AFA Excellence in Education finalists announced
Jordan Hawke
The state winners of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) 2014 Excellence in Education Award (the Award), supported by Asteron Life, were announced at the AFA July National Roadshow.
Head of Campus AFA, Nick Hakes, said the calibre of the state winners reflects the growing recognition that higher education is one of the keys to delivering great advice to more Australian’s and positively changing consumers perceptions of financial advisers. “The state winners for this year’s Award have worked extremely hard to not only commit to ongoing education, but also to excel at it,” he said.
The Award recognises advisers who are continually investing in themselves, their staff and their businesses, to raise professional standards through education.
Mr Hakes said all of this year’s nominations were outstanding. “We are very proud of the talent that the Award has recognised to date and we are delighted to continue to partner with Asteron Life to showcase the outstanding attitudes, behaviours, standards and commitment to lifelong learning demonstrated by advisers like these state winners.”
Asteron Life Executive General Manager, Adviser Distribution, Jordan Hawke, said education was a key foundation to the continued future success of the industry.
“Investing in professional education is good for the individual adviser, good for the industry and importantly, helps build consumer confidence in the advice industry. I am continually blown away by the level of professionalism and talent in our industry,” Mr Hawke said.
Mr Hakes said, “The AFA believes other advisers will be inspired by these state winners, to invest in their own education, above and beyond that which is required in terms of compliance, in order to ensure that they are giving their clients the best possible experience, while also raising professional standards within the financial advice profession.”
The 2014 Finalists for the AFA Excellence in Education Award are:
- TAS – Charles Badenach, Main Street Financial Solutions
- SA – Shaun Hunt, Hunt Wealth
- WA – Geoff Ivanac, Everblue Consulting
- Highly Commended – Chris Cornish, Avant Financial Services
- VIC – Vijay Ghelani, Hanmoore Financial
- Highly Commended – Tricia Hill, Life Solutions Financial Advisers
- NSW – Jonathan Wu, SWU Financial Planning
- QLD – Peter O’Callaghan, MSI Taylor Wealth Management
State winners of the Award were chosen for their commitment to professional development through continuing education and making a difference within the marketplace and their local community through the practical application of their knowledge and expertise.
Candidates were judged on the quality of their written nomination. Judges then conducted phone interviews with shortlisted candidates. Candidates were also given a weighting across four award criteria, including:
- 50% on formal education
- 30% on practical application of education
- 10% on contribution to one’s industry
- 10% on contribution to one’s community
