Fiona Judd Wins Financial Planner of the Year

Fiona Judd Wins Financial Planner of the Year

Fiona Judd of Hamilton firm Broadbase Waikato was announced as the winner of the Third Annual Financial Planner of the Year Awards in Auckland last night.

The Awards are designed to promote financial planning to the public and highlight excellence and professionalism within the industry.

The Awards are organised by online money management magazine Good Returns http://www.goodreturns.co.nz.

"The calibre of entrants once again shows the high level of professional standards among Financial Planners," says Awards organiser, and Good Returns editor Philip Macalister. "It is particularly pleasing that all the finalists had attained the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) mark which is recognised as the international standard for best practice in financial planning."

He says that in the current investment environment it is important to demonstrate to the public that there is good financial advice available to the public. Financial planners who enter the Awards are measured on a number of criteria including; professionalism, competence, communication skills, knowledge of current issues, input to the profession, marketing ability, career achievements and extra curricular contributions to the community.

Staff from the Department of Banking, Finance and Property at Massey University short-list the entrants and final judging was done by interview with a high profile judging panel. The panel is made up of Reserve Bank deputy governor Rod Carr, Retirement Commissioner Colin Blair and independent financial journalist and columnist Mary Holm.

Mary Holm, who spoke on behalf of the judges at the Awards ceremony last night, said that the quality of entrants this year was high, and that is a good sign for the public. "Many, many New Zealanders can get good financial advice from financial planners," she said.

"It's been a tough year for advisers with investment markets down and clients nervous, so to win this year was especially challenging," says Paul Forder of Awards sponsor Sovereign. "But excellence in financial planning is not just about who can provide the best returns. It's about taking a holistic view of the financial health of their clients."

"The public can be reassured that professional advice can be found especially in these tough times for investment markets. The quality of entrants shows we can celebrate the health of the financial services industry," AXA New Zealand chief executive Vaughan Underwood says.

AMP New Zealand managing director Ross Kent, comments that the Awards support their aim of improving levels of competence among advisers through a programme of continuing education. "The Securities Commission has been right to bring bad practice to public attention. Not enough emphasis has been placed on the need for the public to seek out experts to provide them sound financial advice. These Awards raise the profile of Financial Planners with the public, recognising the high standards generally met by the financial planning industry" Kent says.