First Financial

---

First Financial Principal James Wrigley has been recognised as one of the top financial advisers in Australia and nominated in the Financial Standard Power50 – recognising the 50 most influential financial advisers in the country.

The First Financial Team enjoyed a team social event for the end of financial year and tested out their lego building prowess while making a special contribution to charity.

It’s been a long couple of years. The First Financial team started working from home at the end of March in 2020 but we are excited to say that we are now back in the office!

We provide our team with many different training opportunities. One of these programs is the Financial Adviser Professional Year and we are excited to have another three people on the journey to becoming fully qualified advisers.

In the middle of the recent Melbourne lockdown, First Financial’s Executive Assistant to the MD, Katie Stevens and her partner Andy welcomed their son Beau Michael Boylen into the world.

We are now the record holders for the longest cumulative lockdown of any city in the world. During the lockdown some of our team members welcomed new furry friends into their lives… we are very grateful for our pandemic pets.

The year has certainly seen significant changes in how we deliver our services, but we are proud to have maintained strong client relationships and found appropriate solutions to any challenges we faced.

Whilst things are certainly looking up, we are not out of the woods just yet. No one knows what is going to happen next and people only make predictions because they are asked to. But we can have a ‘wish list’…

As we draw closer to the end of 2020, the team at First Financial has continued to find ways to keep motivated and stay connected. After more than eight months working from home and going through the tough Melbourne lockdowns.

It’s a First Financial tradition to celebrate the end of the financial year. This year with coronavirus restrictions enforced, we turned the party digital to make sure we still said “Cheers” to another successful year.

Working from home has become the new normal during the coronavirus lockdown, and the First Financial team has truly embraced the digital conditions to make sure our clients continue to receive our high level of service.

In November 2019, a team of First Financial basketball enthusiasts competed in the National Corporate Games. While they didn’t make it to the finals, they played some fantastic matches and have a new found camaraderie with each other.

The new year is well underway and First Financial’s Managing Director, Ben Rossi, would like to share his thoughts and well wishes for the months ahead.

Anthony Dhillon, Senior adviser, recently completed his 150th plasma donation through Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. An incredible achievement that has taken over six years to complete.

There have been many wonderful reasons to celebrate during 2019! Within the First Financial family we’ve had engagements, weddings and beautiful babies… every tear jerking moment you can imagine.

In November, 14 of our staff spent an industrious afternoon working at FareShare, an organisation that is dedicated to minimising food wastage and creating healthy meals that are distributed around Melbourne to homeless shelters, food vans and refuges.

We’ve always been proud of our team… they are pretty awesome! And in recent months we’ve had so many internal staff promotions that we have been in a constant state of congratulations.

One of the key recommendations from the recent Royal Commission into the financial services industry was to raise the education standards required to become a financial adviser.

As the financial year comes to a close, it gives us the perfect opportunity to review all the activities that have occurred over the last 12 months and announce an exciting change that is about to take place.

We know that many of our clients love to support their community and that they engage in different philanthropic activities. This is also true for the First Financial team!

Career development is very important to the team here at First Financial. We love to see our people grow and extend their skills as they build their career.

First Financial is the proud sponsor of the Murray Greys, a group of avid golfers who meet annually for a social competition. Many members are husband and wife duos who enjoy playing golf together.

Did we mention that there’s a lot of love at First Financial?Earlier this year we featured three separate team members’ weddings… there were plenty of reasons for celebrating. Well it’s time to raise the glass again as we toast one more union!

Janice Crosswhite, Sue Pickering, Jenny Connolly and Faye Campbell are all First Financial clients and members of the Aussie Butterflies basketball team, an inspiring group of women who travel the country and the world, playing a sport they love.

There were smiles, laughter and even a few tears at each of the nuptials of Adam Ezerins, Stefanie Costa and William Hume. The three newly-weds kindly gave us some photos of their special days and a little insight into the love they share with their partners.

It gives us great pleasure to announce the recent promotion of two of our First Financial team members. Adela Ngai takes a step up to financial adviser and Harley Leslie makes the move to associate adviser.

When clients Ray and Jenny Pietsch told First Financial Principal Ben Rossi about The Cold Frog Challenge, a charity sleep out they were organising to raise funds and awareness for homelessness in their local area, Ben didn’t hesitate with his support.

Beautiful little Mia was born last month, weighing 2.9 kg (6lbs 7oz) to proud parents Honi and Chris Crough.Chris, who is a principal at First Financial, tells us both Honi and Mia are doing really well and that so far everything has been much easier than they expected.

We know we’re doing something right when ex-staff members knock on our door again. We recently welcomed two First Financial alumni, Adam Ezerins and Paul Seidl, back into the family after a few years testing the waters elsewhere.

There’s no greater compliment to the business than when one of our own decides to put down roots with the firm.

James Wrigley has been with First Financial for over 10 years.

Congratulations to our newest Associate Adviser, Emily Still. At First Financial, when we see someone who’s a fast learner and an exceptional communicator, we like to give them a reason to stay.