. These plans should be 50 pages at the most, including the cover page and any appendices, and the personal particulars of clients should be kept strictly confidential.

To allow flexibility, applicants can submit their written plan in English or Chinese and make their presentations in either language. The names of first-round winners selected to move on to the next stage will be announced on July 8, with everything then steadily building towards the final awards dinner in November.

'The competition is more a marathon than a sprint, with three rounds of judging using written and oral formats,' Ms Chin said. 'But it allows practitioners to showcase their knowledge and skills, and provides a much-needed benchmark for measuring the growth and development of Hong Kong's financial planning industry.'

She said participants and award winners were not the only people to gain from the competition. 'Ultimately, the real winners are Hong Kong investors who, if standards continue to improve, will benefit from a greater focus on financial planning excellence.'