The Who’s Hu of the planning profession
A former runner-up who came to Australia just 20 years ago takes the mantle as the nation’s top financial adviser | FULL LIST
Garth Hu of Morgan Stanley Australia has taken the top spot in this year’s expanded list of Australia’s Top 100 financial advisers.
In common with many of our leading advisers, Hu believes in sticking with the markets even during these periods of high volatility: “The positive economic data is supportive of markets,” he explains from his Melbourne base.
A former runner-up for the top prize, the Huazhong University-educated Hu has reached the pinnacle of his profession just 20 years after arriving in Australia.
For his clients, Hu has a minimum portfolio requirement pegged at a substantial level of $5m. Some of our top advisers do not have a minimum client portfolio level, while more typically this group of elite professionals like to see a new client with around $500,000 of investable funds.
A former technology company manager, Hu is flanked on our list by a string of leading names including former winners Scott Carmichael of Escala Partners (2017), Charlie Viola of Pitcher Partners (2018) and Sue Dahn of Pitcher Partners (2019).
Last year’s winner Dahn says it was a very tough year for the sector with the overall numbers in financial advice now shrinking, but as she suggests, this is not necessarily a bad thing: “The standards are clearly improving.”
Across the list, we find candidates have typically worked in their roles for at least a decade, often leading relatively small teams where personal relationships could be maintained with clients. Top advisers also have often worked in other areas such as accounting or economics before committing to financial advice as a career.
In full: The List - Australia’s 100 Top Financial Advisers
A common complaint from list members is the risk of “over-regulation” in the financial advice sector, with the profession facing a slew of post-Hayne royal commission changes including a mandatory national exam and a code of ethics duty to commence in January 2022.
But the best operators simply get on with business regardless of new legal or bureaucratic pressures. List veterans such as Will Hamilton of Hamilton Wealth Partners and Doug Turek of Professional Wealth report they have never been so busy in their entire careers.
One thing common to many on the list is wider interests — and not just cycling (which would seem to be the pastime of choice with this group). Many members of the list are key members of professional, community and charity organisations where their expertise is much sought-after at board level.
Marisa Broome, of WealthAdvice, is also the chairman of the Financial Planning Association, which retains the highly rated Certified Financial Planner qualification. Dahn is a director of industry fund MTAA while Frank Macindoe, of Koda Capital, is also a portfolio manager at the Third Link Growth fund, which donates its management fees to charities.
What makes these people the best advisers? Perhaps it is an unlikely quality — the imagination to put yourself in your client’s shoes. Neil Heriot of the Boston Private Wealth group says: “There’s one overriding question: if you were in their shoes would you do this? Unless you’re prepared to invest in it yourself, then why would you put your clients in?”
The Top 100 financial advisers list is produced annually by The Australian in conjunction with research carried out by Barron’s of New York. Barron’s is an investment magazine which produces the US top financial advisers list. It is owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian.
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