Tracey Sofra

Sofcorp Wealth Financial Advisors (Sofcorp) partners Tracey Sofra, Terry Sofra and Glenn Trickey have announced that the boutique financial planning practice headquartered in regional Victoria has transferred licensees and will operate under the AFSL of ASVW Financial Services Pty Ltd (ASVWFS).

Tracey Sofra is also the founder and CEO of WOW Women, an organisation dedicated to women’s economic empowerment – an acclaimed author, speaker, media commentator and recipient of financial service industry awards for her contribution to economic equality of women.

Today’s announcement is a major milestone in the 22year journey of Sofcorp said Tracey Sofra.  “Born out of Sofra Partners Chartered Accountants in 1999, Sofcorp has grown steadily and is acknowledged as a leading financial planning business providing professional advisory services to the Goulbourn Valley.”

“Although we have been very successful as a financial planning business assisting clients achieve their financial goals, the reality is to remain relevant, Sofcorp needed a true industry partner in order to be a resilient, advice business of the future.

“We acknowledged there must be a focus on providing the highest standards of advice together with best practice, digital transformation and technology in order to meet client expectations with financial advisory services that need to be delivered faster, more cost-effectively and add greater value than in the past.”

Though committed to the highest standards of financial advice and utilising the latest, technologies and processes – it’s equally important for Sofcorp to remain a boutique business that applies them with a ‘human personalised touch’ as this has been fundamental to the success of the practice since its inception.

Tracey continued, “In seeking an AFSL for the future, ASVWFS stood out with values and passion that aligned with those of Sofcorp i.e. a steadfast focus to be a boutique, advice-led business dedicated to working in partnership with like-minded professionals within a collegiate environment of managed growth and sharing value.

“In addition, it had the framework, resources and leadership team best suited to support Sofcorp’s commitment to improving the client experience through the provision of exemplary financial advice, the utilisation of advanced technology and latest processes to improve engagement, outcomes and service”.

A further critical requirement for Tracey was an AFSL that would support and enhance her WOW Women activities to empower and enrich the lives of women by assisting them to achieve financial independence, build confidence, educate, challenge the status quo, simplify and demystify money.

“We wanted a true industry partner with innovation, passion, vision and sense of purpose at its core supported by a leadership team of experienced industry professionals and ASVWFS ticked all these boxes”, said Tracey Sofra.

In welcoming Sofcorp, ASVWFS Executive Director Joe Botte said, “Since its inception, Sofcorp has been a tremendous advisory business and we’re both excited and proud to have them as a valued member of our national network.

“Our objective is to assist and coach Sofcorp achieve its long-term strategic objectives and support Tracey’s extraordinary endeavours to assist women fulfil their personal, professional and financial aspirations”.

Tracey Sofra concluded, “As an AFSL, ASVWFS has very solid fundamentals and an experienced, capable executive team led by Stuart Abley and Joe Botte.

“I look forward to working with Stuart and Joe to grasp and capitalise on the many opportunities that the group and new era will provide”.

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“Joe is a very committed and effective executive with an extensive financial services career and reputation for delivering significant business results”, said Stuart Abley.

“His appointment reflects the ASVWFS’s commitment to our network of advice practices and the very important contribution he will provide in supporting the group’s long-term strategic business aspirations and marketplace offering.

Joe Botte has over 30 years’ experience in financial services having held senior and leadership roles in the areas of marketing, operations and strategic management within a range of companies, including IOOF, Zurich and AXA.

In his most recent role prior to joining ASVWFS, he was CEO of Consultum Financial Advisers where he managed and grew the AFSL’s network of advisers by more than 80% to over 190 practitioners, representing in excess of $9.5Bn of FUA.

Joe also holds a Bachelor of Economics (majoring in Marketing) as well as an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning and is a Certified Financial Planner® professional. Commenting on the factors that influenced his decision to join ASVWFS, Joe said he was genuinely excited about joining the group and helping the AFSL achieve its enormous potential.

“Most importantly, it was an opportunity to join a progressive, boutique AFSL with no legacy issues or anchors to the past by being technology, product and investment platform agnostic”.

Joe added, “As Executive Director, I will be able to contribute to the strategic direction of group, but also to develop and deliver practice management tools, technologies and back office systems for our national advice network”.

Adding value to advice businesses via coaching programs and productivity improvement workshops with an emphasis on improving practice profitability are other activities that Joe will focus on.

Stuart Abley concluded, “Managing growth and most importantly, building an organisation based on ‘sharing value’ that includes exit and succession options are our key drivers.

“We are determined to build success on the productivity growth of our advice network and differentiation from other licensees via a very clear vision of the future and a collaborative corporate model dedicated to servicing the needs of advice businesses and their clients”.

“With Joe’s extensive financial services experience and strong track record, together with the benefit of having successfully worked together previously, I’m confident ASVWFS is well-positioned to be the AFSL of choice in the post FoFA era”.

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Samantha Robinson

Consultum Financial Advisers (Consultum) has recognised the work of advisers within its network, presenting several awards at its recent annual conference in Vietnam.

Accepting the highest individual award, ‘Adviser of the Year’, was Anthony D’Alessandro of Victorian-based, Required Financial Services.

‘Practice of the Year’ went to Lifetime Private Wealth of NSW and Samantha Robinson from Pursue Wealth clinched the ‘Rising Star Award’.

Both Simon Lu and Christian Egan from BFF Financial in NSW accepted the ‘High Achiever of the Year’ awards.

Commenting on the awards, Joe Botte, CEO of Consultum said: “Congratulations to all of our winners this year. We’re proud to have such a great network of advisers who are focussed on delivering professional excellence and quality advice.

“These awards acknowledge those who have demonstrated leadership and innovation in helping clients achieve their financial and lifestyle objectives. This year, we’ve also had the honour of celebrating our ten-year anniversary.”

The judging criteria for Consultum’s awards is based on demonstrating excellence in areas such as professionalism, advice outcomes, client satisfaction, financial performance and contributing to the financial literacy of clients.

The 2016 Consultum award winners are:

• Adviser of the Year Award – Anthony D’Alessandro, Required Financial Services, VIC
• Practice of the Year Award – Lifetime Private Wealth, NSW
• Rising Star Award – Samantha Robinson, Pursue Wealth, VIC
• High Achiever of the Year Award – Simon Lu & Christian Egan, BFF Financial, NSW
• Practice Growth Award – Whitehorn Polglase Financial Planning, WA
• Productivity Award – Calder Wealth Management, SA

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