The SCMP/IFPHK Financial Planner Awards 2008 reached its climax last night with the top awards being handed out at a presentation dinner at the JW Marriott Hotel. After three rounds of scrutiny by regulators and judges from top financial planning firms, ipac financial planning senior vice-president Sheila Dickinson was named Financial Planner of the Year 2008. She beat 343 financial planners from banks, insurance companies and independent financial advisory firms.
Open to practicing financial planners from the fields of banking, insurance, and independent financial advisory, the competition, held for the fourth consecutive year, recognises financial planners who excel in professional knowledge and demonstrate acumen in personal financial planning.
'Sheila demonstrated outstanding industry knowledge, thorough analysis and excellent presentation skills,' said Jeff Walker, a final round judge and chief executive of The Prudential Assurance Company. 'Her case studies were well organised, substantial and succinct; her oral presentation was articulate, convincing and impassioned.'
Another final round judge and chairman and chief executive of wealth management platform provider iFast Financial, Lim Chung Chun, said: 'What set Sheila apart was her eloquence, her ability to be persuasive, and her good understanding of the right long-term investment process.'
In the individual industry categories, Galen Chan Chi-kit, a premier relationship manager at HSBC, and Michelle Chan Suk-han, a senior wealth management manager at Bank of China (Hong Kong), jointly won the banking sector award. Cathy Wong Siu-fong, a senior financial adviser at Manulife, was named the insurance industry winner.
The four winners were awarded round-trip tickets to Australia, and passes to attend a national financial planning conference there. The event was presided over by Financial Services and Treasury Bureau secretary Chan Ka-keung.
In the corporate category, trophies were also awarded to companies in each of the three fields with the most number of financial planners who received awards. In the banking sector, the award for Hong Kong's Best Company for Financial Planning Excellence went to HSBC, which took home nine awards. Manulife (International) and Convoy Financial Services received the best company awards for the insurance and IFA categories, with 38 and 20 awards respectively. A new award - My Favourite Financial Planner - was introduced this year, to encourage consumer participation. An internet poll allowed consumers to choose their favourite financial planner from nine top financial planners from the main competition, after watching a two-minute video they made.