She said she entered the competition because, having worked in banking for several years, she wanted a challenge - to broaden her horizons and to sharpen her financial planning scheme knowledge.

Before winning, she went through two rounds where she had to prepare her own financial planning scheme. She chose a widow with one son as her scenario, and explained in her outline and case study how, with various financial options such as a mortgage, insurance and education scheme, she would provide a financial structure to see her fictional family through to the mother's retirement.

The judges evidently liked what they saw and judged Ms Lee the winner of her sector. Then an even tougher stage began, where she and the other two winners in that round were given the same family outline - a 53-year-old father, a wife, 39, and three children, of which the youngest had disabilities. Because the youngest was sick, the financial planner also looked at the options for the family to emigrate to Singapore where health care over the long term was seen as cheaper than in Hong Kong.

Ms Lee and her competitors had to come up with a written plan for the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong which provided a financial solution for the family, but in a diversified way.

'In my written proposals for the first two rounds I included a mortgage, investment and some insurance products. I also tried to put more scenarios in for a more varied financial solution. Take the mortgage, for example. I put in some high-advanced mortgage and some normal mortgage, the idea being to allow the customer to choose an appropriate product to suit their needs. I give the information to the customer who can then choose what they want to do based on their own personal situation.'

The third round was much more difficult, said Ms Lee. 'I had to write a sophisticated case that I then had to present. So I needed to seek advice from my peers and get information from websites because the case involved emigration to Singapore. So I also called the Singapore consulate to get more information.'

The father of the family, Michael, was a businessman in the scenario. 'I used my experience in commercial banking to analyse the risk of their financial situation and also to try to draft a solution, aside from the personal financial goals, trying to give little tips on the commercial side, for example a company entity or some trust arrangement,' said Ms Lee.

'In the presentation, I showed the need for tight liquidity and that they needed to plan for the retirement now, as well as an education fund for the children.'

This is not the first competition that Ms Lee has taken part in. Three years ago she took part in a 'distinguished salesperson award'. 'I found that making presentations in front of people was quite interesting and it also gave me confidence to present myself in front of the customer.'

She said it was important to guide Hong Kong people in financial planning because they led busy lives and had other priorities, such as work and taking care of families at home. 'They have too little time to think about retirement protection. Financial planning provides them with the opportunity to learn about how to prepare for retirement or an education plan,' she said.

'When we put together a financial planning proposal, we need to think about what the individual customer needs, not just products. As a customer relationships manager I understand their background and financial situation, so I put a solution together based on that information.

'After we build up our personal relationship with the customer, we find out their hobbies and preferences. For instance, what are their priorities in life - families or education? We build up the relationship to find out their priorities.'

As well as preparing for and taking part in the Financial Planner Awards competition, Ms Lee is studying for a finance degree at HKU SPACE. She hopes to complete her degree in the next three years.

'I was around 18 years old when I decided to have a banking career. When I graduated from high school, I could see that in Hong Kong banking was an interesting world. As a child the bank seemed to be this very large entity, I thought if I could become a part of that company I could be a famous person.'

When she's not at the bank or winning awards, Ms Lee enjoys community life at her local church.