Rising star wins award

The 2007 AFA Rising Star of the Year Award has been awarded to financial adviser Chris Browne, founder and principal of his own firm, Financial Design for Life, authorised representatives for Apogee Financial Planning.

Australia’s oldest financial adviser organisation, Association of Financial Advisers holds the annual event in recognition of the best and brightest advisers of the next generation.

AFA national president Dennis Bateman said the award is a practical example of how the association is assisting the growth of the industry.

“Nominees must be members of the AFA and are judged on a diverse criteria of mainly practical issues. Criteria include the adviser’s level of experience, their contribution to the industry, the quality of their business and their approach to practice management.”

Sponsor for the event was again ING Australia.

Head of life risk marketing ING and one of the judges on the panel was Mark Vilo.

“A significant portion of the AFA’s new members are under 40 and this award seeks to uncover the best of these new advisers. The calibre of talent and depth of strategic thinking that was uncovered amongst all entrants, particularly the finalists, was superb.

“The judges reviewing these young advisers were concentrating on the key elements of their businesses: their processes, business planning, marketing strategies. In 2007, we were not disappointed on any of these key criteria. ING is grateful to have played a pivotal role in bringing these industry ‘stars’ to national prominence,” Vilo said.

Browne was chosen from a field of 21 nominees and six finalists that also included: Canna Campbell, Michael Grammatico, Vicki Hagley, Alexandria Reid and Aaron Zelman.

The judging panel was comprised of industry notables including: director, Business Health, Terry Bell; head of open markets, ING, Ross Barnwell; CEO of AFA, Richard Klipin; Dennis Bateman; and Mark Vilo.