MenuThe Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has named Andrew Dickinson of Strategic Wealth as the winner of the Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award for semester two of 2023.
Named in honour of the late ‘First Lady of Financial Planning’, the award goes to the highest performing student in the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Certification Unit (CFP C) in each semester and shows demonstrable dedication to providing high-quality financial advice.
Mr Dickinson is a financial adviser and partner at Strategic Wealth, based in Melbourne. He has been at the firm since 2017 and has almost seven years’ experience in financial advice. Mr Dickinson completed a bachelor’s degree in commerce at Deakin University.
He said the CFP Certification Program is a valuable learning experience.
“The best thing about the program was learning from realistic client scenarios throughout the course. I found that I was often reading material on a topic and then applying it to client scenarios within days,” Mr Dickinson said.
“Different businesses specialise in particular segments of the market. Doing the CFP program is a great way to build your knowledge and gain exposure to advice situations that you may otherwise not have encountered during your everyday work.
“It is a privilege to be recognised by this award in Gwen’s honour. The Oreana licensee network as well as my colleagues at Strategic Wealth have been very encouraging in allowing me to spend time on my professional development to pursue the CFP program.”
FAAA chief executive officer Sarah Abood congratulated Mr Dickinson on the award.
“I commend Andrew for his sheer dedication to the financial planning profession through his commitment to the CFP Certification Program while also running his own practice. Gwen would have approved of Andrew’s willingness to go above and beyond to reach the highest levels of professionalism, and he provides a wonderful example to the rest of his colleagues.
“The CFP Certification Program has been around for more than 30 years as the standard of excellence for financial planners and will continue to be so for years to come.”
The CFP designation is the largest and best-recognised financial planning designation globally, with more than 213,000 CFP professionals worldwide, an increase of nearly five per cent from last year. It is a symbol of excellence for financial planners around the world who are actively committed through higher education and accountability to adhering to world-class professional and ethical standards. The CFP designation offers financial planning professionals a way to differentiate themselves in the profession.
For more information on the CFP Certification Program, visit https://faaaoldsite.wpengine.com/financial-planning-education/cfp-certification/
