Neil Kendall
Neil Kendall, Brisbane-based financial planner and fee-for-service advocate, has taken out the top prize in the 2006 Money Management/Advance Financial Planner of the Year Awards.
Following shortly behind Kendall was Melbourne-based adviser Julian Battistella of Wilson HTM Investment Group, who has been highly commended for his contributions to the financial planning profession.
Both advisers impressed the judges with the quality of advice and service they provided to clients on a day-to-day basis, as well as their committed involvement in the financial services industry at large.
An authorised representative and part owner of Tupicoffs, Kendall’s innovative approach to a fee-based model of remuneration based on service and not assets was just one of the attributes that placed him at the front of the competition.
According to Kendall, there is a significant difference between a consumer’s perception of advice compared to that of a financial planner’s, which has a significant impact on how the service is paid for.
“Everyone is talking about fee-for-service, but the interpretation is very different — I think we are charging a fee for service that clients would consider to be fee-for-service,” he said.
“The public is looking for ‘stand independently and advise me’, but most financial planners, because of the way they have structured their business, are thinking about ‘how can I put money in a managed fund and get paid?’”
As such, Kendall strives to provide clients with advice that is completely independent of products, a value reflected in the Tupicoffs business model.
This dedicated focus on quality advice was also recognised in the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Value of Advice Awards this year, with Kendall receiving both the national and state awards for low income planning as well as the post retirement planning and management award for Queensland.
As part of a remarkable resume, Kendall has had previous roles as the National Australia Bank’s personal client services general manager, vice president of the Bankers Trust, and earlier in his career as investment manager at Prudential.
For achieving the top honour in the MoneyManagement/Advance Financial Planner of the Year Awards, he will receive a trip to the 2007 USA FPA Conference, valued at $10,000.
Sponsors of the award, Advance, will present Kendall with his trophy at the Money Management Fund Manager of the Year Awards in May next year.
