And the Financial Planner of 2015 is …

A Pretoria-based accountant, tax practitioner and financial planner was named the 15th Financial Planner of the Year at the gala dinner of the annual conference of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) held in Sandton this week.

Award winner Wouter Fourie, the chief executive of Ascor Independent Wealth Managers, was among the three finalists who were honoured when the award, cosponsored by Personal Finance, was made on Wednesday evening.

Cape Town-based planners Bruce Fleming and Mark MacSymon were the runners-up.

All three finalists are Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals and have advanced postgraduate diplomas in various areas of financial planning.

The finalists obtained the highest scores over three rounds of judging, which involve contestants submitting a financial plan for a hypothetical client, having their practices inspected, and facing a panel interview. Each stage of the judging was carried out by 11 judges on three different panels that consist of academics, financial planners, compliance officers and FPI management. Personal Finance’s editor, Laura du Preez, was a judge on the interview panel.

The FPI is a professional body for qualified financial planners, and the CFP designation is regarded as the best qualification a financial planner can attain.

Fourie has more than 17 years’ experience as a financial planner. Ascor Independent Wealth Managers is one of nine that have been recognised as FPI-approved professional practices. It offers a full range of services, including tax, estate and retirement planning and healthcare financing.

Almost everyone can benefit from financial planning, but Fourie believes the ideal client is one who listens, has integrity and appreciates his or her planner’s advice.

Fleming, a lawyer by training, is the executive head of private clients at Consolidated Financial Planning. He was also a finalist for the award last year. MacSymon, an economist by training, is the wealth manager at Private Client Holdings.

“The Financial Planner of the Year award acknowledges the outstanding level of professionalism and ethics adhered to by a CFP professional. It also showcases the highest standard of financial planning advice provided to their clients,” Godfrey Nti, the chief executive of the FPI, says.

“Wouter is a committed member of the FPI and serves on several of our committees. He continues to be involved in our financial literacy education programmes, which create awareness of the value of professional financial planning,” Nti says.