National Panel Chair
Alternate Panel Chairs
Panel Members
Stockbroking Representatives
Financial Planning Representatives
Consumer Representatives

Michael Arnold has extensive private legal practice experience and was formerly Deputy President and Judge of the Accident Compensation Tribunal. He more recently has held the positions of Referee, Alternate Panel Chair and Alternate Adjudicator with the General Insurance Enquiries and Complaints Scheme. He is also a part time legal member of the Medical Practitioners Board.

Michael's qualifications include Bachelor of Laws and Diploma of Public Policy - Public Sector Management. He has also undertaken studies in Japanese Law, Minerals Law, Industrial Relations Law and Mediation.
 

Michael Croyle completed his LLB and his Master of Laws and Letters at Melbourne University. He was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor Supreme Court of Victoria in March 1968 and the Roll of Counsel, Victorian Bar, in August 1972. He has been a Judge of the Accident Compensation Tribunal in Victoria and has accreditation in mediation and has also performed the duties of an alternate Referee at IEC.

Murray Gerkens is currently a Legal Practitioner, practising as a consultant to FCG Legal Pty Ltd in areas of corporate, commercial, criminal, administrative and immigration law. He is Executive Director/Company Secretary for a number of companies and lectures for the Law School, Victoria University. Murray is the author of five published legal texts; and was formerly a Magistrate of the State of Victoria; Chairman of Victorian Police Discipline Board; Chairman of the Country Fire Authority Tribunal; Chairman of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Fire Brigades Tribunal; First Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal.

Dick Viney is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of Victoria and Western Australia.
 

Life Insurance Representatives
Robert Emery has worked in the financial services industry for over 30 years, the last 13 years as Compliance Manager with CBA, IAG (NRMA) and currently with ClearView Retirement Solutions (a company of the MBF Group) as Head of Compliance and Risk. He was appointed as an industry member of the FICS Panel in 1998. Robert is also a member of the ClearView Compliance Committee. He is a Fellow of the National Institute of Accountants, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Councillor of the Australian Compliance Institute.

Glenys O’Leary has over twenty years experience in the insurance industry and is currently a Consultant with G&T Risk Management. Previous positions include Chief Medical Underwriter at Swiss Re Life & Health from 1997 – 2001, as an Underwriting and Claims Risk Management Consultant to major Life Insurance & Reinsurance companies from 1996 – 1997 and both as a Senior Consultant, Policy Development and Executive Underwriter, Training at AMP from 1989 – 1995. Glenys holds a Life Diploma from the Australian Insurance Institute and has served on various committees including the Life Discussion Group of NSW Insurance Committee (1988) and the Education Committee, Australian Life Underwriters & Claims Association (ALUCA), 1999 - 2000. She has been a Member of ALUCA since 1982 and is a Justice of the Peace, NSW.

Iain Ross is experienced as a life insurance executive, superannuation consultant and trustee, board member. He qualified as an actuary in 1962 and worked in life insurance in the UK till 1972 consulting with R Watson and Sons mainly with superannuation funds till 1997. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Amicable Australia in 1997, became the chief actuary of Colonial when it acquired Scottish Amicable in 1990. Iain was the former president of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and chairman of the Life Insurance Federation. Since retiring from full-time work in 1994, he has held various positions on boards and committees.

Graham Slater has wide experience in life insurance. He was appointed an industry member of the FICS Panel in June 2002. He worked for the AXA Asia Pacific Group for many years, ultimately becoming its Group Chief Actuary and the appointed actuary of both National Mutual Life and Australian Casualty & Life. He was also a director of Australian Casualty & Life and of AXA China Region. He is a former member of the Council of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and of the Life Insurance Actuarial Standards Board.
 

Andrew Gillon is General Manager at Gillon Securities where he has worked since January 2003. Previous positions include Corporate Finance Executive at Williams de Broë in London from July 2001 to November 2002 and as a Private Client Advisor and Company Accountant at Deakin Stockbroking in 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and a Bachelor of Arts (Mathematics) both from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.

Marc Huinink is a qualified Chartered Accountant, an accredited Financial Planner and holds a Graduate Diploma in Finance from the Securities Institute of Australia. Marc worked as an Investment Adviser for eight years at Goldman Sachs JB Were before moving to an Executive Director role where he provides advice on both equities and derivatives to high net wealth individuals and families.

Alex Knipping is a former Member of SDIA - Master Stockbroker PS 146 Accredited June 2002 . He was an ASX Authorised Representative 1998 - 2002 (Branch Manager Status) and been a Justice of the Peace for Victoria since 1992.

He commenced with Ord Minnett Limited in 1981 and had responsibility for settlements, institutional dealing and account management for domestic and SE Asian Clients.

From 1998 - 2002 he was Director, Victoria State Manager, Private Client Broking where he had 30 Equity Private Client Advisers and six Financial Planners together with a support staff of 25 reporting to him. His responsibilities included management of the debtor and derivatives risks. He was also responsible for the reputational risk including the compliance role and the management of complaints resolution.

Since 2003 he has been the Portfolio Manager, Intrinsic Investment Management, whose client base includes affluent and high net worth clients. Service provided to them is the management of Australian Equities portfolios.

Barry Murray has a Diploma in Option Strategies (Market Makers Course) Sydney Stock Exchange December, 1984; Futures and Options Course, Commodities Educational Institute Chicago, USA June, 1987; Derivatives Adviser Accreditation (Levels One & Two) Australian Stock Exchange August, 1998; Consultant ASIC Exchange Traded Options; PS146 Accredited Adviser Australian Financial Services Act.

Matthew Wigzell Matthew has worked in the stockbroking industry for over 20 years and has undertaken studies at the Securities Institute of Australia. He is currently National Head of Private Equities at Tolhurst Noall Ltd and was appointed to the Board of Tolhurst Noall in March 2005.


Managed Investment Representative
Brian Scullin has a degree in economics from the Australian National University. He began his career with the Federal Public Service where he worked for seven years on economic policy, initially in the Federal Treasury and subsequently in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. He spent five years working with Cosgrave Holt as a consultant/lobbyist, based in Canberra, and dealing mainly with protection policy and industry assistance issues.

 

Anne Bartholomew has worked in the financial services industry since 1984 initially in banking and funds management before moving to financial planning. She is currently a senior adviser at Mercer Human Resource Consulting Financial Planning in Melbourne. She completed a Master's Degree of Business Administration in 1984 and is a Certified Financial Planner.

Gregory Cunningham holds the CFP designation. Greg established his own AFS licence in June 2003 and is both an authorised representative of Cunningham Financial Services and a Principal Member of FPA. Prior to this he has operated as a sole practitioner for Garvan Financial Planning and was a Senior Planner for MLC Financial Planning where he started in 1996. Greg holds a Master of Management from Macquarie Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University.

Warren McKeown holds the CFP designation and is also a qualified chartered accountant, holding a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and Bachelor of Education from Deakin University. He has held a proper authority/authorised representative licence since July 1988. Since 1996, with the permission of RMIT and while working at RMIT in development of financial planning, he has continued to advise clients on a 1-2 day a week basis to maintain skills required for financial planning. Warren’s role at RMIT is Course Director, Financial Planning and Senior Lecturer, School of Economics and Finance.

Wayne Moriarty holds the CFP designation and is an authorised representative of Hillross Financial Services. He has held an authority continuously since 1987. Wayne owns and operates his own business, Moriarty Financial Services, based in Albury. He holds a Diploma of Financial Planning and is currently completing a Masters of Financial Planning course with the University of Western Sydney. He has been on the Board of the local FPA Chapter for five years and is a charter member of the Hillross Advisers Association Board formed five years ago, and in 2004 he was Vice President and Treasurer. In 2005 Wayne was elected President of that Board, which meets regularly with Hillross and AMP senior management to represent the interests of financial planners.

Peter Roan is a Certified Financial Planner with over 17 years experience in the financial services industry including management roles. Peter is a member of the Financial Planning Association and currently Chapter Chair for the Western Division (NSW) for a sixth year. He is also: an Accredited Advisor for the National Seniors Association; a past member of the FPA National Education Committee for three years; a past member of the Financial Planning Industry Efficiency Advisory Group; current Member of the Australian Ethical Investment Association; Member and Director of Orange Daybreak Rotary Club.

In 1983, he joined the office of the then Leader of the Opposition and in 1984 moved to Liberal Party headquarters. Until the end of 1986 he was secretary to the shadow cabinet and was also responsible for the Liberal Party's market research activities.

In late 1986 Brian moved to Sydney and took up a position as head of Holt Public Relations. In 1988, he was appointed the inaugural executive director of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), a non-profit organization that supports and represents Australia's superannuation fund trustees.

He joined Bankers Trust Australia in 1993 as the business strategist in funds management and later had responsibilities for marketing, technology, legal, tax and compliance, security services, investor services and margin lending. He was posted to Tokyo and became president of Japan Bankers Trust Company in 1997.

Brian was appointed head of Deutsche Asset Management Japan in August 1999 and in October was appointed regional head of Asia/Pacific with responsibility for the Australian, Asian and Japanese markets.

Brian retired from full-time employment at the end of 2002 but remains actively involved in the Australian funds management industry through his role as a non-executive director of Deutsche Asset Management and associated companies. He was until recently a vice chairman of the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA), and remains on their nominations committee. He is a part-time member of the Federal Government's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and a director of State Super Financial Services.

Peter Van West has been the owner of Investment Initiative for over 10 years. He is a senior planner for the firm and is responsible for all the planning decisions. In 2001, three colleagues and himself established their own Dealer Principal company, Financial Force Pty Ltd, which is an Australian Financial Services Licencee and is a Dealer Principal Member of the Financial Planning Association. His role is Director, Compliance, Training and Development. Prior to establishing Investment Initiative he was Manager, Financial Planning, Queensland for Trust Company of Australia Limited for 6.5 years. Prior to that he worked for the ANZ Banking Group where he was a Personal Banking Officer. He has had 30 years of experience in personal and small business finance with unique experience in several key areas such as estate planning, lending and small business advising property acquisition, debt counselling and financial recovery.

Gavin Wright joined the financial services industry in 1986 through National Mutual. Until now he has worked in the insurance, accounting and banking industries but always with a focus in Financial Planning. In 1993 he was appointed to head the financial planning unit of KPMG for Victoria and Tasmania and built that practice substantially, before he left to start his own practice Wright Planning in 1997. In July 2001, Investec and Wright Planning came together to establish the Private Client Advisory unit in Melbourne. Earlier this year Gavin reestablished Wright Planning Pty Ltd. Throughout his career, Gavin has been committed to ongoing education and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and is Chair of the Education Committee for the FPA. Since 1993, Gavin has operated an independent and fee-based practice focusing on client needs and services.
 

Stephen Duffield is currently Manager, Human Rights Unit - Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission and the Consumer Representative for FICS. He holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence. He has been a Government Relations Consultant; Director, Strategic Communications, SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Khaldoun Hajaj is a prominent consumer advocate with expertise in dispute resolution, general insurance, life insurance and superannuation. He is currently acting as General Manager of the Insurance Brokers Disputes Ltd, a Director of Policy and Research at the Financial Services Consumer Policy Centre and is Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law where he also teaches Insurance Law and Financial Services Law Reform. He has qualifications in Arts, Political Economy and is completing a Law Degree. He held policy related positions at Federal and State Parliaments and has had first hand experience of industry practice whilst working as a Government Relations Adviser at the Financial Planning Association. He is an active member of the Consumers' Federation of Australia.

Winsome Hall is a Trustee of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme and the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme Boards, responsible for investment of members' funds and scheme administration. Together the Funds invest over $11 billion AUS. She was appointed a member of the Board's Audit and Risk Management Committee in 1997 and has been Chair of this Committee since 1998 until November 2004, ensuring oversight of a major review of accounting operations and the introduction of risk management procedures. Winsome was first appointed by the Minister of Finance as a member nominee recommended by the ACTU, in 1996.

In 2001 Winsome was appointed to the Board of Colonial First State Private Capital Limited, a listed vehicle for ordinary shareholders to invest in private companies and infrastructure. She was appointed to the Board's Audit Committee in 2003.

Winsome has previously been a Director in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, providing advice on a range of social and economic issues including superannuation. She has also been ACT Branch Secretary of the Community and Pubic Sector Union.

Jenny Lawton was appointed to FICS in 2003. She worked from 1987 to 2004 as a consumer advocate and financial counsellor in a variety of community settings, including four years with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. These roles involved conducting casework and undertaking policy and research into consumer financial issues, as well as actively promoting consumer education and professional development on related topics. Trained and experienced in alternative dispute resolution techniques, Jenny has also taken on consultancy roles for commercial and consumer projects. She has held various Board positions with the Consumer Rights Council Victoria, was Chairperson of the Welfare Rights Unit for nine years, and has been an Executive Member of the Consumers' Federation of Australia since 2000. A graduate in Primary Teaching, Arts and Law, Jenny was an alternate member of the General Insurance Claims Review Panel between 1993 and 2004.

Joan Staples has a strong background in consumer and non-government organisations, combined with skills in rigorous legal analysis and practical application of administrative law. She is a Council Member of the Australian Consumers' Association (ACA).

She is currently lecturing to undergraduate and post-graduate students at the University of NSW Law Faculty, in areas of corporate governance and public advocacy, particularly in not-for-profit corporations and associations.

Her experience in ACA, the National Consumer Affairs Advisory Council and the former Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations has provided her with an interest in the financial sector over many years.

Joan has negotiating experience between often antagonistic national stakeholders - community, government and industry. She also has the ability to recognise systemic issues in organisational structures.

Kim Wilson is a qualified solicitor and mediator and acts as a consultant in areas of policy development and strategic advice, Government relations, regulatory affairs, facilitation, mediation and arbitration, negotiation and issues management. In recent times his appointments and consultancies have included: Deputy Chairman, NSW Coal Compensation Tribunal; Chairman, Fair Trading Advisory Council, Infommercial Inquiry; Member, Internal Ombudsman Panel, Civil Aviation Authority Australia and Presidential Consultant, National Native Title Tribunal.