The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has recognised outstanding achievement among its members with a series of awards at its 2016 Professional Congress in Perth.
Cameron Obliubek, from Bridges Financial Services, was named winner of the semester two Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award, which recognises the highest performing student in the final unit of the CFP certification program.
Presenting the award, the chief executive officer of the FPA, Dante de Gori, said that “having studied the program myself, I can assure you that obtaining the highest mark would not be easy, and therefore to receive this award is a major achievement”.
De Gori also acknowledged Claire McGregor, of Elston Partners, who won the Gwen Fletcher award for semester one.
The University Student of the Year Award went to Bradley Aleckson of Griffith University.
“This year’s winner is committed to becoming a future role model for financial planning,” de Gori said.
“He’s been a top performer in his study of a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in financial planning and finance, and is a two-time winner of the Griffith award for academic excellence. Unsurprisingly, he has already secured employment.”
A new award for 2016, the FPA Paraplanner of the Year, went to Cynthia Sercombe of Tupicoffs.
“I had the privilege of judging the first ever Paraplanner of the Year Award, and I was blown away by the standard,” de Gori said.
“The winner has demonstrated true technical excellence in paraplanning, dedication to quality, and passion for providing pro-bono services.”
Cody Harmon, from Meridian Wealth Management, was named FPA Financial Planner AFP of the Year.
De Gori said Harmon is “passionate about coaching clients to help them achieve their goals, using their values as a framework”.
“He is a regular mentor for those around him at RMIT,” he said. “His aim is to never stop educating himself, formally and informally.”
Tony Sandercock of wetalkmoney was named FPA Certified Financial Planner of the Year. He has been a CFP since 1988.
“He is a mentor to his peers, a blogger about financial planning and highly committed to creating clearly defined paths to retirement for his clients,” de Gori said.
“In his application, one of his clients said: ‘If only we had met him earlier’.”
De Gori said Sandercock was unable to be present to receive his award because he is celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary.
The winner of the Future2 Community Service Award will be announced at the Future2 Gala Dinner on Thursday 24 November.
