Under the lights of the gala celebration of the EIGHTH annual ifa Excellence Awards held in Sydney recently, it’s difficult to make out the names of the winners. However, for Brisbane-based Stratus Financial Group they are perfectly clear: James Marshall, Holistic Adviser of the Year; and Stratus Financial Group, Holistic Advice Firm of the Year, awarded for the 3rd consecutive year!
Brett Cribb, together with Stephen Nicholas and James Marshall as directors and principal advisers of Stratus Financial Group, said he is incredibly proud of the Stratus Team who work continuously to hone their skills and collaborate with specialist aligned professionals to delivery truly holistic advice.
“Wow. Again! This is the third consecutive year our team has taken out the Holistic Advice Firm of the Year award, but this year our awards celebration is even sweeter, as James Marshall was recognised as the nation’s, Holistic Adviser of the Year,” Brett said.
In recent years the term ‘holistic’ has been bantered around, coming to prominence in health and wellbeing business sectors, before being embraced by the financial services profession.
Stratus Financial Group were among the early adopters of holistic financial advice, as the inter-connectedness of advice and collaboration between a range of professional disciplines is central to overall financial well-being. It’s an approach that is fundamental to Stratus, as it steadfastly underpins their legal commitment to always act in their clients’ best interests.
For the Stratus team, Holistic Adviser of the Year awarded to James Marshall, Stratus Financial Group, Director and Principal Adviser, is well-deserved recognition of a financial planner and colleague who combines genuine empathy for his clients with outstanding technical know-how. In the spirit of ‘holistic’ advice, James fully embraces his professional network to create solutions for his clients.
“We are incredibly proud of James, and this award is recognition of James’ commitment to ongoing education, hard work and genuine relationships with his professional peers and clients,” Brett said.
While Stratus Financial Planning ‘young gun’, Mitchell Elks – a finalist in the Paraplanner of the Year category – didn’t bring home a gong this year, Brett says “watch this space”.
“Mitch is a young paraplanner, who has recently completed his post graduate degree in financial planning. In our Stratus environment, as is the case for all our young professionals, he is immersed in our culture of collaborative, truly holistic approach and professional working environment. He was a very worthy finalist in these coveted national awards and we look forward to Mitchell’s continuing success in future.”
James was also a Finalist in the Client Outcome of the Year Award. This award recognises the individual adviser who has made the biggest impact on a client’s financial wellbeing.
James successfully advised on a complex insurance claim to provide outstanding financial outcomes, while coordinating with other professionals to ensure matters of the insurance claim, tax and estate planning matters were aligned to deliver seamless solutions for the client and his family, in the most difficult of circumstances.
“As the term ‘holistic’ suggests, our financial planning approach includes investment and risk advice, retirement planning, superannuation and SMSF strategy, debt and cashflow management and so on.
Stratus Financial Group also offers a number of highly specialised services tailored to suit the needs of ASX listed executives and those with Executive Share Schemes (ESS), financial advice for expatriates and mining and resources personnel and for those approaching aged care.
“What makes our outcomes so worthwhile for clients is our approach, which extends to a team of specialist professionals who offer advice in areas of complex tax and accounting, legal and estate planning, in support of those services,” he said.
The ifa awards have rounded out a year of accolades for Stratus Financial Group, as we were also named Fortnum 2021 Principal Practice of the Year, while CEO, Irma Bantjes received the 2021 Guy Carrington Award, which is Fortnum’s most distinguished award for individual excellence.
With a mission statement promising to ‘Make It Happen’, Stratus Financial Group’s full-service financial planning approach ticks all the boxes when it comes to truly ‘holistic’ service and advice.
Stratus Financial Group helps professionals, executives, business owners, families and retirees manage their complex financial affairs and coordinate their professional advisers.
Stratus Financial Group and its advisers are Authorised Representatives of Fortnum Private Wealth Ltd ABN 54 139 889 535 AFSL 357306. This is general advice only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, so you should consider whether the advice is relevant to your personal circumstances. You should also read the relevant Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) before making any financial decisions.
