Queensland’s top financial advisors revealed in national list by Barron’s
Looking for a new financial advisor? The best in the industry have been ranked with Queensland home to many of the top names in the country. LIST
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The Gold Coast is home to the state’s best financial planners according to a national ranking list.
The Top 100 Financial Advisors list by Barron’s and The Australian’s business magazine The Deal ranks the industry across the nation.
Four financial advisors from the Gold Coast were the most highly ranked Queensland professionals among the list with Macquarie Private Banks’ Anita Beckers, ranked 21st, leading the pack.
Colleague Matthew Gartrell, also of Macquarie Private Bank at Broadbeach, was ranked 23rd, followed by Troy Theobald of RFS Advice at Bundall who was ranked 30th and Neil Heriot of Boston Private Wealth at Sanctuary Cove who was ranked 34th.
Regional operator James Wortley of Enlightened Financial Solutions in Mackay also made the list, at number 52.
Brisbane financial adviser David Lane, who was ranked 75th, said the industry had changed dramatically from when he used to be able to open an account for a client over the phone.
But the director of wealth management at Pitcher Partners said greater regulatory oversight and the demands of modern investing meant it was now a substantially more rigorous process. “I started almost 30 years ago in stock broking and financial advising and we used to just require a person’s name and address,” Mr Lane said.
“Nowadays we need a full list of their assets and liabilities. This has been a good thing because it means the advice we are providing is a lot better and informative for clients.”
He said money was moving more rapidly around the economy and clients had access to a lot more information.
“There is now a tendency towards information overload which means instead of providing information, financial advisers have to become gatekeepers,” he said.
“There was now a much broader class of assets available to investors, not just equities and term deposits.”
He said one investment he still had misgivings about was cryptocurrency.
“There are now 4500 different cryptocurrencies out there and while a lot of people have made money, the jury is still out on whether it is a legitimate asset class or a pure gamble,” he said. “The appetite for risk is high with a lot of people which is a bit of a red flag.”
Mr Lane said the last 16 months during Covid-19 had been pretty challenging for investors, but there had been a surprisingly rapid recovery.
“After the Global Financial Crisis, it was a tougher period for a lot longer. and the pain was felt right through the economy,” he said.
“While it is likely to be volatile for the next 12-18 months, the investment environment is looking pretty good.”
Mr Lane said he was advising many more younger clients these days.
“These are people who have made money from selling businesses,” he said. “There also is a lot more transfer of intergenerational wealth.”
Top 10 Queensland Financial advisors (by national rank)
Anita Beckers (21)
Macquarie Private Bank
Broadbeach
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 24
Size of team: 6
Funds under advisement: $1,100,000,000
Matthew Gartrell (23)
Macquarie Private Bank
Broadbeach
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 13
Size of team: 6
Funds under advisement: $1,100,000,000
Troy Theobald (30)
RFS Advice
Bundall
Minimum account size: $250,000
Years of planning experience: 25
Size of team: 20
Funds under advisement: $865,370,000
Neil Heriot (34)
Boston Private Wealth
Sanctuary Cove
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 32
Size of team: 8
Funds under advisement: $830,000,000
Lynda McKie (40)
Elston
Fortitude Valley
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 32
Size of team: 40
Funds under advisement: $3,500,000,000
Dean Ireland (41)
Elston
Fortitude Valley
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 15
Size of team: 40
Funds under advisement: $3,000,000,000
Chris Smith (42)
VISIS Private Wealth
Brisbane
Minimum account size: $500,000
Years of planning experience: 21
Size of team: 8
Funds under advisement: $548,783,068
Kate Golder (47)
Alteris Financial Group
Brisbane
Minimum account size: $1,000,000
Years of planning experience: 18
size of team: 14
Funds under advisement: $1,200,000,000
James Wortley (52)
Enlightened Financial Solutions
Mackay
Minimum account size: $0
Years of planning experience: 23
Size of team: 13
Funds under advisement: $340,000,000
Olivia Maragna (57)
Aspire Retire
Brisbane
Minimum account size: $0
Years of planning experience: 18
Size of team: 15
Funds under advisement: $300,000,000
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