How we chose the Financial Planner of the Year

Money Management’s Financial Planner of the Year award is getting bigger and better every year, with increasing numbers of nominations, finalists and, this year, even judges.

Once again, the quality of entrants was impressive. Many of them had won awards from government, community groups and the industry, some had published articles and all included glowing referrals from increasing numbers of satisfied clients with their entries.

Our judges this year totalled five (one more than last year) and included, for the 15th year running, industry pioneer Gwen Fletcher. Roger Holt, the NSW director of theAssociation of Financial Advisers(AFA), also sat on the judging panel as did industry leader Jim Stackpool, the managing director of Strategic Consulting and Training (SCAT). Chris McMillan, the recently appointed general manager of education services at theFPA, and last year’s winner, John Wotherspoon, made up the final five.

So, how did the judges separate each of these entrants to findMoney Management’s2002 Financial Planner of the Year?

Entrants were judged according to criteria developed byMoney Managementthat looks at a planner’s achievements in three separate categories.

The first category, career achievement, is marked out of 40. Career achievement covers those areas concerned with education, career, practice development, management and career highlights, with judges asked to consider the types and levels of achievements gained.

The second category dealt with input to the profession and was also marked out of 40. It covered planner contributions to the planning industry through involvement with industry associations and bodies, as well the enhancement of the public face of planning via methods such as use of the media or pro bono work.

The final category, community involvement, is scored out of 20. While the winner of the award is based primarily on the first two categories,Money Managementconsiders the third to be significant.

Part of being a successful and professional adviser or business person is about what is given back to the community and an acknowledgment of the world beyond the offices.

Contributions to the community include efforts such as charity work, support for and involvement with community programs and involvement in worthwhile causes outside financial planning.

Based on the planner’s written submissions, each of the five judges allocated points in each of the categories to arrive at an overall mark out of 100. The scores were then tallied in the offices ofMoney Management.

Money Managementextends its thanks to the judges, finalists, and all entrants for taking the time to make this field one of the most impressive yet.