Footie and finance: a good mix

Committed Collingwood supporter and senior financial planner Julian Battistella began his career at the ANZ Bank at the tender age of 18.

Now with a mature practice of established clients, and over $65 million in funds under advice, Battistella has been highly commended in this year’s Financial Planner of the Year Award.

Battistella, licensee representative of stockbroking firm Wilson HTM, says that ever since he can remember, he has been interested in managing money.

“When I was exposed to financial planners in the very early days, I thought that it seemed a pretty exciting industry to be in, but also one with great opportunities.”

He has since made the most of those opportunities, gaining a CFP in 1999. He now chairs the Financial Planning Association’s CFP program, with responsibility for the professionalism, ethics and compliance course.

Compliance is an issue that Battistella feels strongly about.

“I’m astounded when I see people talking about compliance suddenly becoming a big issue,” he says.

“From the time I joined I’ve been very aware of compliance, and it is just a natural part of the advice and business I’m in.

“I guess compliance issues have increased significantly within the industry, but it hasn’t been a negative issue for me because I’ve grown up with it,” he adds.

After moving to a fee-for-service model seven years ago, Battistella says the change to his business has put him in good stead “for some of the pressures that face other financial planners within the industry that are still working on a commission basis”.

He also says it has enabled him to focus on strategy, rather than sales.

“What I love about what I do is that it has nothing to do with products. It’s all about strategy, so clients can sit down with me and I can get their agreement to pay me to provide a strategic financial plan that isn’t dependent upon the client investing money in a product,” he adds.

All fees charged to a client are transparent, and consist of hourly rates for initial advice, implementation and ongoing advice.

Wilson HTM also allows Battistella flexibility.

“One of the main reasons I joined them was because I was given the freedom to recommend a wide range of investment products and services. Additionally, there are no formal requirements for me to recommend a particular product or service over another. This is reflected by the fact that I currently do not recommend any in-house managed funds to my clients.”

Battistella has a strong commitment to improving the professionalism of financial planners. He is an incumbent member of the National Australia Bank’s Wealth Management National Advisory Board, which brings together planners from around the country to discuss high level and complex financial planning issues.

As a keen Australian Rules fan, Battistella is involved in the East Malvern Auskick program, where he coaches primary school children every Saturday morning.

He is also a president of St Roch’s Primary School Parents and Friends Association, and a founding member of St Cecilia’s Young Business Persons Group.

In addition, Battistella is in the process of trying to set up a charitable foundation for disadvantaged families in his local area.