Meet the 2022 AFA Adviser of the Year Finalists

Back in 2010, shortly before he co-founded his Hobart based advice practice, Badenach wrote the book ‘Old Head on Young Shoulders’, a practical, plain language guide to securing and growing one’s finances. A national best seller, it was particularly aimed at younger people, and with financial literacy lamentably absent from most school curricula, Badenach took matters into his own hands, donating a copy to every high school library throughout Tasmania and turning the book into a short course he delivered to numerous audiences. He has also worked with groups ranging from the Australian Hospitality Association to the Hobart Migrant Resource Centre, delivering presentations and written resources designed to help people navigate a financial system which - most insiders forget - is incredibly complex. 

But he hasn’t stopped yet. Firmly believing advisers owe a duty to give back to the community, his latest ambition involves recruiting all advisers into an ‘army ‘of financial educators – 17,000 strong – whose mission it is to provide just 5 or 10 hours of pro-bono financial literacy education to their local communities each year.

“That’s nearly 200,000 hours of financial education each year, provided to the people who most need it. That would really shift the dial”, says Badenach, noting that financial literacy drives not just better financial decision making by people, but also puts them more in control of their lives, and makes them less susceptible to scams and financial abuse. 

It’s typically big thinking by Badenach, who almost a decade ago was leading the charge for the role of social media and content in advice with his own YouTube channel, realising its potential as a platform to share financial education content. Most recently, he has demonstrated his eye for the future by completing the Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets through the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals USA.

Originally graduating as a lawyer, Badenach and the Main Street team (3 advisers) are one of the strongest proponents of working closely with the other specialist professionals commonly used by clients – accountants and lawyers. Promoting the idea of the ‘Triangle of Trust’ between these three groups, these professionals are frequently invited to attend Main Street client meetings, giving them a chance to understand and appreciate the work done by financial advisers, but also opening up their eyes to clients within their own base that may benefit from Main Street’s services.

Whilst known for going above and beyond for his clients (and even non clients), whether that be calling a trusted tradie, or bringing in a Tasmanian opera singer to give an impromptu concert at a client lunch, Badenach insists one of the biggest drivers of his success is having a crystal-clear idea of Main Street’s ‘ideal client’, and being disciplined enough to turn away clients who don’t fit the mould (referring them to another practice).

“It’s important that our paying clients are ones we really enjoy working with, and we have around a dozen qualitative criteria for what an ideal client looks like’” says Badenach.

Those criteria include not being distracted by the endless stream of irrelevant market “noise” and short termism and being someone who is prepared to learn but also trust our advice.

“Most of our clients think of us as an extension of their families, such is the central role we play in their lives, and the trust they place in us.”

“We aren’t so naïve as to think our business is perfect, which is why we are constantly seeking to push the envelope, trying to deliver ever better outcomes for our clients, in an increasingly streamlined and cost-effective way”.

“You can’t be afraid of failure. I really subscribe to the idea that if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough to get better”.

Cooper adopts a similar attitude to feedback – both positive and negative – which she goes out of her way to elicit, having just rolled out a program of actively seeking Google Reviews, and having a formalised Net Promoter Score (NPS) program, run by an external provider, which involves the automated sending of a short survey to clients after every interaction.

“I saw some industry research that said two thirds of advisers don’t formally seek feedback from their clients, and I think that’s a real shame, they are missing not only the opportunity to improve their business, but also deepen their client relationships”.

A former stockbroker, Cooper relishes the opportunity she now has to help clients with the totality of their financial affairs. Her preference is to work with clients on a holistic basis, believing that even the smallest financial decisions can lead to a ‘web of consequences’, which is why the big picture view is always the best.

That big picture, global view, is something Cooper applies to her own search for inspiration as well, and in addition the ‘fail fast’ mentality, she is also active in a number of global networking forums and has adopted a number of management techniques that have their genesis overseas. One example being the ‘surge meeting’.

Popularised by US adviser, Michael Kitces, and coach, Stephanie Bogan, the idea of the surge meeting is, rather than hold 2 to 5 meetings with clients every week of the year, instead schedule to meet all your clients in one six-week block.

For Cooper, this looks like one block at the start of the year where all clients get to talk about the year ahead, with a second block for Tier 1 clients in the second half of the year.

“During that time, it means 7 meetings a day, which can be pretty intense, but I think the timing works for clients, and from a productivity perspective it is a complete game changer, freeing up entire months to focus on other aspects of the business, what I call the cool stuff”.

Proponents of this approach, which relies on a high degree of systemisation, talk about it separating the ‘factory work’ (booking meetings, taking file notes), from the ‘focus’ or strategy work, and say it can create more time for the adviser to focus on their main value add.

One of those value adds is education, and like many advisers, she is passionate about improving the financial literacy of her clients.

Recognising the growing preference for more contemporary, convenient communication channels, Cooper has invested heavily in an in-house video production facility, enabling her to deliver that education at scale.

She is now quite skilled, both in front of and behind the camera, a far cry from her very first video some years ago, where she spoke for 45 minutes before realising the microphone was turned off.

“Now that was one failure I could have done without”, she laughs.

"Everyone has their own unique money story, shaped by their culture, their history, and their own passions and interests”, says Hoe.

“Whether it be sailing around the world, or writing their own blog, money is really just a means to achieve those personal goals and designing a plan that puts them on the path to reaching those goals is so much more empowering and enriching than purely focusing on financial metrics”. 

Such an approach also means clients deal with market turbulence a lot more comfortably, because they aren’t focused on portfolio movements, they are focused on the path to their dreams.

Hoe has come a long way since starting out as an accountant, helping clients sort out their ‘shoe box of receipts’. Over that journey he’s come to realise the power of education, being as passionate about his own professional development as the pro bono work he does with various schools and disadvantaged groups around Western Australia.

Of his many qualifications and certifications (Hoe is a prior state winner and national finalist in the AFA’s Excellence in Education Award), perhaps the one that he values the most is also the most recent, the Diploma of Financial Counselling.

“I feel in a privileged position, having knowledge that I know can change lives. Learning how to best bring that to people less fortunate than ourselves is incredibly powerful”.

Hoe is about to finish up a 6-year tenure as Director and Company Secretary of EdConnect, Australia’s only intergenerational volunteering charity, which connects volunteers who want to make a difference with young people.

Experiences like this have taught him the importance of empathy and strengthened his own belief in the difference his advice makes in his client’s lives.

Hoe, and his colleague and Wealthwise founder, Jamie Luxton, are equally passionate about sharing their experiences and wisdom with up-and-coming advisers, with both acting as mentors (and in the process being jointly nominated for Mentor the Year in the 2018 Women in Financial Services Awards).

Hoe believes that only by prioritising their own mental and physical wellbeing, can advisers be in a position to best help their clients, and on in this regard he leads from the front, having cycled, and walked his way around big chunks of Western Australian, raising tens of thousands of dollars for charities along the way.

But it is the career long commitment to teaching others that best defines Hoe, and indeed the whole Wealthwise business.

Founded in 1986, and now with a team of 10 advisers, Wealthwise’s branding is designed to reflect the philosophies of strength, trust, and growth. Their logo takes inspiration from mathematician Plato; writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world.

Hoe prefers to refer to his retiree clients as ‘wiser’ rather than ‘older’, and is very aware that by sharing his own wisdom, whether it be with school children, disadvantaged youth, clients, or aspiring advisers, he can be a lasting and powerful force for good in people’s lives.