So long and farewell

Today I sign off as editor of Professional Planner, after four incredible years leading the publication.

Several months ago, I made the difficult personal decision to step down to move back to my hometown of Adelaide. The allure of the Crows’ finals push in the AFL was too strong to resist, and I am looking forward to spending my weekends at Adelaide Oval.

It’s been a privilege to help lead the coverage on the $1 billion Shield and First Guardian collapse, with plenty of industry participants as well as investors themselves who have all reached out to me to express their appreciation of the work the publication has done to cover the fallout from the collapse.  

The publication has been a driving force in helping all parts of the industry participate in the policy reform process; it’s why we launched the Advice Policy Summit for Professional Planner, the Retirement Leaders Summit at The Conexus Institute, as well as one-off events like the Quality of Advice Review Roadshow with then Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones.

Outside of policy, the publication took a deliberate leading position on delivering thought leadership on topics that would help advice practitioners lead their businesses, as a post-Hayne royal commission environment saw the creation of a decentralised advice ecosystem dominated by small business advice practices.

This has been an important topic as the smaller pool of advisers left in the profession have an important role to play in the retirement outcomes for Australians, as well as offering financial guidance. Supporting these businesses to be successful so they can be professionalised with capacity to take on more clients is essential.

Some advice will be done by super funds; that reform is inevitable and ideally will handle the needs that will fall outside the skills a professional adviser can offer. People shouldn’t need an adviser to move from accumulation into the drawdown phase.

But some people will need more help than that, and there will always be a public need for independent financial advice from advisers who are looking after the best interests of clients, factoring in the full breadth of personal circumstances.

Unfortunately, my departure comes as Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino is expected to reveal the next steps in advice policy reform, but I will continue to watch those next steps as an observer, rather than reporter.

I also wanted to express my gratitude to Simon Hoyle, who previously edited the publication for over a decade and mentored me when I took over the role, to Conexus Financial founder Colin Tate AM for believing in me and backing me for the role, and acting co-chief executive Aleks Vickovich for his editorial leadership the past few years.

I was hired by another former editor, Tahn Sharpe, and I had great respect for the reporting done by him and Matt Smith, particularly during and after the Hayne royal commission.

The publication will be left in the strong and experienced hands of Aleks and Simon, who will take care of the publication in the interim as the search for a permanent successor continues.

I also look forward to continuing to read the great work and industry leading journalism of my colleagues and friends Lachlan Maddock, Darcy Song and Amanda White.

But just as Jordan Dawson successfully took over as captain of the Crows from Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker, it’s time to pass the reins to the next leader of the publication who will continue to fight to help advocate for professionalism in financial advice.