NSW winner: Kate Cramsie

The usual ambition of a paraplanner is to become an adviser and Kate Cramsie is no exception.

Cramsie is starting to establish her own small client base in addition to playing an active role in Mercer Wealth Solutions’ paraplanning operations.

“At Mercer we work in small teams with an adviser, one or two paraplanners and a personal assistant,” she says.

“The adviser I worked for had a challenging role and at one point assumed management of the Sydney office. It was important for me to be a reliable, key point of contact for his clients.”

Cramsie says she is continuing to provide paraplanning to the same adviser while building her own client base, and also co-presenting client seminars.

“Through the seminars we promote client awareness of financial planning issues and help educate clients to equip them with a better knowledge to be able to manage their financial affairs,” she says.

With a desire to improve her technical skills, Cramsie is helping to write Mercer’s statement of advice (SOA) templates, which are then distributed to other advisers in the dealer group.

“I am responsible for ensuring the templates are kept up to date with changes in legislation,” she says.

Cramsie began her career in financial services with accountancy in mind.

“I was studying accountancy at university and was seeking a part-time job to give me office experience,” she says. “I was mainly concentrating on accounting firms, but walked into Associated Planners and they said they would hire me as a paraplanner.

“Associated Planners was a great beginning to my career, and the adviser I worked for was very encouraging to provide me opportunities to learn and develop,” she says.

“However, I had a thirst for technical knowledge and felt I wanted to learn about a more diverse range of client scenarios.”

Cramsie says the desire for further knowledge led her to move to Mercer, which offered a larger team environment.

“There I was able to discuss and brainstorm strategies with colleagues and work on a broader range of clients and strategies,” she says.

The background in accounting has been useful now that Cramsie is looking after her own clients. It has also given her an eye for detail.

“When I am talking to clients or working on their plans, I always think I am preparing a plan for a member of my family,” she says.

“I ask myself what would happen if I took this strategy and the key is paying attention to the detail of the plan. It is important to investigate all the options as one strategy can significantly alter the outcomes for the client.”

Cramsie is also dedicated to better mentoring of paraplanners to help them build their skills in the advice industry.

“I am often a point of call for paraplanning queries nationally, assisting them to develop their skills in areas such as building confidence in face-to-face contact with clients, VisiPlan modelling, dealing with difficult client situations, and developing presentation skills. It is an enjoyable part of my work,” she says.

“Recently, I have been involved in devising a proposed mentoring program for FPA [Financial Planning Association] members to satisfy the experience requirements to achieve their CFP designation.”

And after undertaking all this, Cramsie likes to relax by playing soccer, touch football and the piano.