West Australian Godfrey Pembroke adviser Christopher Craggs is the only new face on the board of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), with perennials Sarah Brennan, Corinna Dieters and Leonie Henry all re-elected for a further two years.
After an unsuccessful campaign last year, Craggs said he decided to stand again this year, although was shocked to be elected.
Craggs beat an impressive list of candidates to secure his seat, outvoting both Commonwealth Bank executive general manager financial planning Brett Himbury and Aon Financial Planning and Protection managing director Greg Dunger, as well as incumbent Colin Scully.
“I made an impassioned plea to the people of the eastern states to vote for someone from WA, because we haven’t had someone on the board for a couple of years,” Craggs said.
Craggs hopes his election will negate the tyranny of distance between FPA headquarters and Western Australia. He also plans to speak up for small town planners.
“The financial planning chapter over here is very practitioner based. A lot of people in WA feel the FPA in the eastern states is heavily influenced by fund managers,” he said.
Craggs has served on the WA Chapter of the FPA, which has around 1,400 members.
When I told my chapter members they said: “Thank God, now someone is going to raise our concerns.”
Unsuccessful in their plight for election were South Australian advisers John Lipkiewicz and Brian Nankivell, Rise Financial’s Phillip Thompson, Robert Taggart and Christine Bowen from New South Wales.
Others missing out on a board seat include Victorian Peter O’Toole, Queenslander David Holloway and Craggs’ fellow Western Australian Lindsay McLeod.
Outgoing FPA chair, AMP director of advice-based distribution Steve Helmich, said the election was a very competitive race, with 15 candidates vying for just four places.
“At the end of the day, it’s the members’ opinion that counts,” Helmich said.
Commenting on institutional heavyweights Dunger and Himbury missing out on a boardroom place, Helmich said: “This just proves the institutions do not and will never have control of the FPA.”
Craggs and the re-elected trio will join the existing board, which includes advisers Dominic Alafaci, Julie Berry, David Elsum, Andrew Heaven and Ray Miles. The board will be chaired by former Sydney City Councillor Kathryn Greiner, the first independent chair of the association.
