From left: Amelia Constantinidis, Griffith University winners, Stephen McLay and Matthew Baldi (R) and Steve Helmich
A team from Griffith University in Queensland has won the AMP University Challenge in a year that saw a record number of entrants.
The AMP University Challenge is a national financial planning competition open to all Australian university students who want to find out first-hand what being a financial planner is all about.
This year, a record 413 students from Australia’s leading universities registered for the Challenge. A final group of 154 students worked as individuals or in small groups to develop a scoped advice paper in response to a hypothetical client scenario. A total of 79 finalist submissions were received this year, an increase of 30 per cent compared to 2013.
AMP Horizons Director Amelia Constantinidis congratulated the winning team and said that student response to the Challenge exceeded expectations, signalling strong talent and interest from Australia’s younger generation looking to a career in financial planning.
“The University Challenge is a great way for students to experience how fulfilling and rewarding it is to be a financial planner. We’re seeing continued growth in the number of students taking part in the Challenge every year and the calibre of applications remains consistently high. It’s a positive sign for the future success of the financial planning industry.
“The heart of the profession is to offer financial advice to help people live better lives. There’s no doubt that with the engagement we’re seeing from current students in their education this will continue to be the case,” Ms Constantinidis said.
The competition, now in its fourth year, aims to enhance financial planning professional standards by increasing awareness of the profession amongst universities and students. The top five teams come together in Sydney to take part in the finals day.
The winning team, which comprised Matthew Baldi and Stephen McLay were awarded the top prize by AMP Executive Director Financial Planning Steve Helmich at a reception at AMP on Thursday night.
“The University Challenge has provided an amazing opportunity that will help to shape my career. The ability to network with senior people in the industry and other students has confirmed financial planning is the career for me,” said Matthew Baldi, a member of the winning team.
First prize was $5,000 cash (for the winning team to share), along with registration to attend the 2014 FPA Professionals Congress in Adelaide and a student membership to the association as well as attendance to the 2015 AMP Planner Conference in Perth. Griffith University also received a $10,000 grant from AMP to put towards financial planning initiatives.
Students from Griffith University also took out second and third prizes respectively which included $2,500 and $1,000 cash and student membership of the FPA. La Trobe and Deakin university students took out fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Students from New South Wales and Victoria accounted for 71 per cent of registrations in 2014. The University of NSW, University of Technology Sydney and La Trobe University were the leading institutions for applications. The Challenge is integrated into the curriculum and assessment for the final year subject forming the financial planning major at La Trobe University, Griffith University and TAFE NSW: Higher Education. It is also optional for students studying at Deakin University.