The appointments of Eima Alkheder and Ben Donald, bring extensive experience from across the financial services and advice industries.

Ms Alkheder previously served as an Executive Director and Head of Operations, overseeing operations across highly regulated environments including superannuation, insurance and pensions. Mr Donald is a Life Insurance Specialist at Life Advice Partners, with active industry involvement through insurer advisory boards, and the FAAA Life Insurance Committee.

Their appointments support PFAN’s continued focus on strengthening partnerships, expanding adviser participation and delivering high‑quality pro bono advice to Australians in need.

According to PFAN’s Chair Nicola Beswick, since its inception in 2014, participation from advisers, practices and partners has become more coordinated.

“Firms are embedding pro bono advice into their culture as part of professional advice, not as an exception to it. This has changed what’s possible for PFAN in terms of our outlook for growth and the people we support. Eima and Ben both bring hands-on experience across operations, insurance and advice, which will help us keep building momentum and reach more people.”

Today, PFAN works with more than 170 financial advisers, delivering over 850 hours of pro bono financial advice. Since it was established, PFAN has connected Australians living with serious illness or disability to qualified financial advisers willing to provide pro bono advice.

Working closely with referral partners such as the Multiple Sclerosis and MND networks across Australia, PFAN matches individuals in financial hardship with locally based advisers who can support them through complex financial decisions. These initiatives have been supported by PFAN’s corporate partners over several years, reflecting the collective focus on delivering financial advice to more Australians.

Parachute Cover Founder and PFAN Adviser, Natalie Lackner said her involvement with the network allows her to support people she wouldn’t typically encounter in her day-to-day work.

“It creates a pathway for advisers to use their expertise where it can have the greatest impact, helping people navigate complex financial decisions at an incredibly difficult time.”

The new appointments join existing Board members Nicola Beswick, Natalie Kleibert, Stephen Knight, Anne McDonnell, Niall McConville, Paul Harding‑Davis and Aleks Vickovich.

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Nicola Beswick

The Pro Bono Financial Advice Network (PFAN) is pleased to announce the appointment of existing Board members, Nicola Beswick as Chair, and Natalie Kleibert as Deputy Chair.

Ms Beswick and Ms Kleibert will be responsible for leading PFAN into the next phase of its purpose – improving the financial wellbeing of Australians living with serious illness and/or disability by providing pro bono financial advice. Western Australian financial adviser, Stephen Knight, has also joined the Board.

“I am privileged to take on the role of Chair of PFAN,” Ms Beswick said. “As a financial adviser I understand the many small, yet powerful actions that people can take to change their financial future, and by their very nature, the course of their lives.”

Established in 2014, PFAN is a trusted network of industry professionals who are focused on providing pro bono financial advice to those in need. Advisers connected to PFAN provide trusted, quality financial advice that improves the sense of security for these clients.

In 2016, PFAN partnered with MS Queensland to provide pro bono financial advice to people with MS who had identified financial advice as one of their most needed services. PFAN has also formed a partnership with MS Limited, who provide services to those located in Victoria, NSW, ACT and Tasmania.

Ms Beswick succeeds Nick Hakes, who has stepped down as PFAN Chair after four years of service, but remains on as Treasurer. Tim Meggitt has stepped down as a director after seven years.

“I’d like to thank Tim for his contribution and many years of service. I’d also like to extend a special thank you to Nick for leading the Board with passion and enthusiasm during his time as Chair,” Ms Beswick said. “I am looking forward to working with him and the rest of the Board in continuing to grow the PFAN network and promoting the value and the positive difference that our PFAN advisers are delivering to individuals living with multiple sclerosis.”

Ms Beswick, a financial adviser, based in Melbourne, Victoria, said supporting people, particularly when they are experiencing a health crisis, highlights the importance of the work of advisers.

“I have a deep personal understanding of this as my dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis many years ago,” she said. “An income protection policy changed his financial future. This is why I am passionate about leading PFAN and the work we do to support the MS community.”

Ms Beswick also thanked TAL and the Association of Financial Advisers, who provide support with PFAN’s administration and operations.

During the pandemic this year, 17 clients have been connected with a PFAN adviser.

“It is pleasing to see we are connecting individuals who are living with multiple sclerosis, who cannot otherwise afford or access financial advice, with a PFAN adviser,” Ms Beswick said. “We have much more to do, to continue to promote the significant difference that financial advice can make, and to inspire other partners and advisers to join us on our important mission.”

Ms Beswick encouraged more advisers to make themselves available to support a pro bono advice case. “I welcome any adviser who wants to help someone in need to get in touch with us and find out how little of their own time it can take to support just one more person. They will be giving that person vital financial advice at a time when they need it. It’s often a small contribution that makes a massive difference.”

Other board members include Paul Harding-Davis, Brad Fox, Kate Humphries and Niall McConville.

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Simon Wu

The companies announced this morning that they have executed a non-binding indicative offer under which Australian Unity Personal Financial Services would acquire all the shares in Premium Wealth Management.

The board of Premium Wealth Management is recommending to shareholders that they consider the terms of acquisition with Australian Unity.

Australian Unity said its desire is to retain the Premium brand strategy, operating model and client proposition.

Commenting on the potential acquisition, Australian Unity Personal Financial Services CEO Mr Steve Davis said the addition of Premium would increase Australian Unity’s financial advice capability and its exposure in the accountants’ space.

“It should also better position Australian Unity Personal Financial Services to take advantage of opportunities arising from the significant regulatory and environmental changes impacting the profession,” he said.

Mr Davis added: “Premium is a successful business, with a high quality group of advisers that has substantial revenue, funds under advice and clients, and will be a significant contributor to increasing the scale and strength of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services.

“Importantly, it will be business as usual for Premium’s authorised representatives and clients,” he said.

Premium Wealth Management chairman and founder, Mr Simon Wu, said his board is attracted to Australian Unity for many reasons, including their long term involvement in the accountants’ market and that they clearly see the value of Premium and recognise the quality of their practices.

“Also, Australian Unity is culturally and philosophically aligned with us.  They are a well respected 174 year old mutual and they have always prioritised client best interest and advisory integrity, and have an open architecture environment for investments and insurances,” Mr Wu said.

Mr Paul Harding-Davis, CEO of Premium, said FoFA was a catalyst for Premium to explore other options.

“FoFA effectively closed down many organic growth options, and it became clear we would need to either engage in mergers and acquisitions of our own, or invite a like-minded organisation to partner with us, to enable us to compete in a predominately vertically integrated world.

“In the end, we think the option of engaging with a culturally aligned entity to acquire us makes sense and will, we believe, deliver the most benefits to each shareholder and practice,” he said.

The acquisition requires approval by Premium shareholders and the Australian Unity board, and is subject to due diligence by Australian Unity Personal Financial Services.

The acquisition, should it proceed, is expected to take effect on October 2014.

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Viney, is a former general manager of practice development at IOOF’s Lonsdale Financial Group.

Premium’s managing director Paul Harding-Davis said: “Justin has extensive experience across both financial planning and accountancy practice development and will be a valuable asset to Premium as we grow the business.”

“His key brief will be to interact with accounting firms seeking to broaden their offering to include a rigorous and proven financial planning option. Premium’s experience, systems and accreditation offers small and medium practices, in particular, an attractive pathway to broadening the advice services they can offer clients,” he said.

Justin Viney is a Certified Practising Accountant and financial adviser. He has owned his own accounting and financial planning practices and is an experienced Responsible Manager for AFSL’s.

“I am very excited to be joining Premium Wealth Management. I look forward to working with Paul and the team as we roll out new licensing solutions which are particularly suited for accountancy practitioners looking for a flexible and professional licensing offer,” said Mr.Viney.

Premium Wealth Management has more than $2billion under advice.

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Premium Wealth Management has further expanded its membership base with Queensland-based practice Total Solutions Group joining its dealer group.

Total Solutions Group manages the accounts for 8,000 clients of Save on Tax in two offices.  Save on Tax Principal Peter Mitchelson is a former academic in tax and accounting, and an accomplished author for the largest academic publishing houses in the world. Peter designed Australia’s first online Masters in Financial Planning degree program, fully accredited by the FPA in 2001.Total Solutions Group was born to service the financial and lending needs of the Save on Tax clientele and provide an additional layer to their exceptional service.

Premium CEO, Paul Harding-Davis, said Queensland is continuing to be an area of strong growth for the dealer group.

“Premium gives our member organisations the opportunity to continue operating as boutique businesses, while at the same time streamlining back office systems and gaining economies of scale.  Queensland has always favoured the boutique model, so we are pleased that our approach continues to find resonance in this market.

“Peter Mitchelson and his team, including Michael Chazikantis, the Director of Total Solutions Group, have ambitious growth plans and I found our discussions to represent a new way of thinking about business growth in this market.  We are very pleased to welcome Total Solutions Group to Premium Wealth.

Peter Mitchelson said Premium Wealth was a natural fit with his business.

“I knew the excellent reputation of the Group and that they have helped many other businesses successfully grow, while remaining non-institutionally owned.  I also believe the strong compliance regime, education and support systems sets Premium apart from other dealer groups.”

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CEO of Premium, Paul Harding-Davis said ‘We like to provide our practices with innovative and client focused resources. We found the Knowledge Centre is a great addition to our adviser’s websites and a tangible addition to the client service proposition’.

The dealer group liked the fact that each Knowledge Centre can be branded in line with the individual practices.

‘In the last couple of years there has been a much greater focus on what advisers are providing their clients online’ says Robert Skinner of innergi.

‘An adviser should be focussed on seeing and servicing clients , and not on creating a massive online resource’, added Skinner, who sold his planning practice four years ago to focus on innergi with his business partner Matt Linnert.

Skinner added ‘The Knowledge Centre does not replace a personal social media strategy. However, it can certainly enhance it. In saying that many of our clients are not heavily involved in social media’.

Innergi’s Knowledge Centre provides a wide base of engaging and educational content for the clients of the planner. As it is fully branded by the practice, it naturally forms part of an extension to an existing website.

Many studies have pointed to the importance of regular communication with clients – innergi’s platform generates a regular monthly newsletter, with new content added each month. Premium was attracted to the fact that the newsletters are dynamic and encourage clients to go on a self-discovery journey through to other segments of the resource – each visitor views 10 pages on average when they use the Knowledge Centre.

Skinner concludes ‘In this technology based environment, it is good to be in a position to help planners add to their client propositions and tools they provide to clients. I think it is good for a planner to provide a safe, branded educational platform to clients. It is an additional demonstration of the care for the client’s financial wellbeing.’

Innergi’s Financial Knowledge Centre includes modules, videos, articles, life event activities, calculators, quizzes, jargon busters, downloads and a regular competition. A recent enhancement for innergi’s platform has been the administration portal. The portal allows advisers to add, edit or delete content – giving advisers control of what is on their individual Knowledge Centre platform.

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The new licensing regime, which comes in to effect on 1 July 2016, will involve for some extensive additional training and an application process that could take longer than previous thought. 

Premium Wealth CEO, Paul Harding-Davis, said accountants who are considering becoming licensed to be able to continue to provide SMSF advice need to consider taking steps sooner rather than later to prepare their business and clients for what’s involved in transitioning to the financial planning licensing world.

“Accountants will need to start having conversations with licensees today in relation to finding a cultural fit for their business. Additionally, accountants will need enough time to complete minimum education requirements, obtain PI and also learn the practical side of preparing advice documents, and meeting compliance requirements,” he said.  “For example,, as recently as the SPAA conference last week, ASIC reminded all of the need for an accountant to produce an SOA and to have conducted a broad enough fact find.”

“This is not an overnight process and those accountants who leave the transition to the last minute will be behind the eight ball if they wish to continue to provide SMSF advice to their clients after the 2016 deadline.”

Recent reports on accounting practices suggest that only around one third  plan to have a licensing framework in place by 1 July, 2013 and many are still unsure of when they would have the appropriate framework in place.

“The earlier accountants begin the process the smoother the transition will be,” said Mr Harding-Davis.

To facilitate in this process, Premium Wealth Management is currently developing practical training workshops for accountants who wish to provide SMSF advice once the current accountant’s exemption ends on 1 July 2016.

Through the workshops accountants who are new to financial planning will also have access to networking and mentoring from Premium’s highly experienced financial advisers, most of whom are also accountants.

The workshops will be part of the licensing services that are available to accountants from Premium Wealth.  The program offers three tiers of licensing along with the necessary support services that go with that such as training, professional indemnity insurance, software support, research and planning. The workshops will facilitate the practical application of this support and will help accountants become familiar with the new way of operating.
 
“We believe the referral opportunities our licensing program will create will be of significant value for both the advisors and the accountants in our network. We think it’s unlikely that all accountants will want to become proficient in specific investment or risk advice, so reliance upon the knowledge of advisors within the group will be essential in this regard,” Mr Harding-Davis said.

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Boston Private Wealth is located in Sanctuary Cove and is headed by Neil Heriot. Mr Heriot has been operating as a financial advisor for more than 25 years. Boston manages the financial affairs of more than 100 clients and has been a long-time advocate of a ‘fee for service’ model.

Premium CEO, Paul Harding-Davis, said although Premium had not been specifically focusing on the Queensland area, the state is well-known for its boutique advice firms and the flexible business model of Premium was well suited to firms who wanted to retain control of the way in which their business is managed.

Queensland based director John Woodhouse said “Premium Wealth is finding many like-minded boutique advisory firms, who want the support of a national dealer group, but without the constraints of institutional ownership. Queensland has always been a prime location for the boutique firm, given its large number of retirees, small business people and growth
prospects. We are very excited to welcome Boston to our group and we look forward to announcing further recruitment in the coming months.”

Earlier this year, Premium announced that Meridien Wealth and Platinum Wealth had joined the dealer group. Both are based in Queensland.

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Platinum’s group of companies has been in operation for almost 12 years, recently adding wealth management to its suite of client services. 

Premium CEO, Paul Harding-Davis, said Premium wasvery pleased to expand its Queensland reach and welcome Platinum to the Premium group. 

“We are actively growing our firm through alliances with firms that want the support of dealer network, but also wish to remainfree of institutional ownership.  Platinum is our second Queensland alliance in as many months, with Meridien Wealth Management joining us in August.  We are very pleased to welcome Platinum to the group and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship, for both our businesses and clients.” 

Platinum Principal, Robert Kirk, said the firm had looked at a number of dealer groups and found that Premium was the best fit for its business and clients.  

“We were looking for a group with similar depth of knowledge and focus on holistic financial management, rather than simply selling life insurance or other products.  As Premium was founded by accountants, we were attracted to the focus on training and qualifications that the group holds.  Additionally, as Premium operates on a fixed rate and is not driven by volume or funds under advice fees, it made a better fit for our business.” 

Mr Harding-Davis said he anticipated that the recently announced accountants licencing program will also lead to additional recruitment in the near future. 

‘We will offer the three tiers of licencing and the support services that go along with it, such as monitoring, audit and training.  Additionally, accountants will need to be RG146 compliant, so we provide access to the necessary training packages, along with a sensible pricing model.  As most of our advisers are part of accounting firms, we also offer significant advantages with our collegiate approach to knowledge sharing. We believe the referral opportunities this will create will also be of significant value for the advisors in our network.”

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“Premium was founded by accountants and alignment with accountancy practices and principles have always been central to our business,” he said.   “Accountants are among the most trusted professions.  And as we know, sadly advisors still do not have the perception of trust they merit.   We think that many of the other initiatives introduced via FOFA will only have a small impact on rebuilding this trust in the eyes of the community.

“We believe this new accountant’s licencing initiative will increase the uptake of advice and help move financial advice into the status of a profession.

Mr Harding-Davis said it was a natural progression for the firm to offer licencing to accountancy firms.

“We will offer the three tiers of licencing and the support services that go along with it, such as monitoring, audit and training.  Additionally, accountants will need to be RG146 compliant, so we will provide access to the necessary training packages, along with a sensible pricing model.”

“We also believe the referral opportunities this will create will be of significant value for the advisors in our network. We think it’s unlikely that all accountants will want to get involved in the specific investment or insurance product decisions by clients, so reliance upon the knowledge of advisors will be essential in this regard.”

The step by Premium is the latest initiative in an active growth strategy.

“We have recently increased the number or advisors in our network and are in discussions with a number of others. We also recently announced that we have formed an alliance with The Emerald Club to provide licensee and dealer group support for members.”

“We think this latest initiative will further enhance the attractiveness of our Group for firms who wish to remain free from institutional imperatives.”

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