100% Independent
We are 1 of 110 Advisers in Australia where our advice is completely independent, unbiased and unconflicted. We do not charge commissions or asset-based fees.
Supportive
For our personal advice clients, we take of everything. We deliver a high level of support to help a capped number of valued clients achieve their goals.
Collaborative
Having your advisers work together helps you get the best outcome. We collaborate with your accountant, lawyer, brokers and other advisers as needed.
John Hicks
Founder and Independent Financial Adviser
My name is John Hicks and was fortunate enough to grow up in England (about 30 miles from London) before going to a historic university and emigrating to Australia in 2006.
I was always a finance nerd as a child, saving hard and buying my first shares at the age of 12. I have also had a high level of empathy and with hindsight, realise it was probably always my path to end up in a role where the focus is both on understanding what really matters to people and using finance to empower them.
After University (Economics), I enjoyed an initial foray into accounting which gave me solid foundations but didn’t feel right as a career for me and then I stumbled across financial planning. Accounting had been more about looking back and adding up how people had already used their money but financial planning wasn’t like this. It was about looking at forward to plan for the future by taking control of the things you could still change, I loved it.
I started my financial planning career officially in 2007 at a small practice with a strong strategy focus in Canberra. We worked with a wide range of people with a focus on retirement advice. I subsequently moved to Melbourne and was able to work at two much larger practices with particular emphasis on Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) advice and small-to-medium sized business advice.
After 17 years experience in in financial services, I opened my own independent advice practice away from some of the pressures I came to believe were not aligned with giving the best advice.
Outside of work, I am happily married with a fast-growing child. With my personal time, I am a keen follower of Crystal Palace in the EPL, an avid fiction reader and ardent lover of great “street food”.
My Qualifications
- Master of Financial Planning (in progress)
- Specialist SMSF Adviser (SSA®)
- Bachelor of Economics (Hons)
- FASEA Financial Adviser Exam
- Diploma Financial Planning
Notably, as well as being a financial adviser (i.e. “Authorised Representative”), John is also a “Qualified Tax Relevant Provider” (QTRP) allowing him to provide tax (financial) advice).
In addition I belong to the following associations:
- The Profession of Independent Financial Advisers.
- The SMSF Association.
- The Financial Advice Association Australia.
- Adviser Ratings.