La Trobe wins AMP University Challenge

The third edition of the competition saw a new record of 64 submissions, up from 57 last year, including a total of 113 students.

AMP Horizons director Amelia Constantinidis said it was encouraging that 44 per cent of submissions were made by females, up from 34 per cent last year, while 58 per cent of this year’s finalists were women, compared to 50 per cent last year.

“Attracting and retaining top female talent is key to the continued success of the financial planning profession, so the gender mix of this year’s entrants is a positive sign,” Ms Constantinidis said.

Groups were required to submit a scoped advice discussion paper in response to a hypothetical client case study, with the top five teams meeting in Sydney for a finals day.

The winning team of Morgan Faye Remilton, Ruby Henderson and Aaron Day took out the top prize of $5,000 cash, registration to attend the 2013 Financial Planning Association National Congress in Sydney and a student membership to the Financial Planning Association (FPA), as well as attendance to the 2014 AMP Planner Conference in Melbourne.

Teams of students from La Trobe University also took out second and third prizes, which included $2,500 and $1,000 cash respectively, and student membership of the FPA.

Students from all the Australian mainland states took part, with Victorians accounting for 71 per cent of overall submissions. La Trobe University, Griffith University and TAFE NSW have also embedded the challenge into their curriculums.