Practice builder wins planner award

Talent, tenacity, a commitment to providing top-quality advice at the lowest cost possible and a substantial contribution to the wider financial planning community has seen Melbourne-based Julian Battistella take out the Money Management Financial Planner of the Year 2007 award.

Judges cited Battistella’s success in setting up a financial planning division at stockbroking firm Wilson HTM’s Melbourne branch and turning it into a well-regarded business with $150 million in funds under management (FUM) in just six years as one of their key reasons for awarding him the penultimate prize.

Judges were also impressed by Battistella’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to developing an efficient, ethical and transparent financial planning model that consumers understand and appreciate.

After six years with the Wilson HTM business, Battistella is set to launch his own boutique practice, Battistella Financial Planning, which he said would deliver comprehensive and completely unbiased advice using a fee-for-service model, help staff to achieve their personal career goals and, ultimately, grow to $1 billion in FUM.

Battistella, who was the runner-up in last year’s awards, has shown a career-long commitment to professionalism and promoting the value of advice to the general public. He considers fee-for-service the ideal financial planning model, believing it encourages consumers to recognise the value of good-quality planning advice and better enabling it to be priced appropriately.

Orange-based (NSW) Peter Roan received this year’s highly commended award, impressing judges with his superior entrepreneurial skills and commitment to professionalism and service not just to the financial services sector, but the community as a whole.

He has made an enormous contribution to financial planning via his roles as chapter chair for the Western Division of NSW, panel member of the Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS) and involvement with FinancialPlanning Association (FPA) committees and working groups. He is an instrumental member of the FPA’s Pro Bono Advice Committee, helping individuals and small businesses affected by severe drought set-up and adhere to comprehensive financial plans.

Once again, the awards — now in their 18th year — attracted entries of an extremely high calibre. Judges evaluated entrants’ career achievements, practical application of advice principles, contributions to the financial planning profession and service to the community at large.

As Money Management Financial Planner of the Year 2007, Battistella wins a trip to the 2008 US Financial Planning Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, to the value of $10,000.

He will be presented with his award at the Money Management Fund Manager of the Year Awards next year.