z_FPIA Conference

Keynote Speakers

Thursday 22nd of March 2001

Keynote Speakers for conferences include:

Gareth Morgan
Graeme Alford
Kathy Paget
Dr Fred Grosse
Dr Grant Ryan
Janine Shepherd

GARETH MORGAN
Dr Gareth Morgan is CEO of economic, investment, business and financial market consultancy Infometrics Ltd, (www.infometrics.co.nz) which he founded in 1982. His other directorships have included listed public company Property For Industry Limited, the Advisory Board of Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ), the Board of national law firm Phillips Fox and public company Direct Capital Partners.

Infometrics is a well-known economics, business and investment consultancy, which around 70 of New Zealand and Australia's major corporates and investment houses retain for economic and strategic advice. Dr Morgan personally conducts over 150 strategic planning presentations per annum. His company also has public sector clients including The Treasury, Reserve Bank, IRD and Ministry of Commerce.

Dr Morgan is also a well-known columnist and for the last ten years has contributed weekly columns to newspapers including the National Business Review, The New Zealand Herald and The Evening Post. He is also a television debater and a sought-after conference speaker.

Dr Morgan's degrees are in economics and mathematics.

GRAEME ALFORD
Graeme is author of the Best Selling Book 'Never Give Up'. He was also the entrepreneur behind The World Masters of Business, which saw for the first time ever General Norman Schwarzkopf, Lee Iacocca, Stephen Covey and Ricardo Semler present on the same platform together. A world first which 20,000 New Zealanders and Australians were allowed to experience. However, life was not always 'a bed of roses' for Alford who after being a successful solicitor botched his life as a result of excessive drinking and gambling which led to armed robbery and a long term jail sentence. In prison, shattered and destitute, he was forced to reassess his life which he turned around. He is now seven stone lighter, has a happy family life, is a tireless charity worker and is one of Australia's most outstanding entrepreneurs.

KATHY PAGET
Kathy has worked in the finance industry for 18 years. Prior to joining RetireInvest as an advisor in 1994 in Rockhampton, Kathy operated her own insurance and investment consulting business in Brisbane for seven years.

Having received RetireInvest's "New Adviser of the Year" award in 1994/95, Kathy opened RetireInvest Bundaberg in April 1996. Since then the business has experienced 'unprecedented growth', with RetireInvest recognising the Wide Bay franchise as a 'blue print' operation.

Kathy is a Certified Financial Planner, having completed her Diploma of Financial Planning in 1999. She is also an Associate of the Financial Planning Association of Australia. She is a regular presenter at both State and National Conferences providing insight into how she has built a successful business.

DR FRED GROSSE
An internationally recognised authority in the fields of personal relationships, organisational development, management and leadership, Dr Grosse is best known as a sales trainer who achieves phenomenal results. Re-Max, a leading United States real estate company with over 3700 salespersons, ranks their sales staff in order of performance. The first, second and fifth top performers were coached by Dr Grosse. His sales training principles are applicable across the entire corporate spectrum and he has vast experience training staff in all major industries. Dr Grosse brings an authentic, systematic, straight-to-the point approach to all his presentations.

DR GRANT RYAN
Grant and his family and friends turned a hangover induced idea for an Internet Search Engine into a business that made 7 figure profits in its first full financial year. The company was subsequently purchased by the American company NBC Internet which is backed by General Electric (the largest company in the world). While NBCi a top ten web site with hundreds of millions of cash in the bank it is currently in the process of closing down due to dot com crash. Despite this Grant is still enthusiastic about the entrepreneurial process and potential of NZ based companies to make an impact.

In 1998 Grant formed Internet search company GlobalBrain that was sold to American based NBC Internet in 2000. This top ten web site spent about 30 million in the US advertising the technologies developed by the team of 27 engineering based in Christchurch.

Grant has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in Ecological Economics. He had a real job for about 2 years working as a scientist at Industrial Research before catching the entrepreneurial bug and forming his first company. He is currently playing around with some new business ideas while working on his skiing and golf skills.

JANINE SHEPHERD
Janine Shepherd was a champion cross-country skier in training for the Winter Olympics, when her life was irrevocably altered as the result of a horrific accident. Because of her serious injuries, doctors predicted that Janine wouldn't live, then, that she wouldn't be able to walk or bear children. However, Janine refused to accept this and focused every sinew of her being on healing her broken body. In addition to walking again, Janine is now the mother of three children and a commercial pilot. Her story is a testament to the power of the human spirit and one that will move and inspire all who hear it.

Comments (0)
Comments to GoodReturns.co.nz go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved.