We are all going through a tough time and much of our discussion at this retreat will be focussed on the current conditions and how we respond. Our company has endured many times of adversity throughout its history and it is worth revisiting those events.

The company was established in financial planning in 1985 and opened its StKilda Road offices in early 1987.

Janine joined the firm in March 1987, then in October of that year the sky fell in. The 1987 stock market crash when the All Ordinaries Index fell 40% in one day.

This was a catastrophe, as Australians were generally new to share market investment. They saw their life savings literally halved overnight. It was awful; our telephones rang all day and clients were shattered. We invested in Managed funds in those days and we were powerless to do anything.

As we encouraged our clients to remain calm, it became obvious that droves of people were pulling their money out of managed funds and some iconic names in the industry like Clayton Robard, Equitilink and Security Pacific literally disappeared. As investors sold out, fund managers lost control as they were forced to sell assets in a depressed market and the only assets they could sell were the good ones, leaving a seriously downgraded portfolio with little chance of recovery