Four of last year's finalists in the Financial Planner of the Year Award have made it into the top 10 finalists for this year's award. They are Lionel Karp, Paul Leonard, Roland van Alphen and Gerrit Viljoen.
The award, which recognises outstanding financial planning skills in South Africa, was developed by the industry's professional association - the Financial Planning Institute (FPI), independent financial planning company ipac South Africa, and Personal Finance.
Andrew Bradley, the chief executive of ipac South Africa, says with widespread perceptions about the profession giving bad advice, the award recognises those financial planners who provide their clients with a proper financial plan.
The award also helps consumers to answer the pressing question: "How do I find a quality financial planner?"
This year's 10 finalists are: Lionel Karp, Karp & Associates; Paul Leonard, Money Talk Financial Fitness; Roland van Alphen, Precedent Financial Services; Gerrit Viljoen, Ultima Financial Advisers; Ken Macpherson, Finlink Trust; Colin Long, Old Mutual; Catherine Currie, Mint Old Mutual; Bouwer Nell, the Wealth Corporation in Cape Town; Jonathan Moodie, Moody's Strategic Financial Services; and Brian Viljoen, Standard Bank.
A winner will be selected from each of three regions: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. One of these three winners will be chosen as the overall national winner. The results will be announced at the annual FPI convention in Durban next week.
This year, consumers were asked to nominate their financial planners for the award. Submissions from financial planners were also accepted. Most nominations came from clients.
The judging panel is: Pieter Nieuwoudt, the former president of the FPI and a director of Alexander Forbes; Ian Middleton, the chairman of the FPI; Debbie Netto-Jonker, last year's Financial Planner of the Year and the managing director of Netto Financial Services; and Colin Firer, Professor of finance at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.