Managing director says it’s important to salute advisor who has gone "above and beyond"
IFSE Institute wants to honour advisors who go above and beyond the call of duty when promoting financial literacy.
IFSE is, therefore, sponsoring the award for Financial Literacy Champion at the 2019 Wealth Professional Awards at the Liberty Grand on May 30. Nominations are now open and more details on the awards and how to attend the ceremony can be found here.
Christina Ashmore, managing director of IFSE Institute, is an advocate of financial literacy and encourages people to take control of their finances and reduce stress by doing things like making a budget and having a savings and debt reduction plan.
She said it was important for the IFSE to support the industry and the event.
“We see the value of the client-advisor relationship and we know from research that clients who work with advisors have larger portfolios compared to clients that don’t.
“The intent of the award was to showcase and highlight the good work that financial advisors do for their clients and for the public. We know a lot of them champion financial literacy - they go above and beyond.
“We want to shine a spotlight on these educational activities and we want to be able to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.”
Ashmore believes that simply providing a person with the required financial information is not enough and that an advisor is needed to help them implement an action plan and know when aspects of the plan need to be adjusted.
She said: “Advisors are there to be coach and educator. They give them the confidence to make decisions for their financial well-being. The planning process is not just about building up the plan but implementing it and getting people to act on that.
“It's like building a house. If you have plans but never act on it, the house will never be built!”
Ashmore said encouraging financial literacy can have a huge impact on people’s lives and said it’s important advisors help clients think about their money issues and start dealing with it.
“We highly recommend clients work with an advisor to get the best outcomes,” she said. “Financial literacy is not just about information; it's about transferring knowledge, building up skills, creating the action plan and implementing the solutions."
