Sydney financial planners take out industry honour
By
Madeleine Collins Fri 23 Nov 2007
Quality financial advice firms awarded by their peers for sixth year running.
WB Financial St Leonards has been judged Australia's most outstanding financial advice business in IFA's Best Practice awards 2007.
The predominately fee-for-service practice on Sydney's lower north shore beat more than 200 practices vying for the title.
"The practice is one of the premier firms in operation in the Australian marketplace," Business Health partner Rod Bertino, who assessed the business, said.
"Client service and relationship building are not just buzz words - they actually underpin this practice."
The business has annual revenue of $1.6 million and $80 million in funds under advice. Its five advisers have 220 clients and it employs 10 full time staff.
It operates its licence under the WB Financial Management national dealership.
The five finalists were (in order) TFS Financial Planning, Ward Financial Group, Gowdie Financial Planning, Infocus Maroochydore and RMG Financial Services.
TFS, Gowdie, Infocus and RMG all maintained their titles as previous finalists.
Business Health chose six practices to assess after being unable to arrive at a shortlist of five, as originally proposed, due to the high standards of entry.
The top six placegetters and eventual winner were judged by FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch, Association of Financial Advisers chief executive Richard Klipin, Colonial First State general manager of distribution Paul Barrett, Holley Nethercote lawyer Tim Nethercote and IFA's editorial director Julia Newbould.
"Ultimately it's about the client experience: are mums and dads gaining an outcome that is giving them what they expect?" Klipin said.
Bloch said the judges looked for factors such as involvement with their community and associations that made the Australian Financial Services Licensee (AFSL) stand out from its peers.
"We looked for the X factor - what made the AFSL special or different ... and [analysed the] results of the Business Health Assessment to ensure key issues were soundly managed and addressed," Bloch said.
Barrett said the judges noted some interesting themes prevalent in this year's awards, such as the level of corporatisation of practices that he said is increasing at an incredible rate.
"We are also seeing even greater focus on talent management, induction, training and succession," Barrett said.
Colonial First State and Business Health sponsored the awards, which are now in their sixth year.
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