BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – In an effort to promote a more financially stable economy, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) hosted a Trainer of the Trainers Workshop on Money Management. This workshop was geared towards helping the public to manage money wisely through the advice and help of the financial sector.
By improving the financial sector’s understanding of financial issues and equipping members of this sector with the necessary technical information and techniques, ECCB hoped that through them, their clients’ and the wider public’s financial education could be improved.
The workshop was attended by representatives of the financial institutions and insurance companies from St. Kitts and Nevis eager and ready to explore the financial world to better understand the ins and outs of managing money properly. They not only wanted to help themselves but also wanted to help their clients become better money managers.
The financiers were lectured to on a number of topics after which they were given exercises on fictional cases but which reflected real life situations.
The workshop included topics such as ‘Exploring the technical aspects of financial planning and risk management’. Using metaphors, analogies and visualisation techniques, facilitators were able to demonstrate an understanding of the financial planning process and identification of strategies for debt management which would improve an individual’s choices and practices.
Another topic was, ‘Understanding clients’ money values, attitudes and emotions’. The financiers learnt the importance of exploring the emotional, psychological and symbolic significance of money in their clients’ minds so that they [financiers] would better understand and appreciate the values, attitudes and emotions that their clients have about money and how it plays out in their money management behaviours.
The final topic, ‘Assessing and using investment products and services’ was designed to inspire the financial service providers into becoming responsible and self-confident about investing.
At the end of the workshop, the financiers walked away with a wider range of knowledge on money management, and should now be able to give healthier advice and be better able to assist their clients in managing their money.
The workshop, which was held at the Maltin Moving Conference Room at ECCB, was the second in a series of workshops geared towards training trainers so that they [trainers] could go out and train others.
