CFP women honoured

Two financial planners have taken blue ribbons in the Telstra Business Woman’s Awards.

South Australian Rosemary Osman, director of Adelaide based financial planning company Accumulus, has won the Business Owner Award for South Australia.

FPA board member Kate Stephenson, who is the dealership service manager (Tasmania) for AXA, has taken out the Ansett Australia Private Sector Award for Tasmania.

Both women will compete in the National Awards on August 4.

Osman has 13 years' experience in the industry and is one of only a handful of female security dealers in Australia. She has a staff of 17, including five CFPs and services 800 clients. She attributes her success to a combination of ongoing service, the right staff and providing clear and accurate advice.

"The financial planning industry of today is very different to the industry in which I began working in 1987," she says.

"It is a very exciting industry. It's very rewarding to be able to make a difference in people's lives in an ethical and commercial manner, and there is no shortage of people looking for quality financial planning advice."

Stephenson says the most important thing about winning awards like the Telstra Business Woman's Awards is the example it sets for other women.

"I think women need to learn how to claim their achievements - if for no other reason than to show other women what we are capable of."

She says winning the award is as much a recognition of the emerging profession as it is a personal recognition.

"The more people hear about financial planning, the more they will start thinking it has arrived. One of my great passions is to uplift the professionalism of the industry. When you look at law and accounting they're not moving as quickly as financial planning - we're not at that level yet but we'll get there and a whole lot quicker."