Three competitors tell us what it takes to win the Financial Planner Awards
The morning after hearing he had won through as one of the three finalists in the SCMP/IFPHK Financial Planner Awards 2007, Michael Donovan was already back in competition mode.
He had taken a first look at the hypothetical case study set for the final round, thought about material he might need from the company's support staff, and touched base with a senior colleague who had agreed to act as coach and adviser, who also happened to be the overall winner of last year's competition.
It was clear that Mr Donovan, a senior vice-president with ipac Financial Planning, was determined to leave nothing to chance.
'A significant amount of work goes into preparing,' he said. 'And, in particular, I will be working on my presentation skills.'
Mr Donovan has a good idea of what it will now take to carry off the top prize.