On the frontier of brilliance
Fiona Trafford-Walker has been crowned Woman of the Year as part of the inaugural Money Management/Super Review Women in Financial Services Awards. Milana Pokrajac reports.
Fiona Trafford-Walker was recently ranked by international finance journal aiCIO as one of the world’s top 25 most influential investment consultants.
However, she only agreed to be included on the list – which comprised very few women and only two Australians – if her fierce commercial rival Ken Marshman from JANA Investment Advisers was also included.
This shows the essence of her character, according to Fiona’s peers, who have deemed her an inspirational leader and a mentor to many in the financial services community.
Regarded by many as one of the leading figures in the Australian superannuation industry, she also won over the hearts and minds of the Money Management/Super Review Women in Financial Services (WIFS) Awards judging panel and has been named Woman of the Year for 2013.
Fiona was one of the founders of Frontier Advisors – a specialist asset consulting firm which provides investment advice to superannuation and other investment fund clients – where she now holds the position of director of consulting after a long stint as managing director.
In 1994, she joined Industry Fund Services (IFS) as manager of investment services and was also a foundation staff member of that company.
Three years later she was promoted to manager of investment advisory services where she took responsibility for the management of IFS’ asset consulting business.
Fiona transferred to Frontier at its inception in July 2000 and has seen the business grow from establishment to one of the nation’s leading consultancies which now provides advice on more than $150 million in assets.
She was the firm’s managing director for 11 years and is now directly responsible for providing investment advisory services to various clients, chairing the internal Investment Strategy and Policy Committee and overseeing the investment consulting deliverables of the firm.
A strong voice
Fiona is a great industry advocate and has long been vocal on various issues, particularly around the value and fairness in fees.
She has spoken on many occasions about the need for fund managers to be rewarded for effort, but not at the expense of the fee-paying member.
“Her view relates not just to fair value but also in ensuring passive investment styles are not adopted simply to save costs at the expense of missed performance from more active management,” Fiona’s award nominator wrote.
Chairman of Frontier Advisors and Trafford-Walker’s long time colleague, Geoff Ashton, said it is through her commitment, ethics and passion that Fiona stands tall within her chosen profession.
“Fiona’s personal values and integrity are of the highest order and her intellectual capability is extremely impressive,” Ashton said.
“Over almost two decades she has provided Frontier clients with invaluable insights and advice and as a result made a direct positive impact on the retirement savings of literally millions of Australians as members of these superannuation funds.”
Excelling in challenging times
Leadership capabilities are best shown during challenging times and it is fair to say Fiona Trafford-Walker has proven her worth over the years.
While asset consultants are facing many obstacles, their clients too have gone through tough challenges over the last year.
It is no surprise that many superannuation funds have been grappling to meet the new requirements of the MySuper regime in the last 12 months.
“Fiona recognised the significance of this regulatory reform very early and established a specialised unit within Frontier Advisors to pre-empt the level of assistance and insight funds would need to comply with, and obtain, MySuper licences,” the award entry read.
“Throughout the year she has personally worked with a number of funds to help them achieve their licences.”
On top of that, Fiona was one of the main driving forces behind the establishment of the Global Investment Research Alliance (GIRA) – an initiative to bring together like-minded independent investment consultants from around the world.
She is central in inviting and evaluating applications to join the GIRA initiative.
Despite focussing on growing the Frontier business over the last decade, Fiona has also carried out a fair amount of pro-bono work with charity organisations while raising her family.
Click here to find out more about the winners in the Women in Financial Services Awards.
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