Contributing writer of economic, investment and superannuation articles that impact golfers for The Australian Golf Digest.

A part of my Full Financial Advice company, King of the Mountain Financial Advice was formed so I can give cyclists and triathletes the attention they deserve. There are issues that are unique to cyclists and triathletes, and as I have been a cyclist and triathlete for over 20 years, I am well-placed to commit to the cycling / triathlete community.I think like them because I am them.

Full Financial Solutions is different to most – we will cater for traditional financial advice via our Full Financial Advice division, as well as advice on purchasing investment properties via our Full Property Advice division. We will provide full financial solutions to suit your level of finances, understanding and tolerance. Achieving your goals are our goals:– helping your children get into the property market;– knowing you can take a holiday when you want;– being debt-free in the next few years;– working part-time or retiring altogether when you want to;– paying for Aged Care when you or your parents are getting to that stage in life.Your job is to have the goals and it’s our job to show you how to reach them.

Leader of financial services in NSW

Business Development (NSW) - Mercer Financial AdvicePod Leader (NSW) - Mercer Workplace Financial AdviceSpecialist adviser:- Executive / Key person- Expat / inpat- SMSF- Aged care

- #1 adviser to KPI nationally 2013Project lead member for Client Engagement Process review – determine best way to engage clients from initial referral to SoA creation- Project head for creation of an Aged Care Financial Advice offering- Aged Care specialist- SMSF mentor

Practice Principal for Guild Financial Services (NSW) required management of a team of financial planning, commercial lending and administrative staff. Guild Financial Services specialises in financial planning, risk and lending within the SMSF environment for business owners. Responsibilities included:- Retention of 400+ investment and 400+ insurance clients- Transitioned top national risk writer to becoming Investment and Risk specialist- Introduction of Business Development role to seek and convert new financial planning clients- Cross promote lending and financial planning businesses and set fortnightly referral targets- Responsible for setting and managing the annual budget for financial planning and paraplanning: - Main cost codes: - Financial planning ongoing revenue, financial planning upfront fees, risk new business and risk renewal business;- Staff remuneration and associations, dispersed Guild Insurance costs, development and training, travel and motor vehicles- Initiate, Training and Implementation to Sales Logix Software for financial planners nationally – 20,000+ client database used by all other areas of superannuation and insurance business- Change Management – transition NSW Practice from customer service focus to profit focus- Implement expense reduction initiatives such as reducing mobile phone costs, reducing office rent and pre-approval of car related expenses- Initiate, Training and Implementation of national program on ‘How to ask your clients for a referral’Senior financial planning responsibilities inlcuded:Business:- business purchases;- tax-effective trusts;- business insurance;- business finance;- SMSFs;- CGT strategies;- cash flow maintenance.Personal:- retirement planning;- tax strategies;- estate planning;- personal life and income insurance;- debt consolidation;- superannuation strategies incl retail, industry and SMSF;- savings strategies.

I held the role of Head of Practice Management - a division of 20 direct reports, writing 120 Statements of Advice per month for two large superannuation funds, was the primary link between financial planners and Compliance and a Responsible Manager for the AFSL. I performed independent quality of advice audits for 30 authorised representatives quarterly and provided sales and compliant advice training to authorised representatives and plannersResponsibilites included:- Responsible Manager for AFSL- Responsibility for FOFA- Co-signatory for compensation payments on behalf of FuturePlus with CEO- Reporting to the Executive- Investigation, recommendations and subsequent monitoring, remedial and disciplinary training plans of authorised representatives- Member of Complaints and Compliance Committees - Communication with regulators including ASIC and the ATO- Co-designed Mandatory Compliance Standard Procedures Manual - Perform quality control audit reviews for 30+ authorised representatives- Responsible for setting and managing the annual budget for financial planning and paraplanning- Day-to-day management of 20 direct reports- Implement policies and procedures that ensure Statements of Advice are provided to clients within the timeline stipulated in the relevant Service Level Agreement for each AFSL.- Conduct new adviser training- Conduct technical and product training quarterly for 30+ authorised representatives. - Responsible for continuing professional development for 30+ authorised representatives- Provide at-call technical advice support for 30+ authorised representatives.- Responsibility for Financial Services Guides and Adviser Profiles- Member of PMO for advice-based projects- Chair of Retail Product Committee- Maintenance of APL and contact point for fund managers, insurance providers and research house (Lonsec)- Maintenance of Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity Program for advice teams

The policy and procedure development role gave me the scope to manage the managers, and develop processes that were more efficient, profitable and in the best interest of both the company and client, as well as conducting relevant training.Responsibilites included:- Training 17 Customer Relationship Managers and 3 Contact Centre Staff from providing factual information only to providing personal financial advice in the workplace.- Development of a new online Statement of Advice where basic concepts such as contributions into superannuation, rollovers and changing investment strategies can be done within 15 minutes. The Statement of Advice covered over 60 personal recommendations in total. Mandatory file notes are required for every topic discussed, including more than 30 general-advice topics. This included training over 30 authorised representatives.- Relaunching Personal Insurance – how to analyse adequate cover in a meeting, developing templates and new advice documents, and included training over 30 authorised representatives- Development of a staff training program that includes technical updates (including Defined Benefit Scheme updates and strategy training), compliance updates (regulatory), external products and up-skilling and career progression- Increase in planner compliance scores though improving file note quality – training, ‘quality checks’ and mandatory file noting where online SoAs were used.- Mentoring – peer review program, communication and sales techniques, achieving meeting goals, meeting structure, tools available to be used in meetings- Review Planning – the importance of member retention. Oversaw the increased retention rate from 84% to 91% by implementing compulsory annual review letters.- Improvements in education seminar program – redesigned flagship retirement seminars, resigned wealth creation seminars and designed Executive Member and ‘Going Green’ seminars.

The Regional Manager role included 19 authorised representatives – responsible for daily management, the annual budget and KPI setting, training plans, geographical area redistribution and sales training.Responsibilities include:- Directly responsible for day-to-day management of 19 authorised representatives.- Increased average sales performance (in FUM) from annualised $20m to $25m- Reallocation of geographical boundaries in which the financial planners sourced their clients.- Set sales targets and other KPIs for the financial year.- Developed training plans for the financial year for each planner.- Setting of all financial advice seminars for the financial year – approximately 30 across Southern NSW region.- Conducted sales training for financial planners and referral training to all client-facing staff in Southern NSW region.

At FuturePlus as a financial planner I mentored new planners and limited / restricted advice authorised representatives (Customer Relationship Managers and Contact Centre staff). I was responsible for the two largest referral partners in NSW in my final two years as a planner, Sydney City Council and Energy Australia Sydney, and the most traditionally difficult – Eastern Suburbs.I was the highest FUM writer for FuturePlus in 2005/06, 2006/07 (aggregate over two streams of planning), 2007/08 and 2008/09. I was also responsible for many other projects during 2008/09 and moved in to part-time planning and part-time project management 2008/09. I continue to see planning clients occasionally to retain my interest and skills.

Responsibilities / Achievements  Superannuation & retirement products incl. complying DSS products  Managed funds – diversified, sector funds and alternative Margin lending & equity access loans Insurance – life, trauma, total & permanent disability, temporary disability, business insurance Portfolio construction including usage of wholesale & retail fund managers, including access to MasterTrusts and SMSF’s Mentor to Wealth Creation Adviser Coaching for 4 Relationship Managers + 6 Bank Branches. Technical seminars to team of 20+ Bankers (approx. 4 p/a) Note: Most Financial Planner Managers are required to ‘pass on’ some of the more complex clients – I am not.

Responsibilities / Achievements Establishing a Financial Planning business from concept stage to transition to AFSL (with Dealer Group), including: Platform comparison, compliance & FSR monitoring, AFSL preparation, all marketing and financial planner related material. Responsible for financial planning in NSW and QLD Training Victorian Senior Financial Planner on Policy and Procedure Mortgage Broking for approximately 20 different lending organisationsEveryday financial planning duties include: Superannuation & retirement products incl. complying DSS products  Managed funds – diversified, sector, alternative funds etc Alternative Managed Investment Schemes - such as retirement villages, mezzanine funds, agribusiness, debt issues Shares Margin lending & equity access loans Insurance – life, trauma, total & permanent disability, temporary disability, business overheads insurance Portfolio construction including usage of wholesale & retail fund managers, various Wrap and MasterTrusts NOTE: Entire staff of financial planning, real estate and mortgage lending for NSW has been made redundant.