Brad Fox

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has announced the six finalists in the tenth AFA Rising Star of the Year Award (the Award), supported by ANZ Wealth. The Award recognises the best new advisers who provide quality financial advice, demonstrate a commitment to education, and make a valuable contribution to their profession and to their community.

AFA CEO, Brad Fox, said, “The Award continues to profile the most talented new advisers in the industry. The quality and the quantity of the nominations goes to show that the advice profession is in good hands, and will grow and develop to continue to help achieve great advice for more Australians.”

Each finalist will attend a full day judging process to be held in Sydney in front of a judging panel that includes ANZ Wealth’s General Manager for Advice & Open Market channels, Neil Younger and the first three winners of the award: Esther Althaus (2006), Chris Browne (2007) and Brad Fox (2008).

Mr Fox said, “A very strong part of the AFA’s DNA is the willingness to share with your peers and in this case, having three previous winners as part of the judging panel takes it one step further.  It is a great example of how the AFA Rising Star Award has achieved one of its key objectives envisioned ten years ago when it commenced – to attract and foster new talent towards a career in financial advice. We have seen, year after year, amazing new talent join the AFA through the awareness generated through the Award and our GenXt initiative.”

ANZ Wealth, Neil Younger said, “We are pleased to see that as we celebrate the tenth year of the Award, it continues to go from strength to strength.  This year, the judges have been overwhelmed with the standard of nominees and the outstanding contribution they make towards their clients, their profession and their community.”

Mr Fox said the Award is about profiling and encouraging the talents of advisers at the start of their careers and inspiring them to become leaders and innovators in the advice profession.

The 2014 Rising Star of the Year Award finalists are:

• Ben Nash, Successful Ways, NSW
• Benjamin Budge, My Wealth Solutions, QLD
• Catherine Wells, Plansure Solutions, SA
• James Jagodnik, Stanford Brown, NSW
• Phillip Thompson, Thompson Financial Services, VIC
• Samantha Robinson, Eluvia, VIC

This year’s judging panel includes:

• Esther Althaus, Financial Planner, Perspective Financial Services and 2005 AFA Rising Star Winner
• Brad Fox, AFA CEO
• Michael Nowak, AFA President
• Chris Browne, Financial Planner, Founder of Rising Tide and 2007 AFA Rising Star Winner
• Ben Harrop, Head of Strategic Accounts Management, ANZ Wealth
• Neil Younger, General Manager for Advice & Open Market Channels, ANZ Wealth

The Award winner will be announced at the AFA National Adviser Conference in Cairns, Sunday 12 October 2014.

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Anne Fuchs

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has partnered with PortfolioConstruction Forum to offer practitioner-focused investment content at the 2014 AFA National Adviser Conference to be held in Cairns, 12-14 October.

AFA Chief Commercial Officer, Anne Fuchs, said the partnership with PortfolioConstruction Forum will ensure that advisers have a clearer understanding of their obligations to clients with respect to investment recommendations. “The front-of-mind question for most advisers now is, what are my obligations as an adviser in this new world of best interests duty, where the practicalities remain largely unknown and untested? Advice being developed now around longevity risk is opening the door to innovative investment strategies that are very different to the old solutions and so we recognise a clear need to help our members protect the retirement savings of their clients.”

Ms Fuchs said many advisers are feeling uneasy about traditional strategic asset allocation and the AFA wants to encourage its members to think differently about model portfolios and their role in recommending them. “The best part about the investment content at the Adviser Conference this year is the realization of the need to live by the AFA theme for 2014, Innovate: Think. Create. Act. Advisers need to be thinking differently about how they invest their clients’ hard-earned savings so that clients have the really dignified retirement they aspire to have.”

ASIC Deputy Commissioner Peter Kell will also present at the AFA National Conference on a range of topics including putting forward ASIC’s view of the adviser role in the investment process. “Mr Kell will look at areas such as dynamic asset allocation and how advisers manage risk during an economic downturn,” Ms Fuchs said.

Technical experts from Perpetual and Australian Unity, who are the Australian market leaders in developing thinking about investment philosophy and advice strategy implications, will provide investment curriculum content. This will be moderated by Graham Rich from PortfolioConstruction Forum.

More than 80% of AFA Members include investment advice in their service solutions.

“When our delegates walk away from the 2014 AFA National Adviser Conference, they will have a much clearer idea about their Best Interests obligation, what it means to them, what it means under the law, what their investment philosophy could be and how they can best protect their clients’ money,” Ms Fuchs said. “This is market leading content and we are very pleased to make it available to our conference delegates.”

Register here for the AFA National Conference in Cairns from 12-14 October, or to view the program.

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Brad Fox

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) is urging members to encourage the public to take the next step to better engage with their financial affairs by becoming involved in MoneySmart this week.

MoneySmart Week, which runs from 1-7 September 2014, is an independent, not-for-profit national initiative promoting the importance of financial literacy. Held annually, it is designed to encourage all Australians to take simple steps to make a positive difference to their financial wellbeing.

AFA CEO Brad Fox said the AFA has a strong commitment to financial literacy at the consumer level and is encouraging AFA members to get involved. “Australia has one of the largest and safest financial systems in the world, but for the majority of Australians, it is very complex and difficult to understand,” he said. “MoneySmart Week is an excellent government initiative to drive awareness and direct Australians to the places they can go for help with their finances. Financial advisers can be one solution, but there are many other resources available to Australians which can help improve their level of understanding around things like budgeting, superannuation and taking control of debt.”

Mr Fox said the important factor to consider is that Australians need to feel confident that they know the basics around their financial situation. “We find that once people gain the basic knowledge around their own situation, they are more inclined to become more involved in taking care of their personal financial position. Giving back to the community is common practice for AFA members and MoneySmart Week is another great opportunity for them to help and engage with their local communities.”

Mr Fox said the AFA is currently developing a comprehensive financial literacy strategy to be launched in 2015. “This strategy will complement the AFA’s Your Best Interest initiative, which is aimed at engaging, entertaining and educating the Australian public about financial advice and financial advisers.”

The AFA will share more about their financial literacy program at the AFA National Adviser Conference in Cairns from 12-14 October 2014.

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