Unearthing the planner of the year
ByJasonSpits
EVERY YEARMoney Managementasks a few of the industry’s foremost names to examine the entries and sort through the detail to unearth who will be theMoney ManagementFinancial Planner of the Year.
The task does not get easier every year with those planners who choose to throw their hat into the ring sending in detailed and comprehensive entries.
However the judges are well suited to the task and include industry stalwarts experienced in the areas of face-to-face financial planning and education as well as practice and dealer group management. As suchMoney Managementis glad to have them onboard and welcomes their contribution to the award.
In keeping with a long-standing tradition, Gwen Fletcher has once again taken on the role as one of four judges. She is well known throughout the industry as a planner with Fletcher Green and has recently taken on the role of chair of the Association of Financial Services Educators.
Fletcher has been involved with the industry since the founding days of the Financial Planning Association as well as its predecessor and has been a judge of the Financial Planner of the Year since its inception 13 years ago.
Also closely involved with the award for more than a decade is the course director of financial planning at RMIT, Warren McKeown. McKeown was involved with the development of Australia’s first financial planning degree course at RMIT and is intricately involved in financial planning education in both Australia and South East Asia.
Returning for his second year as a judge is Wes McMaster, who is currently an adjunct professor at RMIT but has been the chairman of the FPA board for two consecutive years, 1999 and 2000.
McMaster has also owned his own practice for more than a decade and was the manager of Adviser Investment Services and Bleakleys under the Mercantile Mutual banner.
The fourth judge is last year’s Financial Planner of the Year, Dominic Alafaci. He won the award last year after beating off a talented field that included this year’s winner.
Alafaci is based in Melbourne and has been a planner for 17 years and in that time has run his own dealer group and been involved in a partnership with Bain and Co as well as launching planning arms for HSBC and Collins House in Melbourne.
He has also been closely involved with the work of the FPA, through education and finance committees and its Victorian State Council.
As a previous winner, Alafaci understands what is needed to take out the award and alongside the other judges worked through the entries received and assigned marks based on the stringent criteria set out under theMoney Managementaward criteria.
The judges have a week to collate scores for all the entries submitted and these totals are collated byMoney Managementand the individual with the highest score is awardedMoney ManagementFinancial Planner of the Year.
The judges base their scores on three categories. The first of these is based on their career achievements, including education qualifications, attained professional standards and other industry recognition. This mark is out of 40.
The second category the nominees are ranked on is their professional involvement, which includes membership of industry committees and chapters as well as ongoing educational achievements. This mark is also out of 40.
Finally, the judges score the nominees based on their community contributions, which can range from speaking engagements to teaching courses of study and assisting charity fund-raising. This mark is out of 20.
As in the past the most important aspect is the ability of the written entry to convince the judges of the ability of the candidate to meet the three criteria of the award. Entries need not be a tome but rather a concise and comprehensive round up of a planner’s commitment to the industry, the community and their career.
Money Managementwould like to thank the four finalists, as well as all entrants for taking the time and effort to enter this year’s awards and encourages those in the industry to continue to strive for excellence in each of the areas the awards highlight.
Money Managementalso extends its thanks for the continuing effort and commitment of the judges in assessing the finalists for 2001. Without their donation of time and effort, the awards would not have the force and credibility they command throughout the industry.
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