It’s all go for Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP®, as she prepares for her third FPA Professionals Congress.

There’s no concealing the passion Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP^® has for helping people, which epitomises her approach to financial planning. And the Melbourne-based practitioner must be doing something right, chalking up 30 years in the profession, which she says, works out to be more than 10,000 individuals she has seen during that time.

“I think what has sustained me during those 30 years has been my approach to financial planning, which I see as a vocation,” Michelle says. “There’s been a tremendous amount of change in the profession during those three decades but I’m still passionate about financial planning, despite the pace of change.”

Operating out of her Carlton office, Michelle runs Unified Financial Services – a small planning business with a staff of six, which has developed a business model of financial life planning that targets the niche allied health professional sector. She acknowledges the great team of people she works with, who have helped her grow the business, enabling Michelle to leverage her time to contribute to the profession.

“At a very early stage in my planning career, I wanted to educate clients about financial planning, so I developed workshops and financial literacy programs in the workplace, including public hospitals and pathology labs. People wanted to understand money better that wasn’t linked to product, so I helped them with that need and charged on a fee-for-advice basis,” Michelle says.

“From those early days, I’ve been able to build a business specialising in the allied health professional sector. And it’s been truly amazing to see the journey of clients over those 30 years.”

A natural progression

Michelle admits to living a very full life. Not only is she involved with looking after the needs of her clients, as well as running her own business, but she actively mentors women in the profession and wider community. Most recently this has included mentoring a Zimbabwean woman as part of the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Refugee Migrant Entrepreneur Program for Women.

“Financial planning is life changing and as a planner, I’m in a privileged position to help others change their lives for the better,” she says.

With this ‘calling’ to the profession, it came as no surprise that Michelle put herself forward for election to the FPA Board in November 2017.

“For some time, I’ve been working in the background with raising awareness of financial planning in the broader community, as well as working with universities to attract great people to our profession.

“The idea of joining the Board had been on my mind for a while, as I saw it as an opportunity to help shape the future of our profession in a more hands-on way, address member needs and to give back to my beloved profession. So, I felt compelled to put up my hand for FPA Board nomination.”

And members responded, voting Michelle to the Board in November 2017.

The best gig ever

Along with her Board responsibilities and meetings, which includes keeping on top of a very fluid and changing professional landscape, Michelle is also Chair of the Congress Committee – a position she has held for over two years.

“Being Chair of the Congress Committee is a significant time commitment but extremely rewarding,” she says. “Bringing together a community of planners for Congress is probably the best gig ever. The vibe has to be right. The content has to be right.

“So, my role as Chair of Congress is to ensure that I am eliciting as much feedback from members as to what they want to see, hear and experience at Congress. My aim is to challenge people’s mindset to make incremental improvements in themselves and their businesses, and to meet challenges head on.”

Michelle confesses that as Chair of Congress, she is in an amazing position to help source and speak to many inspiring and knowledgeable people, in order to deliver a program that is rich in ideas and concepts, that planners are able to take back and implement within their own businesses.

“Our aim at Congress is to challenge practitioners with new ideas and concepts, and help them to deliver better advice to their clients. And I’m confident we are doing that,” she says. “In working on Congress, I see firsthand how driven the FPA team are to deliver to members a great experience.”

There’s much to do

As a small business owner, Michelle is confident in the direction the profession is heading and the small role she is having in shaping the future of financial planning. But if you press her on the three things that concern her most, it would be: the pace of change, the cost of advice, and rebuilding trust.

1. Pace of change

It concerns Michelle that the profession may lose “great people” as a result of the pace of change and the new education standards required for planners.

“At this critical time, the FPA will deliver as much assistance to practitioner members as possible,” she says.

Michelle points to a range of resources, like FPA Return to Learn – an online education hub to assist members better understand the new FASEA education standards, while providing invaluable information.

2. Cost of advice

Michelle would also like to see the escalating cost of advice become more affordable to a greater number of Australians. Ideally, she would love to see financial planning advice be tax-deductible, which remains firmly on the FPA’s policy agenda.

The FPA also has great resources available for planners to help them become more efficient with providing advice, through guidance booklets such as Beyond the Best Interest Duty (focusing on initial advice) and Further Advice(focusing on best practice ongoing advice relationships). In addition, by being part of FPA Professional Practicemembership, planners have access to business tools and forums that enable practitioners to tap into what  best practice advice businesses are doing.

“Unfortunately, as a result of duplication of regulation and compliance that the profession has had to cope with over the last few years, it has actually added to the cost of running a business and providing advice.

“This means consumers who really do need our help are being priced out of the market. However, quality financial advice should be available to all people who need it and at a reasonable price.”

Michelle says the more people who better understand money and financial planning, means there will be more people who are able to make smart financial decisions. “And that’s why financial planning is so meaningful and powerful.”

3. Rebuilding trust

However, when it comes to the future of the profession, Michelle’s glass remains definitely half full, and it’s hard not to be swept up by her enthusiasm.

“What’s very exciting as we move into the future, is that with all the advocacy work the FPA is currently doing, it’s going to be amazing to see how regulation will evolve, transform and change, to enable financial planning to be what it’s all about – helping clients transition through different parts of their lives, by giving them choices and confidence about their own financial futures.”

And while there’s plenty in Michelle’s diary to keep her busy most hours, she does aim to get her life/work balance right. “It’s about practising what you preach,” she says.

To ensure she is “focused, effective and efficient”, Michelle is always forward-looking, which includes adding her own ‘downtime’ into her diary.

“That’s because the people who I love and who are closest to me, are very important to me; they are my number one priority.”

Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP^® is Managing Director and Principal Financial Adviser of Unified Financial Services, which is part of the FPA Professional Practice program that recognises the highest calibre financial planning practices within the profession.

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Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP^®

Practice: Unified Financial Services

Position: Managing Director and Principal Financial Adviser

Years as a planner: 30 years

Elected to the FPA Board: November 2017

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