Associate Professor Mark Brimble from the Griffith Business School has been presented with a Distinguished Service Award by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA).
Chair of the FPA Board Matthew Rowe said Dr Brimble has “helped enormously to develop plans for the future of the industry” when he presented the award at a function in Sydney.
Mr Rowe highlighted Mark Brimble’s outstanding contribution to the industry in his role as chair of the Financial Planning Education Council (FPEC).
“He has guided the development of a university curriculum while also helping the financial planning community at large to build its reputation as a profession,” he said.
FPEC was established with the aim of raising the standard of financial planning education. Comprising financial planner practitioners and academics, it has promoted financial planning as a distinct learning area and a career of choice for students and career changers.
FPEC launched an approved national Accreditation and Curriculum Framework for financial planning degrees in 2012. The new accreditation framework defines the financial planning curriculum for degree qualifications, establishing uniform standards for content, modes of delivery and assessment regimes across university programs.
Completion of an accredited degree program effectively created a pathway for students to professional membership with the peak body.
Associate Professor Brimble’s focus on professionalising the financial planning industry also earned him an Office of Learning and Teaching National Teaching Fellowship in 2013. He is presently working on enhancing the employability of finance graduates by using his fellowship to develop improved work-integrated learning standards across the industry.
“Mark is a leading light among university academics who can engage with commerce and with professional bodies. He has a balanced view of what it takes to make it work,” Mr Rowe, Managing Director at Hood Sweeney in Adelaide, said.
“Mark is a fantastic link between students, universities and the professional practice. He understands what universities need to make programs more feasible while also understanding the drivers and needs of students.
“His ability to articulate the needs of universities is valuable, as is his capacity to translate the profession’s needs at university level to bring about new curriculums of use. He has helped shape our thinking in this area.”
With the profession set to grow up in forthcoming years, Mr Rowe says Dr Brimble’s contribution in this area has been very well timed. He estimates the demand for financial planners will have doubled by 2020.