Appropriately, in the wake of the string of inauspicious events in the global financial sector since investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy last month, organisers of next week's Wealth Management Conference 2008 have chosen as the main themes: 'turning adversity into opportunity', 'enhancing knowledge for sustainability', and 'maintaining client confidence in a volatile economy'. The fourth edition of the conference, at the Conrad Hotel on Thursday, will cover the latest in investment and business strategies of Hong Kong's private banking and wealth management industry. It caters for wealth management industry practitioners who advise clients on asset allocation, product selection, or who sell directly or facilitate the sale of wealth management products to clients. About 100 senior executives, including chief executives, investment specialists, independent financial advisers, insurance agents, legal practitioners, fund managers, product managers, compliance officers, and regulators are expected to attend the benchmark event for the industry. Highly regarded for opportunities to network and for providing analysis of complex issues, the conference aims to bring together industry professionals to debate current trends and establish industry best practices to enable Hong Kong to continue to be the hub for Asian and global wealth management. Organisers are aiming to provide participants with information to help them develop and hone strategies in response to the migration of clients to safe haven institutions and asset classes, to understand wealth management in the mainland, and to develop long-term success in private banking in the new environment. The organisers also aim to help participants discover new opportunities as clients become more sophisticated, explore strategies in alternative investments, and to help them develop philanthropy as a concept for an Asian clientele. Those attending the conference will be able to receive continuous professional development points, including six continuous professional training credit hours towards SFC certifications, and six continuous education hours from the Institute of Financial Planners Hong Kong (IFPHK). Yvonne Ho, managing director of professional training firm and event co-organiser Courses & Seminars, said the triple-edged theme was chosen because maintaining client confidence was the key to sustainability in wealth management. 'It is important for market participants to become aware of their duties and liabilities when recommending products to clients and also to reflect on the skills required for building long-term client relationships,' Ms Ho said. 'It is also key for such practitioners to stay abreast of market developments and discern when opportunities to make 'good-value' investments may arise, and to keep updated on opportunities that may lie in product types that are outside the mainstream asset classes.' Ms Ho added that the conference would focus on two aspects. The first would provide an outlook on markets and product updates. It includes a sharing session by Uwe Parpart, Asian chief economist and strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, who will talk about his predictions for different markets next year, and a talk on structured products by Henry Pang, managing director and head of equities and derivatives in Asia for BNP Paribas Hong Kong. There will also be a panel discussion focused on alternative investments, manned by Richard Boutland, senior vice-president at EFG Bank Hong Kong; Benjamin Huneau, managing director of the Chateaux Management group; and Terry Chu, director of China and Southeast Asia and deputy head of jewellery at Sotheby's. The second focus is to address how wealth managers can build client confidence, including a speech by Ignatius Chong, executive vice-president and head of Hong Kong at RBS Coutts Bank, on how to build and maintain successful long-term client relationships. Mark Lin, a partner at Lovells, and Penelope Tham, head of group compliance at ABN Amro Bank, will address the price of misselling and speak about the lessons to be learnt from the Lehman Brothers mini-bonds saga in Hong Kong. Angeline Chin - the other co-organiser of the conference - said the global credit crisis had harmed the reputations of several large financial services institutions. However, this has opened up opportunities for other institutions to attract new clients. '[The] economic slowdown in the west is placing more emphasis on Asia as the region where new wealth is being created most strongly,' she said. With housing foreclosures on the rise in the US and a meltdown in the subprime credit markets, the key now more than ever was to maintain the confidence of clients, she added. Ms Chin noted that some of the other trends that had affected the wealth management industry were the increasing importance of holistic planning. She said the needs of high-net-worth clients were becoming more specialised. In order to survive, wealth managers must keep up with and respond to changes and challenges within the industry. Due to high profile instances of financial intermediaries not having done their due diligence to ensure the suitability of investment recommendations recently, it is more crucial than ever for a wealth manager to take a more proactive role in performing the suitability assessment by following three basic principles. These are: To know your client and understand their personal and financial circumstances and risk profile, to know your product and understand the architecture and mechanics of each product and perform risk-return analysis in order to determine whether the product fits the client's requirements, and to provide suitable advice and ensure that the recommendation or advice is appropriate, and meeting the client's investment objectives, needs and time horizon. She added that the IFPHK was expected to organise up to three conferences on financial planning and wealth management next year to meet the expected demand for industry insights and advice.