Financial Standard Power50 2022

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The 2019 Entries

Welcome note

From the editor

The 2022

The

How to be an

FS Power50

Quotable

Power50

Editor

Baldini

Graphic Designer

Beaver

Marketing Executive

Adiwongso

Director - Media

Baltazar

Managing Director

Page

Financial Standard Level 7, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000 T + 61 2 8234 7500 www.financialstandard. com.au

Financial Standard is an award-winning financial services publication and is the publishing division of the Rainmaker Group. Financial Standard is focused on providing trade news,

analysis as well as events and education for professionals

financial planning, superannuation, research, consultancy, investment management and professional investing. The Rainmaker Group is comprised of: Rainmaker Information, Financial Standard, FS Aspire CPD, SelectingSuper, SelectAdviser, Industry Moves, FS Sustainability and Money magazine.

Welcome note

A sharper focus

When we published the first edition of this special guide nine years ago, we had a specific goal in mind: to showcase that there is a community of outstanding financial advisers who are starting to use this new ‘shiny’ tool called ‘social media’.

Hard to believe it now but there was a time when social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were rarely used to educate the investing public about the merits of good financial advice. Today it’s part of the standard toolkit - even if the platform of choice has changed. For example, Twitter was all the rage a decade ago before being superceded by Instagram and TikTok.

For this year’s crop, many are embracing podcasts, reflecting the growing consumption of this media platform.

But beyond the social reach, we wanted to make sure that the select group of financial advisers in this guide have the right combination of experience and foresight to truly champion the industry. Financial

Standard’s editor Jamie Williamson notes the key regulatory reforms (page 6) that will test the mettle of our FS Power50 list.

If you are new to this guide, turn to page 43 for an explanation of our selection process. Our quick stats on page 46 suggests there has been a changing of the guard, with 20% of this year’s batch making it to the list for the first time in 2022. That said, we are incredibly proud of the mainstays because their practices flourished despite the demands of tightening regulation and compliance.

On behalf of the Financial Standard team, I’d like to congratulate all of the financial advisers who made it to this year’s FS Power50. We appreciate your participation behind the scenes as we tried to learn more about you and your practice in the making of this guide. Through our research and the

various interviews, trends and patterns have emerged, including the adoption of scaled and digital advice, the rise of ethical investing and the growth of niche practices geared towards millennials.

But with more Australians moving into retirement in the next decade and a new wave of budding investors gaining their financial literacy through social platforms, the need for financial advisers with ‘influence’ has never been greater. Power on.

Michelle Baltazar director of media Rainmaker Group

^La Trobe Financial’s 12 Month Term Account was judged the Best Credit Fund - Mortgages for 2022 by Money magazine. For a full list of our awards please visit our website. La Trobe Financial Asset Management Limited ACN 007 332 363 Australian Financial Services Licence 222213 Australian Credit Licence 222213 is the responsible entity of the La Trobe Australian Credit Fund ARSN 088 178 321. It is important for you to consider the Product Disclosure Statement for the Credit Fund in deciding whether to invest, or to continue to invest, in the Credit Fund. You can read the PDS and the Target Market Determinations on our website or ask for a copy by calling us on 13 80 10.

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From the editor

In safe hands

A recent study from the Financial Planning Association of Australia and MYMAVINS found that those who receive financial advice enjoy a better quality of life. And this was consistent across all age groups and on all metrics.

Financial security, comfort with level of wealth, you name it – those who receive advice are reporting having more of it. The findings are a boon for the advice industry, particularly at a time of great uncertainty.

The Quality of Advice Review is expected to drop its final report in mid-December. If the proposals within its interim paper are anything to go by, the potential reforms to come could turn the industry on its head.

At the same time, the Australian Law Reform Commission is tasked with reviewing financial services laws with a view to removing the “clutter” that’s causing compliance headaches.

While there are no silver bullets, these two initiatives combined stand to solve a significant chunk of the issues that have plagued advisers

in recent times, driving up the cost of doing business and of advice.

Of course, in estimating the luster of the sector’s future, there are other factors to consider and some of the QAR proposals have a flip side. For instance, allowing super funds to offer advice may present challenges for the majority of advisers for whom pre-retirees and retirees are their bread and butter.

This is where having a truly unique value proposition comes in, something that sets you apart from the crowd. It could be an innovative business model, like Finnacle’s Daniel Thompson and Prashant Nagarajan, a personal mandate to empower marginalised communities like Fox & Hare’s Glen Hare, or being part of a new generation of female leaders in the industry like TWD’s Dawn Thomas, Yield Advisory’s Morgan Hayward, or

Kearsten James from Addi House.

It’s them and the 44 other advisers recognised that are the future of advice doing what they can to ensure as many people as possible enjoy a greater quality of life.

While this year has seen adviser numbers drop further and much of the industry’s collective knowledge and experience go with it, if this list is any indication of the sector’s fate, it’s fair to say that it’s in safe hands.

Jamie Williamson editor Financial Standard

The 2022 FS Power50

The financial advisers featured in this guide are a diverse group: some specialise in responsible investment advice, some provide financial advice to niche clientele, and some focus on addressing market gaps. Plenty find themselves on the list for the very first time, many have featured several times before. But they all have one thing in common: they all wield influence that can create the blueprint for the future of financial advice in Australia. Not all of them are familiar names but just because they are not making a lot of noise doesn’t mean they are not making waves. Meet our Power50.

The 2022 Entries

Esther Althaus Perspective Financial Services

Charles Badenach

Esther is passionate about working with and educating women with little previous insight into wealth management, who have come to her at a time of great change in their life. As a result, she is well known within the Family Law community as a financial adviser with a strong insight into the nuances at play in what is often a sad situation. She is often sought by various community organisations to present on several topics including her inspirational career journey, workshops on financial literacy, financial empowerment for women and her general insights into life.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

A former lawyer, Charles has worked as a financial planner for over 20 years, specialising in providing financial planning, risk insurance and investment advice for clients throughout Australia. He is a regular media commentator and advocate for the financial planning community, believing it has the ability to change lives. He’s the author and co-author of several self-help finance books and is a regular speaker at industry conference and professional workshops, always happy to share his insights with colleagues and consumers.

Main Street Financial Solutions

Patrick Barry Partners Wealth Group

Patrick is the director of wealth for Partners Wealth Group and takes great pride in delivering market-leading advice. He continues to practice as a financial adviser and is passionate about working with his team to assist clients with their personal goals. He has a history of growing businesses and working with Australians to secure their financial future. Grassroot connections are also important to Patrick; one way he maintains them if through his role as president of Melbourne University Blacks Football Club and keeping active in its community.

From science to intellectual property to advice, Nicola’s background sure is diverse. But it’s this rich knowledge base that has shaped Nicola into the respected adviser she is today. An aged care professional, Nicola is passionate about helping people achieve the life they desire and deserve, through her work at FMD Financial ,chair of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network and as a committee member of the FPA’s Melbourne Chapter. She is an advocate of both the profession and its community.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Nicola Beswick

FMD Financial

The 2022 Entries

Josh Blythe Shadforth Financial Group

Joshua has a 20-plus-year track record in financial planning. He takes pride in seeing his clients take control of their personal finances and assisting them with decisions to help achieve their goals. Joshua’s clients primarily include small business owners, young professionals and retirees. He also specialises in working with NFPs, developing investment strategies and building close working relationships with board members and trustees. Joshua is trained in the practice of collaborative law, where he assists people in negotiating their way around the financial side of family law.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Marshall is a dedicated director and senior adviser at Evalesco, driven by a desire to protect and give clients all the tools necessary to plan for the future and spend more time doing what they love. He specialises in assisting professionals move towards optional working as well as ensuring older clients enjoy a smooth retirement.

As a leader in the advice industry, Marshall is regularly called upon by both trade and consumer media to share his insights and his no-nonsense approach to helping both clients and the industry progress.

Marshall Brentnall Evalesco Financial Services

Cara Brett Bounce Financial

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Marisa Broome Wealthadvice

Cara co-founded Bounce Financial and proudly heads it up as its director and senior financial adviser. She started the boutique firm to help young professional families go through big financial changes and enable them to lead a life they love while achieving milestones.

Cara enjoys working with people as a wealth coach to navigate the many transitions that happen throughout life, with a particular focus on responsible investing.

Marisa has been integral to the maturation of the financial advice sector in Australia, not only as a highly respected adviser but also as the chair of the FPA, a role she held for almost four years until May 2022. At Wealthadvice, Marisa helps shape the financial future of professionals and small business owners. She is a staunch advocate for the industry, working to increase the number of women in financial services, particularly in leadership roles. Outside of the office, Marisa serves on the board of the Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation.

Entries

The 2022 Entries

John Cachia Australian Financial Advisers Group

Mathew Cassidy Partners Wealth Group

John is passionate about working with ambitious people, helping them to achieve financial freedom. He is an outspoken advocate for goals-based financial advice which allows clients to develop a clear understanding of what they really want to achieve and a legacy they can be proud of. His passion for financial advice runs in the family; John started working in an advice firm owned by his cousin when he was just 14 and was just 20 years old when he founded AFA Advice group. He now employs over a dozen people.

Mathew is one of the original founders of Partners Wealth Group and managing director. Now with two decades under his belt as a financial adviser, Mathew’s passion and commitment is building the business and advising high-net-worth individuals and family groups. He is also playing a key role in fostering the next generation of advisers via the Partners Wealth Group two-year “assistant adviser academy”, which includes the professional year and another year of practical education.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Andrew Debono Peak Wealth Management

It was a passion for finance and people that got him hooked on the profession, but Andrew feels most rewarded seeing clients achieve their goals and aspirations. Playing an integral part in an award-winning financial advice firm in the early years of his career sparked the ambition to start his own business, Peak Wealth Management, to provide personalised and quality advice to clients. A previous winner of the AFA Rising Star Award, among a plethora of other industry awards, he always aims to provide the best advice and service possible for his clients, managing the gaps in their situations.

Kanhai believes a tailored asset management plan is about more than achieving returns – it’s about defining your dreams, watching your goals take flight and become a reality. With more than 17 years’ experience in financial services, Kanhai can advise his clients on how to achieve what’s important to them regarding their financial goals and objectives. Away from work, Kanhai is involved in the community, passionate about helping those in need, volunteering at charity events locally via the Ardoch Youth Foundation and also with FareShare, helping feed the homeless.

Kanhai Desai

Shadforth Financial Group

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

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Why green bonds play a vital role in the global energy transition

The Ukraine crisis is a horrendous tragedy and has brought sharply into focus the fragility of supply chains and energy security.

Michelle Lacey head of client group

Investment Managers Core Australia

Given this backdrop there is a risk that policymakers delay urgent, albeit difficult, decisions on the decarbonisation of our economies. But from both a climate and political perspective, we believe we must stay the course – in fact, we need to accelerate the energy transition to alternative cleaner fuels.

Green bonds investment plays a critical role in this transition to a low-carbon economy.

The green bond market was born in 2007, when the first green bond was issued by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Since then, it has developed very rapidly.

The 2015 Paris Conference on Climate Change (COP21), which set in motion the transition to a low-carbon economy, was also a defining moment. A series of regulatory changes have been initiated, resulting in increased investor awareness of environmental issues. Green bonds have clearly benefited from this global commitment and the investment universe has grown remarkably.

In just 10 years, green bonds have grown close to US$1trillion in market value, with over 500 issuers. They help finance numerous initiatives, including renewable energy and pollution prevention and are attracting the attention of investors engaged in the decarbonisation of assets.

As the green bond market grows, the list of issuers, regions and sectors is becoming increasingly diversified. This growing diversification along with a good balance between private and public issuers now enables the universe to offer a potentially attractive risk and return profile, making it a credible alternative to the conventional bond universe.

Green bonds are here to stay and will help pave the way for the global energy transition.

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This document does not contain sufficient information to support an investment decision. Investment involves risk, and past perform is no guarantee of future returns.

Green bonds are a potentially attractive instrument for both issuers and investors. On the one hand, the issuer attests their commitment to the energy transition. On the other hand, investors benefit from increased transparency as issuers undertake to publish an annual report setting out the evolution and impact of the financed projects.

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The 2022 Entries

Victoria Devine Zella Wealth

Finn Dorney

Shadforth Financial Group

Victoria has cracked the code to younger Australian women’s relationship with their finances, improving their financial literacy in the process. Her podcast, She’s on the Money, has had millions of downloads, and she’s amassed more than 150,000 followers on Instagram alone, while the Facebook group has close to 240,000. Her book of the same name is also a national best seller. She even has time to give back, sitting on the board of TLC for Kids.

Editor’s note: ASIC FAR has listed Devine’s authorisation to provide personal advice ‘ceased’ on 11 October 2022.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Finn is passionate about developing and maintaining long-term relationships with his clients and enjoys helping people achieve their personal financial goals. He is also committed to helping emerging musicians realise their dreams via the Nick Balcombe Foundation and is a champion of Tasmania’s amazing produce and agriculture by way of his work with Eat Well Tasmania. This is Finn’s third time appearing in the Power50 and he is also a former Barron’s Top 50 adviser.

Louise Edkins Ethical Investment Advisers

Brett Evans Atlas Wealth Management

Louise has been in financial services since 1984 in London, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Since 1994 – long before it was sexy – Louise has advised clients solely on ethical investments, and today is founder and director of Ethical Investment Advisers, a financial planning group which has invested over $740 million for its clients since inception. Louise provides educational content to financial planners on ethics and ethical investment, mentors other advisers within the Ethical Advisers Co-operative Australia and established Ethical Advisers Funds Management with four ethical investment products.

Brett is seen as a thought leader and is frequently quoted in the media for his position as an expert in financial planning for expats. His niche has led to a thriving business that now also includes an office in Dubai and services clients in over 40 countries. He is also heavily involved in public debate around reform to the treatment of expats’ finances, including engaging with local regulators and government, petitioning for expat property investor rights and, most recently, tax residency rules and tax treatment of dividends for nonresidents.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

The 2022 Entries

Nathan Fradley

Your Vision Financial Solutions

Nathan is chair and founder of the XY Ethics Committee and has previously been awarded Affinia Adviser of the Year. He is passionate about ethical advice, is a certified responsible investment adviser and built Lime Financial based on these principles before merging with Tribeca Financial in late 2021.

He is a director of Ethos Australia and is co-founder of the Ethical Advice Conference, doing all he can to educate his clients and the broader industry on sustainable investing and how money can contribute to a better world.

Patricia is a co-owner of Your Vision Financial Solutions where she works as a director and financial adviser. A future industry leader, she is currently on the board of the AFA, representing Queensland, and is also state chair of its GenXt designation. Throughout her time as a financial adviser, she has been nominated for and received several awards, including the FPA’s AFP Planner of the Year Award and Fortnum Private Wealth Adviser of the Year. Her career in finance has been forged by a genuine interest and desire to witness everyday Australians achieve their financial dreams.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Patricia Garcia

Tribeca Financial

As chief executive and principal financial adviser at Your Wealth Hub Advice, as well as managing director at Vinarc Advice Community, Gavin is a strong, tenacious leader who brings value to the business he works for and partners with. Since entering the financial services sector in 2001, the Sydney-based adviser has worked for various institutional businesses including Macquarie Bank, AMP, Asteron, and Royal and Sun Alliance. At YWHA, Gavin has engineered a true client focused advice experience, where coaching and support ensures its clients have the right tools to make smarter financial decisions.

Cara is an adviser who works with her clients to educate, motivate and inspire them to live well. Since joining the financial services industry in 2006, Cara has established herself as a highly reputable and trustworthy adviser, leading The Wealth Designers to great heights. Cara also plays an active role in the advice community, acting as the WA state chair for the AFA Inspire Committee which works to empower women with their finances. To Cara, strong working relationships are built on trust, competence, and effective communication with clients.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Gavin Glozier

Your Wealth Hub Advice

Cara Graham

The Wealth Designers

The 2022 Entries

To Matt, financial planning is about more than just dollars and cents – it’s about creating a good relationship with money and protecting an individual’s freedom to say “yes”. With over 15 years’ experience in the sector, and as a director of Rising Tide, Matt is passionate about helping his clients achieve financial security. Matt is no stranger to our Power50 list, and says he is proud of the fact that Rising Tide provides a safe place for people to build their financial knowledge and put strategies in place that will help them say “yes” over and over again.

Glen is the co-founder of Fox & Hare Financial Advice which offers a fresh perspective on financial advice for the modern generation. He also sits on the board and acts as treasurer for Wear it Purple which fosters and supports young LGBTQI members and is a national partnership manager at Out for Australia which aims to help young rainbow Australians tackle the corporate world. Diversity and inclusion sit close to his heart and Glen continues working towards positive change that ensures financial freedom is accessible to all, not just the older and wealthier.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Glen Hare

Fox & Hare Financial Advice

Matt Hale

Rising Tide Financial Services

Kathy Havers Viridian Advisory

Morgan Hayward Yield Advisory

Kathy is a specialist adviser providing advice to high-net-worth individuals and groups seeking solutions to their philanthropic goals. To Kathy, philanthropy is a wonderful way to engage and educate the next generation Kathy does a significant amount of charitable work and is a director of both Kindred Spirits Foundation and the Viridian Foundation, providing a hand up to Indigenous communities, disadvantaged and newly settled Australians, as well as people with disabilities and special needs.

Morgan spent her earlier years in finance as a specialist mortgage broker in complex lending, before moving on to financial planning where her passion was found. As director of Yield Advisory, Morgan advises clients on a broad range of matters and has developed specialist knowledge in superannuation, estate/succession planning and insurance. Communitydriven, Morgan is also involved with the AFA mentoring program, the AFA’s QLD committee and is a registered pro-bono adviser. This year she was a finalist for the AFA and TAL’s Female Excellence in Advice Award.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

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Take that first step

Sherise Mercer head of Macquarie Virtual Adviser Network

The financial advice industry is always evolving. As a leader of a high-growth firm, it’s incredibly valuable to learn from your peers’ successes and pitfalls and get better, faster outcomes than you would on your own.

With a record number of advisers leaving the industry, there are new growth opportunities, and a pool of clients with unmet advice needs. To best serve those clients, it’s never been more important to share knowledge within a shrinking pool of experienced practitioners. And

you know it will take more than compliancelevel advice training to achieve meaningful success in your business – and provide the quality advice and service more Australians will need in the future.

Taking a new path or making changes in your practice is a big ask of you and your team, but commitment to the journey helps ensure you’re moving your practice forward – not letting the market and competition move it for you.

Six years after Cervus Private Wealth cofounders Ross Potter and Adam Miliszewski started their Gold Coast-based practice, they’d reached a crossroad. The business could keep growing steadily – or they could put their foot on the accelerator.

“We wanted to build something that would be bigger than either of us individually, so we started thinking strategically about what we’d need,” says Ross.

definitely say jump in and get involved.”

Having completed the program, Ross says he “feels a sense of fulfillment, because the things we said we’d do, we’ve done.” Working with similar-sized firms and hearing from significantly larger ones has reassured the founders that it’s possible to stay grounded while still reaching for the stars.

That’s why Macquarie Bank is investing in the next generation of high-performing financial advice firms through its Virtual Adviser Network Build for the Future program. Designed for advice firms with big ambitions, the 18-month program involves webinars, workshops, conferences and benchmarking exercises.

So, he and Adam decided to get some guidance with those steps, joining a cohort of like-minded Queensland-based advice principals on Macquarie’s Virtual Adviser Network Build for the Future program in 2021. Ross says he came out of every Build for the Future session with at least two or three really good ideas that changed his perception on how to do business; “If you want to make changes in your advice firm and grow, I’d

If you’re looking for new ways to evolve your business and explore different growth options in an increasingly complex environment, we’re recruiting for the next round of our Virtual Adviser Network’s Build for the Future program now. Learn more on how we’re committed to helping advice practice principals build a successful advice firm of the future.

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The 2022 Entries

Deline has experience across a range of businesses from boutiques to large super funds. Most recently, she took the leap and established Mazi Wealth.

She is on the Queensland committee for Women in Super and is vice-chair of the AFA’s National Practitioners Community, and was a finalist for the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award for 2022. Deline is passionate about closing the super gender gap, having even been invited to contribute to a roundtable discussion with the current government on the topic from her perspective as an adviser and a mother.

Kearsten is a financial adviser and the founder of Addi House. She has over 17 years of experience in the financial planning profession and is passionate about helping clients achieve financial independence and gain confidence knowing their financial house is in order.

Kearsten has been a finalist for the FPA Professional of the Year Award in 2019 and a finalist for the AFA Excellence in Education Award in 2019. She won the FPA Paraplanner of the Year Award in 2018. Kearsten serves as a director on the FPA’s board with a positive outlook on the future of advice.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Kearsten James

Addi House

Deline Jacovides

Mazi Wealth

Sam is a financial planner at Rising Tide and is a previous finalist for the AFA Rising Star Award for two years running. He enjoys building lasting professional relationships and knows what it takes to succeed in the financial services industry, never afraid to put in the work to help clients achieve their goals. Sam plays an important role in paving the way forward for emerging financial planners within the business and as an emerging leader within the industry. He is highly active within the community, serving as chair of the MCC Young Members Committee and the Old Brighton Grammar School Committee.

If you ever find yourself in trouble, it’s William you’d want on your side. As founder of Health & Finance Integrated, William has made a career out of helping those who can’t help themselves, whether they struggle with mental or physical disabilities, running the firm as a social enterprise to further benefit the community. He also runs ClaimRight, a business focused on helping people in need make insurance claims and Centrelink claims correctly, and isn’t afraid to call out dodgy industry practices when he sees them. He also advocates for his profession, sitting on the board of the FPA.

Entries

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

William Johns

Health & Finance Integrated and ClaimRight

Sam Jewell  Rising Tide Financial Services

The 2022 Entries

Better Financial Planning Australia

Jacqueline Kirkwood Shadforth Financial Group

Michael is the founder and director of Better Financial Planning Australia, focused on assisting couples to make better financial decisions so that they can focus on the things they love. He runs a financial and lifestyle podcast titled Sharing More Than the Sheets, with weekly episodes discussing all things money and couples related. Michael has won the National Financial Advisors risk advisor and planner of the year awards among many other accolades.

Jackie boasts over 24 years’ experience in both the Australian and South African financial services industry. Today, the Tasmania-based adviser primarily works with busy professionals who are looking to outsource their financial affairs, as well as more mature professionals and small business owners looking to cut back on work and spend time pursuing more pleasurable pursuits. Jackie is actively shaping the future of advice as a tutor and lecturer in financial planning at the University of Tasmania.

Entries are in alphabetical

Michael Khouri

Olivia is chief executive of the awardwinning Aspire Retire which services clients Australia-wide. She has served as a mentor to many over the years, including through the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand mentor program, sits on the board of the Future2 Foundation and CFP Advisory Panel, and is a longstanding judge in the Telstra Business Awards. She is one of Australia’s most respected financial experts and highly sought speaker on all things money across TV, radio and print.

Gayle is a strategic financial adviser and retirement specialist at Prosperity Planning. She has specialist adviser skills in both aged care and women’s wealth and is the author of Women mind your money before someone else does. Gayle has been in the business of money since the 1980s, with a background in banking and lending before deciding to focus on financial advice. Her diverse background means clients have access to a wealth of knowledge in each interaction. Gayle was the recipient of one of the AFA’s Great Advice Awards in 2021.

Entries

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Olivia Maragna

Aspire Retire

Gayle McKew Prosperity Planning Partners

The 2022 Entries

Prashant is the co-founder of Finnacle, where he works as a financial adviser and mortgage adviser. After a decade in the financial services industry as a financial planner, client manager and technical analyst he wanted to assist more young people in getting on top of their finances.

Finnacle has pioneered an ondemand financial advice subscription that simplifies money management. Prashant is realising his dream and helping young families access affordable advice and gain financial security at a time when advice remains out of reach for so many.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Ben is the founder of Pivot Wealth and author of the best-selling Get Unstuck: Your Guide to Creating a Life not Limited by Money. He is also an active speaker, podcaster, presenter, and industry commentator. Ben reaches a monthly audience of around 100,000 across his social media and podcast channels.

Over the years he has been recognised with several awards including the AFA’s Excellence in Education Award. Ben is passionate about the benefits of truly great financial advice, and the empowerment that comes through good financial literacy.

Prashant Nagarajan

Finnacle Solutions

Ben Nash  Pivot Wealth

A familiar face to many, Sam cofounded Perera Crowther Financial Services where he works as its managing director. His firm’s ethos is based on three pillars: providing highly personalised service, offering expert, timely advice, and maintaining the highest level of ethics. Sam has a long history of advocating for his profession, having been heavily involved in lobbying efforts on the Future of Financial Advice reforms and the Life Insurance Framework. Sam continues to be an advocate for the financial advice industry and the future for advisers as the AFA national president since 2020.

Roger finds most people aren’t aware of the opportunities they’re missing out on and the risk they’re exposed to.

He’s passionate about rectifying this and has developed a platform to help people achieve their goals, tasks and dreams, even from a non-financial perspective as well. Roger is also the founder of More Done, an automated platform that helps busy parents manage kids, home and money so they can get more done and have more fun. Once a competitive sailor, he now steers client’s financial strategies.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Sam Perera

Perera Crowther Financial Services

Roger Perrett Viridian Advisory

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Key factors driving practice success

Martin Morris chief distribution officer Praemium

We work with a number of high-quality advice practices, many of whom are recognised in this year’s Financial Standard Power50. Through our collaborative partnerships and industry research, we have seen some key similarities in how they approach their business that is contributing to their success.

Prioritising the client experience

Key to success is placing the client at the heart of the advice experience and the most successful practices have a defined customer

value proposition and a clear understanding of their client’s needs. This allows them to deliver an adviser service tailored to what their clients value, spending more time in client facing engagements, with longer client meetings and more in-depth reviews. They place importance on a personalised wealth management experience with customised reporting and are more likely to seek client feedback to ensure client satisfaction.

Leveraging managed accounts for scalability

Firms using managed accounts recognise the efficiency benefits they deliver and that embedding them into their business model will help them to achieve the scale needed to deliver the outcomes they want for their clients and their staff. The latest Business Health research figures confirm that the solution has been proven to deliver scale benefits to many of those firms implementing a growth strategy and has a direct correlation to increased profits. Firms using managed accounts for more than three years achieved 79% more profit per owner* than firms not using managed accounts. This figure rose even more for firms with 75% or more of their client base invested in managed accounts, who turned a notional profit per owner 127% higher than non-users*.

Working on their business not just in it.

With a growth mindset, these firms recognise the importance of directing time into strategic

planning activities, documenting their goals and their value proposition. They also seek feedback from external businesses to continuously improve and drive their business forward.

Taking a strategic approach to selecting a technology partner

These firms recognise that platform selection is not just a financial transaction based on cost. They understand the importance of using technology to deliver advice efficiently and to enhance the client experience and want to ensure that the platform has the functionality required to support high quality client engagement, the range of strategies, advice models and service agreements that the firm may have in place and allow their practice to scale and grow into the future.

We have several research papers that discuss in more detail some of the factors that support practice success visit praemium. com for more information.

Congratulation to all those advisers recognised in the FS Power50.

*Source: Praemium/Business Health ‘Profit facts and Key Success Drivers’. All the profit calculations contained in this paper assume a $100,000 notional salary package for each working owner.

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The 2022 Entries

Laurence has gone from being an aspiring professional cricketer to the youngest equity partner at his firm. While his knee injury curtailed his athletic ambitions, he’s found a similar sense of satisfaction and enjoyment as a strategic wealth adviser.

Laurence’s core objectives are to be surrounded by great people and to help as many people along the way as possible, through advice or otherwise. As a professional, his core values of compassion, hard work and honesty flow directly into the advice process.

Rebecca is known for her straighforward but empathetic approach. A passionate advocate for women in the industry, Rebecca is happy to challenge stereotypes and expectations, often sharing her own vulnerabilities on subjects such as the impact of motherhood on finances. She was drawn to a career in financial advice after having seen the power of quality advice firsthand in her early 20s and never looked back, opting to help other Gen Ys ensure their own financial success, including via the e-book, Intentionally Rich: A guide for millennials

Laurence Poulter

Bentleys Wealth Advisors (a member of Partners Wealth Group)

Rebecca Pritchard

Rising Tide Financial Services

Dave Rae Ethinvest

James Ridley Atlas Wealth Management

Dave is a firm believer that investing can be used as a force for good, to create change and address some of the biggest problems the world faces. Not only is Dave a certified responsible investment adviser by RIAA, the largest and most active network of people and organisations engaged in responsible, ethical and impact investing across Australia and New Zealand, but he also sits on the board of the association.

Dave strives to build a portfolio of purpose for his clients who are ethically motivated and regularly writes on ESG issues, appears on panels and at conferences to spread the word.

James is Atlas Wealth Management’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region and brings experience to the table when it comes to providing Australian expat financial advice. Formerly an accountant, he combines his expertise to help advise clients in the areas of retirement planning, debt reduction, cash flow management and portfolio management.

He is active in advocating for expats when it comes to legislative reforms that may impact them and is passionate about educating expats or wannabe expats through the Expat Chat podcast.

The

most influential financial advisers in Australia

The 2022 Entries

Hugh Robertson  Centaur Financial Services

Liam Shorte Verante Financial Planning

As managing director of Centaur Financial Services, Hugh is a champion of both the industry and of the benefits of financial advice. He is a force of good in the industry trying to promote the value of advice, break down barriers, and believes in leaving the sector in a better place than when he came to it. He has grown his business exponentially over the past few years, attracting some of the Gold Coast’s best talent as he seeks to build the advice firm of the future. He is a former AFA Adviser of the Year and has appeared in the Power50 several times now.

Entries

If there’s one thing everyone knows about Liam, it’s that he is the master of all things SMSF. Known as the SMSF Coach, Liam is a trusted go-to subject matter expert on the topic and, for this reason, sits on the board of the SMSF Association. Liam is passionate about working on strategies with his clients, in particular families, to help them make the most of their finances.

He has won several awards during his more than 30 years in financial services and regularly presents at industry events, educating his peers on SMSF best practice.

Rhiannan Smit  Shadforth Financial Group

Warren Strybosch Find Wealth

Rhiannan is a private wealth adviser at Shadforth Financial Group. From a young age, she felt a strong emphasis placed on the importance of family, education and hard work. In her role she coaches her clients through the construction and achievement of their goals, collaborating to navigate the most vulnerable times in their lives. Rhiannan advocates for the financial wellness of women and works mostly with professional women, guiding them through the process of understanding and articulating their financial and lifestyle goals, and how they can be achieved.

Warren is the founder and managing director of the Find Group of companies. He has a diverse background that ranges from serving in the army to teaching in secondary schools. Now, his passion is to help improve clients’ financial position.

Warren’s aim is to challenge prospective and current clients to take the next step, encouraging them to make positive change in their financial lives. He is also the founder of the Find Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that owns and operates community papers across Victoria to ensure people stay connected and informed.

Entries

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

The 2022 Entries

Troy says he first learnt about saving and investments as a youngster, with school banking. Fast forward to today, Troy is one of Australia’s most respected advisers, having appeared in the Power50 annually since 2017. Troy’s practice, Robina Financial Solutions (RFS) has gone from strength to strength, largely due to its simple philosophy of providing the services that clients want and need. RFS is one of the few Queensland businesses that specialises in independent financial advice for people entering aged care residences, with a dedicated subsidiary.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

Dawn is a senior financial adviser at The Wealth Designers as well as the national chair of the AFA’s Inspire group, empowering women in financial advice. Dawn has been recognised for her financial literacy work and advocacy of the financial planning industry, winning several awards including the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award in 2019 and the AFA’s Great Advice Award in 2021. Her heart-led approach to advice is based on building trusting relationships while creating bespoke advice-based life goals and objectives for her clients, all with a focus on being true to oneself.

Troy Theobald

Robina Financial Solutions

Dawn Thomas The Wealth Designers

Daniel had his first encounter with a financial adviser when he was 12 years old, investing $2000 he had saved working odd jobs. Watching that money grow over the years sparked a desire in him to show everyone the power of good financial advice. At a time when the industry is struggling to make advice both affordable and accessible, Daniel is doing just that with Finnacle’s innovative, subscriptionbased financial advice model. A purely virtual offering and priced to suit the needs of its members, Finnacle just might be the future of financial advice.

With over 20 years’ experience servicing high-net-worth clients, family office and institutional investors, Charlie is the managing director of Pitcher Partners Sydney Wealth Management. Advising on approximately $3.2 billion, Charlie provides clarity and assurance to his clients, and is regularly featured across all forms of media. Charlie is also a proud non-executive director of Autism Awareness Australia. His expertise and client outcomes have been recognised by both Barrons and Financial Standard for several years.

The 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia

Daniel Thompson  Finnacle Solutions

Charlie Viola Pitcher Partners

The 2022 Entries

Cara Williams Sufficient Funds

James Wrigley

Cara is a financial adviser at Sufficient Funds and is passionate about clearing financial clutter for her clients. She is a regular recipient of awards including recently being named a 2022 finalist for the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award. Cara was also recipient of the inaugural MetLife Progress Professional Development Grant for Women in 2019. Cara has been recognised for her philanthropic endeavours with a Distinguished Service Award from the FPA in 2019 for her ongoing work with its Future2 Foundation. This is her third time in the FS Power 50 Most Influential Advisers.

Entries are in alphabetical order.

After almost 15 years with the team at First Financial, James has recently become a part owner of the business. Over his tenure, he says he’s seen firsthand the difference in people’s lives that having a partner by your side, one that continually helps you instigate incremental change, can bring. James is also helping shape the next generation of advisers through guest lectures at RMIT and Deakin University and, with a growing social media presence, is regularly called upon by businesses to talk about the basics of finance and to motivate Australians to engage with their money.

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The selection process

In compiling this list, we define “influential” as individuals who have been, or continue to be, instrumental in shaping the future of the financial advice industry.

These are financial advisers who have actively participated in industry-based activities, community-based projects and/or other initiatives designed to promote the important role that financial advisers play in the country’s socio-economic future.

They could be active participants of relevant industry associations, financial advisers with a strong social media following, or those known among their peers and the industry as role models in the way they conduct their professional practice.

They are also successful business owners, award winners, policy influencers, mentors and educators.

As part of the selection process, we invited relevant industry associations to nominate outstanding members of their associations and combined that list with the list of nominations from the Financial Standard editorial and research teams. Financial Standard nominated outstanding advisers based on feature and profile stories published in FS Advice – The Australian Journal of Financial Planning.

Then we opened up the nomination process to Financial Standard readers, ensuring that the net is cast to the widest set of nominees.

We received hundreds of nominations including multiple nominations for the same

individuals. This list was screened to remove nominees who may have been financial advisers but are no longer practising. Only financial advisers who are listed on the ASIC Financial Advisers Register (FAR) are eligible for nomination.

All shortlisted candidates were screened, for the third time, to ensure they meet minimum professional educational qualifications; are members of at least one industry association and have no disciplinary actions against their name under ASIC FAR.

This took us to 115 nominees. They were given a two-week window to encourage their networks to vote and to complete a due diligence form requested by Financial Standard

The votes were collated and Financial Standard’s data team screened the votes to ensure there are no votes from “bots” or unverifiable email addresses.

The fourth and final screen was conducted by the editorial team. They verified the information initially provided in the nomination forms and did their own research using publicly available information to determine the finalists’ sphere of influence. That, combined with the votes ranking, was factored into selecting the final 50.

Finally, as an added precautionary measure following the ASIC FAR screen and editorial research, Financial Standard requested the assistance of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) to confirm that no one on the FS Power50 has breached their respective membership rules.

How to be an FS Power50 adviser

The FS Power50 pays tribute to a select group of financial advisers who have been nominated by their peers and our own editorial team as being instrumental in shaping the future of financial advice in Australia.

This year’s group features many rising stars of the industry and recognises those who have come before them and continue to make their mark. Becoming an influencer isn’t something that happens overnight.

Of the 50 advisers on our list, nearly half (36%) have between 10 to 19 years of experience. There are 17 advisers on this list with more than 20 years’ experience.

The move away from institutionally aligned licensees as well as the increase in self-licensing are trends that have been accelerating in the industry over the last two years.

This year’s list also demonstrates perhaps the most diverse range of dealer groups to date. The majority of these advisers, a total of 29, are licensed by an AFSL with less than 100 advisers.

Here’s a glimpse of what a Power50 influencer would look like, based on our analysis.

Measuring influence

The 2022 Power50 boasts an average of 4705 LinkedIn followers, up from last year’s average of 3723.

While LinkedIn is the preferred social media platform for many advisers, Twitter and Instagram are also used by many of the advisers on this list. The average Twitter following for the Power50 is 8312.

On Instagram, Zella Wealth’s Victoria Devine has the strongest following, a community of

46,400. Her podcast, She’s on the Money, has also gained momentum year on year; the number of Instagram followers is 154,000.

On the map

The geographic spread of the top 50 is far and wide, with 34% hailing from Victoria while 14 (28%) advisers fly the flag for New South Wales. Two (4%) advisers represent Western Australia, 13 (26%) come from Queensland, one (2%) hails from the ACT, while Tasmania (6%) has three representatives on the list.

There is a good mix of advisers who range from providing all-round advice to specialising in areas such as aged care, expat advice, retirement planning, and responsible investment advice.

Many of the advisers on our list are there because of their commitment to helping minorities or marginalised communities overcome financial challenges. Glen Hare, who advocates for LGBTQI+ inclusion, is an example.

Another example is William Johns, who established his practice with a focus on helping people with mental or physical disabilities secure their financial futures. He also runs a low-cost service to assist people with the often time-consuming and overwhelming process of making insurance and Centrelink claims.

Meanwhile, Perspective Financial Services Esther Althaus is passionate about empowering women to achieve financial independence and breaking gender

stereotypes surrounding money. And, in line with changing social expectations, advisers with their fingers on the pulse when it comes to ethical investing are once again making their mark this year.

While they were doing it long before it was cool, Louise Edkins and Nathan Fradley are just some of those helping their clients put their money where their heart is.

Experience matters

The face of influence is also changing. This year marks the first appearance in the Power50 for a whopping 20 advisers. But the Power50 still boasts a wealth of experience.

For nine entrants, this is their second time on the least, while 18 have featured three times.

And then we have those whose trophy cabinets are running out of room.

This year marks Brett Evans’ ninth inclusion in the Power50. Liam Shorte has now been on the list eight times, while Marshall Brentnall and David Rae have both featured seven times.

All in all, and now in its ninth year, the Power50 has recognised 242 financial advisers who have made their mark in the industry, community, and their clients’ lives.

Advisers are

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of Power50

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Quotable quotes

We don’t do traditional scaled advice... but we do scale it in the sense that we just look at one or two things at a time, for simplicity. We don’t want people to be overwhelmed from the start, and that provides opportunity for more regular touch points and to work together to create the strategy…We don’t want people to need us forever. We want them to get an education and to build confidence.

Daniel Thompson

My message to anyone in the profession is to be yourself. It’s not the end of the world if you’re a little bit vulnerable and you talk about what’s important to you and what makes you different. Being yourself is almost like a litmus test on whether you’re in the environment you’re meant to be in; if there is a lot of push back, maybe it’s not where you’re meant to be.

Dawn Thomas

We advise our clients about their finances; about making money and being financially successful. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon us to look at ourselves and our businesses in the same way. Practically, we need to make sure that we are evolving with the times with respect to business models and ensure that we are getting the financial returns that we ought to for risking our capital.

Sam Perera

One of the things I want to work on going forward is building [the pro bono advice] community up so we can help more individuals that don’t think they can afford advice but really do need it... People forget to champion the great work advisers do on a day-to-day basis. Highlighting this kind of work shows the public how we can change lives while demonstrating the kind of people advisers are.

Nicola Beswick

I wanted to educate myself in this area of ethical investing to help these clients, but personally, I also found it really interesting, and I wanted to learn more… As advisers, it goes without saying that the solutions that we put forward to clients have to be about their preferences.We have an opportunity where we can lead by influence by showing clients and educating them about the power they have in their investments,

David Rae

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