Financial advice industry veteran Paul Harding-Davis has been awarded life membership of the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network (PFAN) in honour of his work in establishing and developing the network over more than a decade.
Harding-Davis was a driving force in the creation of PFAN, which grew from an emotionally powerful presentation to the Professional Planner Dealer Group Summit (now called the Licensee Summit) in 2012 by then-head of financial planning for AMP, Steve Helmich, outlining the pro-bono work AMP advisers were conducting in collaboration with the NSW Cancer Council.
Inspired by Helmich’s presentation, Harding-Davis presented a proposal to the next summit, held just six months later in the throes of the Future of Financial Advice reforms, with the intention of gathering support for an industry-wide initiative.
The PFAN board voted unanimously late last year to bestow the award on Harding-Davis, formerly head of advice and chief executive officer of Premium Wealth Management and a former general manager and responsible manager for AdviceIQ.
He tells Professional Planner that he is “grateful and honored” to be awarded life membership of PFAN.
“I remember saying to [then-Zurich head of key accounts and research] Tim Meggitt many years ago that if I was ever going to be remembered for anything, there was a fair chance it was the Pro Bono Financial Advice Network.”
The establishment of PFAN was a slow process initially, Harding-Davis “personally promised Mark Rantall, then [chief executive] at the Financial Planning Association and Brad [Fox] at the [Association of Financial Advisers] that we would not get ahead of ourselves and blow it up”.
“We could do more harm to the reputation of financial advice than good if we did get ahead of ourselves and make a lot of promises that couldn’t be kept, or even worse. So I I’ve never apologised for how slow the incubation was in the early years for that reason.”
Up and running
The initial meetings of the fledgling pro-bono organisation were facilitated and hosted by Conexus Financial, publisher of Professional Planner, but the group soon found its feet. With considerable secretarial support provided by the AFA, it got up and running.
Nicola Beswick, chair of PFAN, says the board was “delighted to name Paul Harding-Davis as our first ever life member”.
“It really shows how much that he’s contributed [and] how much he’s given back to the community,” she says.
“Particularly through what he’s done with the Pro Bono Advice Network, he’s been just such an incredible guiding person, even through my time being on the board. It really does reflect what he’s given back, not just to the network, but to the whole profession.
“There’s no better person that fits what we would expect from anyone holding that position. It sets that bar really, really high for when we’re looking at this down the track for other individuals. But I think Paul just exemplifies everything that we want to showcase that’s great about what we do in in financial services.”
The provision of pro-bono services is a hallmark of all professions and is a critical component of the social contract between a profession and the broad community. Harding-Davis says it is “a mark of every other profession that they seek to use a combination of their expertise and the privileged position they have in society by being deemed to have a level of trust in their expertise, that all of the professional bodies encourage giving back some time to people who can’t afford it”.
“Whether it’s law or actuaries or architects, they all look to do some sort of giving back and using that expertise and that social franchise to make a difference to people who couldn’t otherwise afford their fairly expensive time.”
Inspire others
PFAN’s stated mission is to “improve the financial wellbeing of Australians living with serious illness and/or disability and experiencing significant financial hardship through providing pro bono financial advice, and to inspire others to do the same”.
Around 150 financial advisers are formally affiliated with the network, which encourages them to provide pro-bono advice to at least one client a year.
Harding-Davis says that over the past 10 years it has been “wonderful to see since the addition of some new blood, in particular Nicola as chair”.
“She joined [the network] as an adviser and then joined the board and then became chair; the rest of the crew – I won’t go through them all – it’s a strong board, and we now have a budget and some sponsorship to be able to afford some stuff.
“And as you know, until you can afford to have even part-time staff, your ability to scale up is limited, and that’s all changing in exciting ways.”
Harding-Davis says PFAN will be well set up for further growth if its application for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status succeeds.
“We do know there are a number of institutions that have been willing to contemplate sponsoring, but they will only sponsor an organisation that has DGR for two reasons, and interestingly not just the tax deduction,” he says.
“The other is, it’s a quasi-form of due diligence. They can basically say, ‘Well, if you’ve gone through that process, then you’ve been you’ve had a degree of oversight and investigation that gives us confidence’.”
Editor’s note: Professional Planner is media partner of PFAN, a trusted network of passionate professionals who help Australians living with a personal health crisis and experiencing significant financial hardship to improve their financial wellbeing. For more information please visit the PFAN website.
