Brad Fox – CEO – AFA
A national initiative has been introduced by the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) to connect and support females from across the full spectrum of the financial advice industry.
Brad Fox, AFA CEO, said that the initiative was for women in all facets of financial services, “not only financial planners, but para-planners, support staff and all others who have involvement in bringing financial advice to Australian consumers.”
The ‘Inspire’ – Connecting Women in Advice (Inspire) initiative will provide a network and professional community for women so as to inspire them to make the very best of their abilities.
“The AFA is listening to the market and we have decided to create Inspire to shape financial advice for the better,” said Mr Fox.
“We want to encourage all women in our industry to progress and achieve personal fulfilment throughout their financial services careers. It’s a broad based initiative that is consistent with the AFA culture around collaboration and inclusiveness.”
Deborah Kent, Financial Adviser and Owner of Integra Financial Services was a finalist in the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award in 2012 and has been appointed the inaugural chairperson for Inspire.
Ms Kent said, “This is something the industry has needed for a long time. Women’s needs within the industry will shape the Inspire program. We understand what it is to be a woman in financial advice and the challenges faced to become successful. We are creating a program where participants can choose the level of support that is right for them. We will be giving them a range of tools to help them plan their futures through both their career and their personal life stages.”
The program will offer support for career development through networking, coaching, mentoring and leadership, as well as via female focused events.
“The AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award has shed light on some amazing talent in our industry,” Ms Kent said. “And we want this program to reach out to this talent at all levels – advisers, support staff, para-planners, BDMs, PDMs and company management so as to give them the incentive, support and courage to pursue personal excellence.”
The Inspire initiative will become part of the AFA’s offering to members, and will live as a sub brand of the AFA in a similar way to the market-leading GenXt program. The formal launch of the program will happen in May with a series of “connection” events around the country.