• Dr Rebecca Shiels joins panel
• More rigour around best practice benchmarking
• Award enters its 9^th year

Leading researcher Dr Rebecca Shiels, Director of Research at Beaton Research and Consulting, has been appointed to the judging panel for the prestigious Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) Adviser of the Year Award.

Chairman of the Judging Panel and AFA President, Brad Fox said, “We are delighted to have Rebecca join our panel. The fact that we were able to attract such a respected industry figure to become a judge speaks volumes about the growing stature of the Adviser of the Year award across our industry.”

Dr Shiels is the Director of Research and Head of Financial Services at Beaton Research and Consulting. She holds a PhD in psychology and has 15 years research experience across a range of industries with financial services being her current focus. Her principal area of expertise lies in business-to-business and services sector research.

In the insurance market, Dr Shiels has worked closely with the major life insurance providers in Australia and New Zealand, measuring satisfaction among advisers, developing market segmentation and, more recently launching a quarterly omnibus survey of advisers in Australia, to keep abreast of topical issues in the market. As such, Dr Shiels has a ‘birds eye view’ of best practice drivers amongst advisers.

“The growing reputation of this award is built on the breadth and rigour of the award judging process,” said Colin Morgan, Chief Executive of award sponsor Zurich Life & Investments.

“We feel Rebecca’s unique perspective on the evolution of best practice across the industry will add an extra dimension to this process, which already includes telephone interviews, onsite practice evaluation, client feedback and a finalist presentation to the full judging panel,” he said.

“As one of the last remaining independent insurers, Zurich has a longstanding commitment to championing advisers and our sponsorship of the premier industry award since its inception in 2003 is a powerful reflection of that commitment.”

The judging panel also comprises AFA Chief Executive Officer  Richard Klipin, Graham Peatey (The Encore Group), Peter Sobels (Riskinfo), and Philip Kewin and Marc Fabris (both Zurich).

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