Awards highlight the value of planning
A New award for financial planners has demonstrated the value of professional financial advice, according to the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
Announcing the winners of the FPA’s inaugural value of advice awards, chief executive officer Jo-Anne Bloch said the awards showed the importance of financial planning not only to those with wealth, but also to those with limited financial resources.
“In one entry, a financial planner helped a family that was under significant financial pressure simply by identifying an entitlement from superannuation funds for a disabled member of the family, as well as unrealised Centrelink benefits,” Bloch said.
“This example underlines the fact that financial planning is about having a wide range of knowledge and experience to help people in their everyday lives.”
National winners in 2006 were: Philippa Elliott, Epic Adviser Solutions, for wealth accumulation; Ben Hatcher, Hillross Financial Services, for post-retirement planning and management; Neil Kendall, Charter Financial Planning, for low income planning; and Rod Scurrah, Garvan Financial Planning, for pre-retirement planning.
These winners were selected by a national judging panel, which included Money Management’s Financial Planner of the Year for 2005 David Haintz.
Bloch said the high benchmark provided by inaugural winners had provided a strong start for the awards, which she hopes will grow stronger in years to come.
“We expect them to develop year by year, as more financial planners aspire to the high standards they set and recognition in the community increases,” she said.
The awards are open to all FPA certified financial planner (CFP) practitioner members, as well as those members enrolled in the CFP certification program.
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