Kristen Bell

Australians are becoming wealthier, but this means financial decisions are also becoming more complex. There is a myriad of services to help with making financial decisions easier but what is the best option for you?

What is wealth management?

Wealth management is a holistic, long-term strategy to grow your wealth. Suited for high-income professionals, business owners or retirees, wealth creation strategies involve sophisticated ways to protect and transfer your wealth. They provide a whole-of-wealth approach and including investment management, tax structuring, superannuation optimisation, estate planning, and risk management.

Wealth management is generally most relevant for people with more complex financial circumstances, such as business owners, professionals with multiple income streams, retirees, or individuals with significant investment portfolios. Wealth management services take into account your risk appetite and focus on aligning a strategy that meets your evolving needs.

The rise of strategic wealth management in Australia

The demand in Australia has increased for more complex services like strategic wealth management. This is because there’s an increase in high-net-worth individuals with complex portfolios. Given the increase in wealth, there is also a growing interest in intergenerational wealth transfer.

To accommodate this increase in demand, the industry has seen a shift towards more digital and personalised advice. Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing has seen an uptake and more clients have a breadth of assets including property and private equity.

The holistic approach of wealth management is attractive as it delivers better outcomes for high-net-worth individuals. Wealth management encompasses strategic financial advice that aligns all the different parts of your financial position including investments, tax, retirement, and legacy.

What is financial advice and why is it different to wealth management?

Financial advice is about providing goal-based guidance for something targeted like budgeting or preparing for retirement. While it considers your goals, the advice given is generally more broad than private wealth management.

Financial advisers can help with insurance policies and managing savings. They can also provide advice on investments and tax planning to further ensure you’re making the most of your money.

Most people may have come across financial advice as a concept as it’s more accessible and widely used. In fact, financial advice is often the catalyst for wealth management.

When do you need wealth management?

The question then remains at what point would you consider wealth management services. Due to the complexity of wealth creation strategies, it’s not something that is executed and then forgotten about. Wealth management is ongoing and must evolve as you progress through life and enter different life stages.

For business owners with succession on your mind, you may want to consider private wealth management. Wealth strategies are also beneficial for people with multiple income streams or large investment and property portfolios. The holistic approach of wealth management means you’ll implement strategies that work together.

One thing to keep in mind when engaging a wealth management expert is to have clarity on your objectives. If you’re looking for tax-efficient strategies or intergenerational wealth planning, wealth management may be more what you need.

How private wealth management supports long-term wealth creation

With private wealth management, you’re able to dive deep into the different areas that make up your financial position. The key is creating ongoing wealth creation strategies that improve every aspect, rather than looking at each in isolation.

Investment strategy and portfolio management

With different investments and large portfolios, there are ways to diversify to ensure wealth creation. Aligning a wealth strategy ensures your entire portfolio grows overall.

Tax minimisation strategies

For high-net-worth individuals, you’ll have different tax obligations. If you look at each obligation separately, you may find you pay more tax than necessary. Having a wealth strategy will look at these obligations holistically and minimise your tax.

Superannuation optimisation

There are ways to ensure your superannuation is optimised and grows alongside your other wealth creation. Depending on your financial goals, you may be interested in incorporating a self-managed super fund (SMSF). Your wealth management expert can help determine whether an SMSF will support your other strategies.

Risk and insurance planning

Wealth management takes into account your risk appetite across your portfolio and this means looking at insurance planning that supports your strategies.

Estate and legacy planning

A crucial part of wealth creation is transfer of wealth and succession planning. Growing your wealth is only complete once you have a plan on what happens beyond your lifetime.

When is financial advice alone enough?

Since financial advice can be broad and targeted at a particular goal, it may be more helpful for early career professionals or individuals with simple financial situations.

It’s a good starting point if you’re new to any form of financial planning. You can get advice on savings, debt reduction and basic investments. Once you’ve experienced financial advice, you’ll then be able to determine whether you need more complex services like wealth management or strategic financial advice.

The key differences: Wealth management vs financial advice

Here’s a snapshot of the differences between the two. It’s important to note that wealth management services incorporate elements of financial advice to provide a holistic approach.

How to choose the right wealth management adviser

To ensure you’re getting access to the right wealth management experts, it’s important to check qualifications and compliance with the National Treasury and ASIC standards. Ensure you also ask about their fee structure and whether they have experience with similar clients to yourself.

In terms of the approach, it’s crucial to have an adviser with holistic wealth creation strategies that are proactive but also reactive to evolving needs.

By to Kristen Bell, President

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The appointment comes as demand continues to grow for advice that brings together wealth management, tax, accounting and lending expertise through a single, coordinated client experience. As one of Australia’s leading integrated advice businesses, Focus Partners Australia is continuing to strengthen its leadership capability to meet this evolving need.

Lane will lead Focus Partners Australia | Wealth, FPA’s wealth advisory business, overseeing advisers, paraplanners, client service and operations teams, while helping drive the next phase of growth across the advice platform.

Kristen Bell, President at Focus Partners Australia’s said: “David’s appointment reflects our long-term commitment to investing in our wealth business and building greater capability to support clients’ evolving needs.”

“The advice landscape is changing rapidly. Clients increasingly want advisers who can help them navigate every aspect of their financial lives through connected, specialist advice rather than fragmented services,” Bell said.

“David brings the leadership, experience and deep understanding of advice businesses that will help us continue to strengthen our wealth offering, support our advisers and deliver the best outcomes for clients. His appointment is another important step as we continue building one of Australia’s leading integrated advice businesses bringing boutique individualised services to clients at scale.”

In his role, Lane will focus on expanding Focus Partners Australia’s wealth advisory capability by strengthening referral networks, enhancing adviser performance and supporting continued growth across the business. He will also play a key role working alongside Kris Bell to identify strategic opportunities and evolving the firm’s advice platform to meet changing client needs.

David Lane said: “I’m excited to be joining Focus Partners Australia at such a pivotal time for the industry. I look forward to partnering with FPA’s expanded capability in technology and operations to continue growing the business, enhancing the client experience and building on the strong foundations already in place to help more Australians achieve their financial goals.”

Lane joins Focus Partners Australia from Ord Minnett, where he was State Manager (Queensland) and Senior Private Wealth Adviser. He has also held senior leadership positions at Pitcher Partners and FirstUnity Wealth Management, bringing more than three decades of experience across wealth management, financial advice and business leadership.

He officially commenced his role at Focus Partners Australia on 6 July 2026.

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Kristen Bell

Focus Financial Partners, Inc., an interdependent partnership of wealth management, business management, and related financial services firms, has announced that Kristen Bell has been promoted to become President of Focus Partners Australia.

In her new role, Ms. Bell will be responsible for driving the convergence of Focus Partners Australia under a single, national brand. She will also oversee the Business Solutions divisions of Focus Partners Australia, including Focus Partners Australia Accounting, Focus Partners Australia Credit Advisory, and MEDIQ. Ms. Bell will also collaborate with leadership at Focus Partners Australia’s partner, Escala, on a variety of initiatives designed to leverage the scale of Focus in ways that stimulate growth and development for both businesses.

“Kris’ appointment is a reflection of her outstanding leadership within our organisation,” said Travis Danysh, Chief Strategy Officer at Focus Financial Partners. “She has a proven track record of delivering results and a deep commitment to our clients, team members, and business interests in Australia. I am looking forward to continuing working alongside her in the region in her expanded role.”

Ms. Bell has been with Focus since 2021. She initially served as the Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs for Connectus, which is now part of Focus Partners Australia, and was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Connectus in 2024. Prior to joining Focus, she held senior-level executive roles for AUSIEX and CommSec.

“I am excited about taking this expanded role within Focus Partners Australia and look forward to helping the business deliver exceptional outcomes for clients while fostering a collaborative culture across our organisation,” said Bell.

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