- Hillross Names Top Advisers
- AMP Pro Bono Program Grows
- New Online Paraplanning Service Launched
Hillross Names Top Advisers
Financial planning group Hillross has named its top advisers and practices as part of its annual awards with Tim Gray of Net Worth Financial Planners winning the Hillross Adviser of the Year award.
Hillross and AMP Financial Planning, Managing Director, Michael Guggenheimer said Gray, who has been with Hillross since 2004, had grown his practice via client referrals and customer feedback highlighted Gray’s efforts at setting goals for clients that help them achieve their financial freedom.
Joining Gray as an award winner was Nat Daley of Hillross Tweed Valley who was named New Adviser of the Year, after joining the group in October 2013.
Guggenheimer said Daley had quickly established a reputation for his commitment to clients and the local community including pro bono work through the Cancer Council
Hillross Macarthur, led by Peter Nonnenmacher, was recognised as the Advisory Firm of the Year due to its contribution to the local community in partnership with local charities.
The awards are open to Certified Financial Planners within the Hillross group and recognise advisers and practices that demonstrate high levels of professionalism, operational excellence, superior client service and quality advice. Nominations for the award are assessed by a panel of industry experts and include a survey of the clients of finalists.
AMP Pro Bono Program Grows
AMP has continued to expand the amount of pro bono financial advice its provides to families affected by cancer with more than 900 families benefitting from the program so far.
The AMP Cancer Council Pro Bono Program, under which advice is provided by AMP Financial Planning, Hillross and Charter practices, increased the level of advice provided in 2015 by more than 13%, compared with 2014 bringing the total number of families receiving advice to 923.
The program, which is a partnership between the AMP licensees, AMP Foundation and Cancer Council, was set up in 2010 in New South Wales but has since gone national and provided assistance to nearly 4,000 people and their families since its inception.
AMP has also continued to encourage more advisers to participate in the program, with 94 new practices joining the program in 2015.
New Online Paraplanning Service Launched
Financial advice technology firm, Padua Financial Group, has launched an online scalable paraplanning system which can create Statements of Advice (SoA) for less than $500.
The new system – Roma Online – can guide advisers through the production of advice either as a standalone tool or in conjunction with financial planning software and allows licensees access to the process for the purpose of SoA audits.
Padua Financial Group Managing Director, Anne-Marie Esler said the SoA turnaround service level was around five days with faster turnaround times available on request with the price designed to ensure financial advice was affordable and accessible for all Australians.
The firm will also release the latest version of its financial advice software, Roma Cloud, to advisers across Australia later this year with plans to compete with Xplan’s Xtools+, Coin’s Strategy and Midwinter’s AdviceOS.
Padua Financial Group was set up in 2013 by founding executive director of Midwinter Financial Services Matthew Esler and former Head of Technical Services and Head of Paraplanning for Centric Wealth and Training Manager with ASFA Anne-Marie Esler.
