FAAA announces new award recipient

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

15 June 2023

The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has congratulated Kristine Pham of Sydney-based Lipman Burgon and Partners as the new recipient of the Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award.

Presented for semester one 2023, the award recognises the top performing student in the CFP Certification Unit for each semester and acknowledges their dedication to providing high quality financial advice.

Pham joined the Sydney-based firm in 2021 as a financial adviser, bringing seven years of experience in financial planning, a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce at the University of New South Wales and a Diploma of Financial Planning at the Monarch Institute.

“I’m glad I persisted in completing the CFP program because it definitely required a lot of work and rigour to complete,” Pham said.

“It’s quite easy to become distracted by the noise when it comes to advising on certain topics with clients. The CFP program encourages you to step back and see the bigger picture, which goes a long way when advising in the real world.

“Having programs available to new advisers such as the CFP program will bring financial planning to the next level and help them to live up to their potential. More great advisers means we can live up to truly becoming a profession.”

Pham joins over 200,000 other global CFP professionals, with enrolments up nearly five per cent from last year.

“Kristine is a shining example of what the financial planning profession can achieve for clients when it’s at its best. Gwen was dedicated to the highest levels of professionalism in financial planning, and I have all the confidence in Kristine’s ability to live up to that legacy,” Sarah Abood, FAAA chief executive, said.

“The CFP Certification Program will continue to be an important part of the FAAA’s work to advancing the financial planning profession and equip planners with the skills and confidence needed to provide the best quality financial advice to Australians when they need it most.”