FPA names Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award winner

In a statement released today, the FPA announced that financial adviser Erin Shields of Dixon Advisory has been given the inaugural award.

Ms Shields was the highest achieving student in the last semester of the FPA’s CFP program, which FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said showed her commitment to raising standards in financial planning through her education.

“On behalf of the FPA I want to formally congratulate Erin and acknowledge her commitment to raising the overall standards of the financial planning profession,” Mr Rantall said.

“Now, more than ever, it is important that we continue to forge ahead along the path to professionalism, which we first embarked on some twenty years ago.”

“While this is a journey that the FPA continues to lead the wider financial services industry on, it was Gwen who really started us on this path – it was Gwen who brought the CFP designation to Australia back in 1990.”

Speaking of her win, Ms Shields said she now sees her job as “continuing along the path that Gwen forged”.

“Being named as the first winner of the Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award is a huge achievement for me. Not only does it acknowledge the hard work I have put into the CFP course, it also reminds us all of one of the most important women in financial planning, not just in Australia but across the globe,” Ms Shields said.

The Gwen Fletcher Memorial award is valued at $1,000 and is given to the CFP student who achieves the highest mark in all three required assessments each semester.

The next award will be announced on November 14.