Woman’s touch does the trick

FINANCIAL PLANNER OF THE YEAR  — SPONSORED BY PIMCO

WINNER

Lisa Duggan - Financial planner/director
Epona Financial Guidance

A passion for empowering women and helping them secure their financial future has seen Lisa Duggan crowned as Money Management and Super Review's Financial Planner of the Year.

The Commonwealth Bank-aligned Epona Financial Guidance founder and director knew early in her career that she wanted to focus on women and their specific financial needs.

She realised her goal in 2007 when she purchased her family's insurance and superannuation financial planning business, and transformed it into an all-women practice that supports clients under a fee-for-service model.

"As an industry, we've not been that great at talking in a language that women understand. Having an all-female team makes those conversations much easier," Duggan said.

Her business focuses on women aged 30 to 50, and women with parents going into aged care, which can be an emotional and turbulent period.

The judges were impressed with Duggan's client references that labelled her as a "new breed" of advisers.

"When Marianne Perkovic [CBA executive general manager, wealth management advice], sits down to write a two-page reference for someone, you tend to sit up and take notice. And yet it is Lisa's client references that are even more compelling," one judge said.

Duggan has always viewed her role as a coach and counsellor for her clients, and her guiding philosophy has been to help women understand their finances in a language they can understand.

That philosophy led her to publish her first book in 2014, titled ‘It's Your Life: Live it, Control it, Afford it and Love it!' which explores how clients' financial decisions affected their lives and their levels of satisfaction.

Duggan's educational qualifications include a Bachelor of Business — Accounting, and an Advanced Diploma of Financial Services.

Other finalists in the category include Jade Financial Group's Dianne Charman, Morgans Financial Limited's Lesley Faehse, Crystal Wealth Partners' Louise Lakomy, and Sofcorp Financial Services' Tracey Sofra.

FINALISTS

Dianne Charman - Director senior adviser
Jade Financial Group

Lesley Faehse - Branch manager
Morgans Financial Limited

Louise Lakomy - Senior financial planner
Crystal Wealth Partners

Tracey Sofra - Founding partner and financial planner
Sofcorp Financial Services