Holding dual roles when working in the busy financial services sector isn’t a skill that many are able to achieve, year after year.
But it comes rather naturally for Michael Miller, who has spent his career committed not just to serving clients requiring financial advice, but also assisting the education sector to ensure the pipeline of talent continues.
The Certified Financial Planner, based in Canberra, is a director at Capital Advisory, which provides financial services and business advice to business owners, executives, self-funded retirees and investors. Miller has been with the firm since the beginning of this year, after merging in his solo practice established in 2012.
“Finance is a really interesting sector that’s very much changing and evolving as a profession, creating new opportunities all the time. I’m always keen to try new roles within the industry,” he tells Professional Planner. “That’s how you learn and become better at what you do.”
He admits that change is a constant in finance. The pandemic in particular has exacerbated this.
Meanwhile, he’s concerned about the impending financial crunch facing Australians who took out a mortgage during the pandemic years who are likely to face financial stress as their interest rates rise sharply.
Who is Miller?
The path to financial advice comes after many twists and turns in Miller’s career. He started out working for the Federal Government in finance and administration for the Department of Defence in 2002, before moving to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation two years later.
He spent some time as a paraplanner, guest lecturing at the University of Canberra to give students some insights into the financial and strategic planning sector. He’s also been a subject matter expert for Victoria University Online during 2021 and 2022.
Miller then worked for four years as a paraplanner and financial planner for King Financial Services, before starting his own financial planning practice under the MLC Advice banner in 2012.
At the same time Miller has held board roles with community organisations such as Diabetes ACT, Care Financial Counselling and Woden Community Service.
He’s also authored and co-authored two textbooks with LexisNexis – Personal Finances Services Essentials for Lawyers, and Ethics and Professional Practice in Financial Planning.
He has also held guest and sessional academic roles in the university space.
Miller has also been a committee member for the Financial Planning Association and has written content for the association’s Certified Financial Planner course. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Masters of Business from Charles Sturt University, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Tax Law from the Tax Institute, and is a Certified Financial Planner.
The cheque
Miller is the first to admit that finance always seemed to be a natural path for him, admitting he was mathematical from a young age.
Although, his upbringing impacted his university and career path. A pivotal moment was turning 21 and receiving a cheque from his grandmother for his birthday, for the uneven amount of $72.58.
When he quizzed her about the figure, she explained that the first grandchild to turn 21 had received $50, and all subsequent grandchildren had their birthday present indexed to inflation.
“It turns out that Nan had been indexing her presents to CPI across all of her grandchildren to ensure fairness,” he recalls fondly.
That exchange impacted him greatly. He was so moved by his grandmother’s motivation to ensure financial equality among the grandchildren, he launched the Zoe Miller Award for Women in Financial Planning in 2010.
The $600 award is presented to the highest achieving female student in the Introduction to Financial Planning subject at the University of Canberra, which he hopes will ultimately encourage more women to join the profession. His grandmother, Zoe Miller, passed away in 2017.
“If the industry has one flaw, it’s gender imbalance,” Miller says. “There simply aren’t the number of women in the role of adviser as there should be. It’s my hope that the existence and promotion of this award will encourage more young women to give the profession a try to see if they like it as much as I do.”
