Being a coach at the heart of being a BDM

Winner:

D'Arcy Evans
Zurich
SA/NT

When D'Arcy Evans entered the industry as a financial adviser, he did not have anyone to train him. Keeping this in mind, he has made it his mission to build strong relationships with advisers, hold young advisers' hands and build their product and technical skills.

"Conscious of the ‘brochure delivery man' stereotype, my approach is to work collaboratively with advisers in a way that adds meaningful value to their business," Evans said.

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He conducts one-on-one sessions and group workshops, and provides more wide-ranging business support including marketing advice and assistance, and technology and new media support.

The South Australian winner of Money Management/Lonsec's Business Development Manager (BDM) of the Year award said he involved himself in training new advisers because he felt that mentorship was lacking in the industry.

Evans, who has worked in the financial services industry for over 12 years, started working at Zurich in 2007, and is a representative of Zurich's Retail Risk sales team. He believes his role is to facilitate direct relationships between advisers and key Zurich service providers such as underwriters and new business staff.

"Advisers know that I've been extremely loyal to Zurich. They know that I know how advisers operate. You've got to be high on your technical information too, not just your products," Evans said.

With 80 per cent of Australians remaining unadvised, Evans believes the biggest challenge facing the advice industry is not the reputational damage borne out of various scandals, nor the rapid rise in demand for technology-based solutions.

"The biggest challenge is how we can make existing advice customers better advocates for the advice they receive, and the product solutions that form part of that advice," he said.

"Importantly this is about focussing our efforts on existing advice customers, not non customers.

"The key to that challenge really rests in our ability to have customers truly understand that advice and those products," he said.

Finding the 2016 BDM of the year

One of the most popular categories of Money Management/Lonsec's Fund Manager of the Year awards, BDM of the Year always attracts a significant number of entries and votes, and 2016 was no exception.

In February this year, Money Management opened the nomination line, asking the industry to come forward with the names of BDMs who they felt were worthy of extra recognition.

From the pool of entries, the BDMs with the largest number of nominations in each state made the list of 25 finalists.

A voting advertisement was published on the Money Management website and in the magazine, encouraging financial planners to select their favourite from our list of finalists.

With more than 450 votes cast, the top BDM from each state was selected, with all of the state winners forwarded to Money Management's panel of expert judges to choose the nation winner.

The state winners were asked to submit biographies and answer a series of questions, which the judging panel used to make their final decisions.

Money Management would like to thank those who took the time to nominate and vote, as well as judges who made the time to select the national winner from a highly qualified group of state winners.

MEET THE BDM OF THE YEAR 2016 JUDGES

Mark Sleth

A recepient of the BDM of the Year award in 2015, Mark Selth is MLC's BDM. He has 17 years' experience in the financial services sector and more than a decade as a BDM. He enjoys working with advisers who run small businesses and finds helpinng them achieve their goals rewarding. He has worked as a BDM in Aviva, Navigator Access and SEALCORP Holdings.

Greg Bird

Greg Bird was the winner of the BDM of the Year Award in 2014 and was a finalist in 2013. He became Lifeplan Funds Management's national BDM in 2014, having been the company's BDM for Victoria and Tasmania since 2011. Bird previously coached and mentored advisers on their licensee obligations and regulator changes at Financial Wisdom.

Sharon Conduit

A finalist in 2014 as Western Australia's BDM of the Year, Sharon Conduit started as a bank officer at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She has worked her way up the ladder, and became a BDM at CommInsure in 2010. She has provided advice to clients on superannuation, investments, and personal insurance needs, and has created statements of advice.