Finalists announced for Female Excellence in Advice Award

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and TAL have today announced the finalists in the 2014 AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award (the Award).

The Award, which is offered annually, recognises female financial advisers who are making a significant contribution to their profession, their community and particularly to female clients.

AFA CEO, Brad Fox, said the Award is an important step in the continuous recognition of the achievements of women in financial advice.

Showcasing the talents of female financial advisers is particularly important in the mission to increase the number of individuals, particularly women, who seek advice to gain appropriate superannuation savings, insurance and overall financial well-being, he said.

But it's more than that. The Award is a catalyst to attract more women to become financial advisers and to bring their talents, including empathy and understanding, to the advice market place. We are incredibly proud of our finalists and all that they have achieved to this stage of their careers.

TAL Life CEO Brett Clark said the job of shortlisting the final group proved to be difficult for the judges because of the very high standards of all of the semi-finalists.

The finalists are all exceptional candidates and congratulations to each of them for making the final cut in what has been a highly competitive year for the Award. This year all of the semi-finalists attended a special two-day master class on leadership and development which they highly valued as part of the award program. All of the finalists are outstanding advisers and leaders in their own right who are delivering tremendous value for their clients and for the advice profession as a whole.

The finalists for the 2014 Award are:

• Adrienne Rush, Bendigo Financial Planning
• Dominique Bergel-Grant, Leapfrog Financial
• Kate McCallum, Multiforte Financial Services
• Sarah Riegelhuth, Wealth Enhancers

The AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award is a joint initiative of the AFA and TAL with support from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM). The winner of the 2014 Award will be announced at the AFA National Adviser Conference in Cairns on Tuesday 14 October 2014 and receive a full MGSM scholarship (valued at $12,000) to complete either a Postgraduate Certificate in Management or an Executive Education Leadership Development Program.

Media enquiries

AFA – Georgina Thompson georgina@64media.com.au 1300 077 036/0421 722 300

TAL – Stuart Snell stuart.snell@tal.com.au 02 9448 9879/0417 921 235