William Johns named runner-up Financial Planner of the Year

At 30 years old, William Johns is part of a new wave of financial planners entering the industry, bringing high ethical standards, tertiary education and innovation to the sector.

Having spent only six years in the financial planning industry, Johns has demonstrated enough commitment to win the runner-up spot in this year's Financial Planner of the Year award, losing the top spot by a very narrow margin.

For William, this award means a confirmation that he is on the right track.

"What I do is not easy and sometimes I feel like giving up, but an award like this means the industry acknowledges my contribution," he said.

He entered the industry after an opportunity presented itself at Commonwealth Financial Planning.

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He was studying accounting at the time, but a life-changing event would soon change the direction of his career for good.

His mother Linda was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000, and serious financial troubles as well as the stressful social security process resulted in the worsening of her condition.

As her carer, William developed special interest in the issues facing people with severe disability, and decided to specialise in this particular client segment upon landing a job with Fiducian Financial Services.

"I also specialise in people looking after kids with autism or learning disorders, the elderly and the disabilities related to age such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia and so on," William said.

Marrying his passion for helping people at risk with financial planning - thus creating a unique value proposition - is what won the judges' hearts and minds.

After a couple of years working with his client base, William commenced a two-year full-time Master in Disability Studies at Flinders University, where he tailored his study program to explore the positive role financial planners can play in promoting the health and wellbeing of people suffering from a disability.

"From a financial planning perspective, servicing clients with disabilities is a little different," he said. "If somebody has a mental health issue, that would impact or impair their judgement at times, and the advice has to reflect that.

"Having said that, all financial planners do end up dealing with people who have some limitations, especially people who are getting older," William added.

The most rewarding part of his job is seeing tangible results in his clients' lives.

"I can see it in the way they look, the way they interact with others; they start paying attention to their health and well-being and not worrying about the money side of it."

This year's judging panel was particularly impressed with William's willingness to position himself as an industry leader and innovator in providing financial services to those with a disability.

"His extensive work in this area is an example to others of what can be achieved by focusing on a niche," said last year's Financial Planner of the Year Winner, Charles Badenach. 

Julie Berry, who has been on Money Management's Financial Planner of the Year judging panel for three years in a row, hopes that making it to the finals in 2011 and being the runner-up this year inspires William to apply again next year.

"He is an outstanding demonstration of someone who has chosen a path to follow and who will do everything he can to be the best at it."

Challenges facing the young guns

Although the new generation of financial planners is coming in with tertiary degrees, technical knowledge and high ethical standards, being a 'young gun' does not come without its challenges.

William believes that young planners can often be seen as a threat to industry veterans.

"I encourage the more experienced planners to utilise the creativity, drive and energy of a newcomer and offer them support," he said.

The new generation of financial planners see industry veterans as mentors who are very much needed by their peers.

While he supports the transparency and professionalism the new legislative changes will bring to the financial planning industry, William is concerned about the rate of older planners exiting the industry.

"The Government needs to make sure it doesn't accelerate the retirement of people who just can't cope with the changes," he said. "You'd leave a whole lot of young planners disgruntled and confused because their mentors have retired earlier than expected."

However, there is another challenge facing young planners.

Because of his age, William was told by older planners to focus on clients within 15 years of his own age range, which somewhat limited his reach.

But by disregarding this rule, William now services over 100 individuals, many of whom are over 70 years old.

"They appreciate my knowledge, understanding and compassion," he said.

"A word of advice to younger planners is to pursue your passion within this industry and not be caught-up or discouraged by misconceptions and false myths such as 'you can only deal with people within a 15-year range of your age'."