Eleanor Dartnall
The AFA Adviser of the Year supported by Zurich
With nominations for this year’s Association of Financial Adviser (AFA) Adviser of the Year Award (the Award) now open, 2014 winner Eleanor Dartnall has shared some of the secrets of her success.
Ms Dartnall believes her approach to client financial literacy is her point of difference. “What we try very hard to do is discover the level of financial literacy of each and every client and then provide appropriate coaching and further education so that they better understand the language of investing and the opportunities available to them,” she said. “We have found that our clients really appreciate this, which means we get a lot of referrals. So our approach is really good for our clients and it is really good for our business.”
Ms Dartnall applies her approach to financial literacy to her business model. While many advisers segment clients based on their monetary value or investment worth, Ms Dartnall segments according to the client’s financial literacy.
“I understood right from the start that each client brings to the table everything they have worked for. As advisers, we need to bring our knowledge to the table and we need to share it. The client needs to own all the decisions made and they can’t do this if they don’t understand the advice or the long-term outcomes of implementing the advice,” she said.
Now in its 13th year, the AFA Adviser of the Year Award seeks to recognise an individual who is excelling in the provision of life-changing financial advice.
On launching the Award and its companion, the AFA/Zurich Practice of the Year Award last month, AFA CEO Brad Fox said the awards celebrate the success of exceptional advisers whose performance has been highly rated by their clients.
“At a time when the reputation of financial advisers in the community is being challenged, these Awards provide an important opportunity to put the spotlight on the fantastic outcomes available to clients through receiving quality financial advice,” he said at the time.
Mr Fox also said that, “Importantly, advisers can nominate themselves, or may be nominated by their peers, their licensee or PDM/BDM which is a generous display of support for the nominee.”
Mr Philip Kewin, Zurich’s GM Retail Life & Investments reinforced that the criteria for the awards would continue to include assessment of efforts made by award candidates to improve the financial literacy of their clients, prospects, and the community overall.
“Notwithstanding the challenges faced by the advice profession, the important role played by advisers in creating a more financially informed community has never been in question,” he said when nominations for the awards opened last month. “To the extent that many advisers are continuously looking to improve both their business efficiency and their client engagement proposition, both awards play a pivotal role in shining a light on, and sharing, best practice insights.”
Applications for both awards are currently open and close 17 July 2015 with the winners announced at the AFA National Adviser Conference, in Cairns on 27 October.
More information, including application forms, can be found at www.adviseroftheyear.com.au
