You now have access to some
very talented writers
All of our writers are highly qualified in financial planning. You can read the bios on a few of them below.
Click on each name to read their stories and speciality areas.
Jenny Wallace - Financial Writer
Karen Turner - Financial Writer and Novelist
Andrew Nicholson - Financial and Marketing Writer
Gretchen Alt-Cooper - Financial Writer & Superannuation Specialist
Gerard Shea - Financial Writer & Library Editor
Tennille Catchpole - Financial Writer
Rob Smith - Financial Writer
John Buttling - Marketing & Media Writer
Jenny Wallace, Financial Writer
With more than 10 years experience in the financial services industry, my passion is helping people understand how financial planning issues affect their everyday lives, seeking to create an awareness that ultimately translates into action.
The written word is such a powerful tool in this process. We live in an information era, and there’s no question that technology has the potential to improve our access to knowledge and capacity to communicate. The challenge for financial advisers is how to effectively use this to connect with clients and help them navigate and use the often overwhelming amount of information available.
The diverse roles I’ve held, including financial adviser, educator and subject matter expert, has given me not only a strong technical knowledge, but also an insight into the different ways people learn, communicate and interact. This helps me to take complex issues and express them in a way that is engaging, relevant and easy to understand. I have extensive experience in preparing and reviewing written documents for a range of audiences and in a variety of formats, such as newsletters, print media articles, learning materials and academic papers.
I love the challenge of writing: focusing on the essence of the message to be delivered and building words in a way that captures the attention of the intended audience from the first paragraph to the last.
When I’m not writing, I also love spending time with my family, cheering on the Wallabies, and attempting to create (sometimes successfully) “Masterchef”-inspired dishes.
Karen Turner, Financial Writer & Novelist
After leaving school, I rather accidentally fell in to a financial services role. It was 19 October 1987 – a date that continues to rattle hardened fund managers – and I had no idea what I was in for! Even so, I loved the dynamism and excitement, and was hooked.
Discovering a passion for this industry quite early, I decided to further my interest through education. I attained my Affiliate Diploma with the Australian Insurance Institute, completed DFP1 & DFP2, Unit Trust Administration 1, Unit Trust Administration 2 (both with the Securities Institute) and innumerable other courses.
Twenty-odd years later and this fabulous industry has enabled me to work in Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and all across Australia with large fund managers, banks and software development houses.
My love of learning then took me to other realms; I completed studies in literary editing and achieved Certificate III in Applied Languages. Teaming Certificate IV in Training and Assessment with Adult Learning and Course Design, I added the development of financial training material and technical documentation to my repertoire.
Tight deadlines and hefty subject matter can be intense, so I began winding down on weekends writing fictional prose – a somewhat revealing comment about my social life, perhaps? This, however, led to numerous literary awards – of which I’m quite proud – and my first published book, All That and Everything.
Currently the Vice-President of the Society of Women Writers Victoria, I have just completed my latest novel. Meanwhile, I retain an avid interest in the financial world and I am very excited to be a part of Financial Writers Australia.
I live on the glorious Mornington Peninsula with my husband, dog, and two cats, where I can be found reading, jogging – or pecking way at my keyboard.
Andrew Nicholson, Financial & Marketing Writer
For me, effectively communicating the benefits of quality financial advice is a role I take very seriously.
Beginning my career in financial services in 1986, I gained valuable superannuation experience in a variety of roles. Then in 1996, I combined my knowledge of superannuation and financial services with my love of writing to become a technical writer, specialising in plain language. From here, I made the transition to marketing in AMP Adviser Services.
Working closely with many dealer groups, I’ve written and produced a wide range of materials to help educate the public on financial topics and promote the benefits of quality financial advice. These materials included a series of life stage brochures, booklets and seminar presentations, regular editorial content and advertising and a series of radio scripts A Minute on your Money and A Minute on your Business read by David Koch and broadcast nationally on major radio networks. I also wrote Property Options, a booklet on investing in Australia’s residential property market and co-authored AMP’s Clear Communication Guide with one of Australia’s foremost plain language consultants.
More recently, as writer for a large independently owned financial advisory firm, I’ve written articles for the ASX and Australian Shareholders Association (ASA) newsletters and The Canberra Times on self managed super, corporate bonds and exchange traded funds, as well as copywriting for the firm’s print advertising campaigns and website.
My specialties include engaging article writing, clear and concise web writing, creative copywriting as well as plain language writing and editing expertise.
I have been involved in the financial services arena for over 30 years and when I discovered superannuation in all its complexities in 1980, I knew I had found my niche.
My passion for communicating clearly has coloured every aspect of my life, both professionally and privately. I love it when someone has an “ah-hah” moment (like when I describe superannuation as a method of deferring income from when you are working to when you are not) – suddenly it makes sense to my listener.
I have been an Operations Manager of a trust company with a mixture of corporate, self-employed, association and self-managed superannuation funds in the days when the government was just starting to impose more stringent regulation on how funds operate. I was involved in setting up one of the first industry superannuation funds in Australia.
I have worked with a consulting actuarial firm; running trustee training courses for newly elected and appointed trustees of corporate funds and acting as Managing Editor of a loose-leaf reporting service. I helped a financial advisory firm establish its superannuation division, developed a superannuation banking product, helped an industry fund set up its own administration and managed it until they found the right staff, helped a large corporate fund set up its own administration and managed that for a while.
I am a SPAA Specialist Adviser, a Certified Financial Planner and a Public Accountant, specializing in administration and audit of SMSF. I paint and I sing jazz.
The common thread running through all my work and my hobbies is communication – whether it is writing or speaking, painting or singing. I really want to explain complex ideas simply, clearly and memorably.
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak - Epictetus
Gerard Shea - Financial Writer & Library Editor
I have always had an interest in financial matters, from studying commerce and economics at high school through to accounting, financial planning and corporate law in more recent times.
Having worked on both sides of the finance industry, as an investigator with the Australian Securities Commission (now ASIC) and as a paraplanner, I have gained an unique insight into the industry as a whole.
Combining my interests and experience with my passion for writing is a fortuitous opportunity and working with Financial Writers Australia has given me the chance to do this.
My preferred method of writing is to keep it simple and provide clear and accurate information, the kind I would like to receive myself. I enjoy researching and compiling information and presenting it in an understandable way. With more and more people becoming involved in the financial markets, either directly or indirectly through superannuation, coupled with the thirst for financial knowledge increasing at the same rate, I see a great necessity for good financial writing throughout the community.
Apart from my interests in finance and writing I also have a passion for reading and learning, especially in the areas of law, science and politics – where I have stood as a candidate in my local government elections.
My greatest loves, however, are my wife and two sons whom I could not do without. Working from home has given me the chance to spend more time with my family and watching my youngest son develop during his early years. I am also quite fond of my computer, where I can often be found late into the night creating weird and wonderful things. I enjoy the creative freedom that computers provide.
Tennille Catchpole, Financial Writer
My passion for writing began at university when it always seemed to be me volunteering to be the person to compile the group assignment and create a masterpiece that was easy to read and made sense, but also got us all great marks!
I also have a thirst for education that I find hard to quench and this has helped gain me an Honours degree in Environmental Management, a Masters Degree in Financial Planning, and in my current pursuit of attaining Certified Financial Planner status.
Over the past 12 years I have worked in a variety of fields including hospitality, retail, local government, and a private financial planning practice. I have been working in the financial services industry since 2002 and have fulfilled a range of roles including Personal Assistant, Paraplanner, Mortgage Broker, and Financial Adviser.
As a Financial Adviser, I always found that my most important role was to educate my clients about financial management, assisting them to understand and appreciate the ways in which financial markets operate.
To make it easier to convey this information, I created and penned a monthly newsletter for my previous employer. As a result, anxiety among clients during periods of volatility was practically non-existent.
I now find myself working as a Financial Writer for FWA and I’m excited. My role provides me with an opportunity to indulge my passion for writing and financial education, knowing that my work will assist other organisations to achieve their desired outcomes also.
My love of writing is paralleled by my passion for reading, and I enjoy nothing more than spending a lazy day curled up with man’s best friend - a good book.
Rob Smith, Financial Writer I feel blessed to have been a part of the financial services profession for over 35 years.
In 1974, I was completing my accounting studies for my then work as an investment officer for a superannuation fund when the firm sold the management of the fund’s assets to a life company. That opened up a new world for me of offering life insurance and superannuation to the general public.
That was quite exciting but I felt constrained in selling just that one company’s products. So began my quest to find a way to provide the best products for the benefit of my clients. That led to further study to obtain a Certificate form the Investment Training College of Australia.
I continued my studies and obtained the Diploma of Financial Planning and then my CFP. I progressed to holding my own licence and running a team of advisers.
Over the years, I have been involved in establishing a Trustee Service for a national listed icon, working on committees for Approved Product Lists, Adviser Groups and AFSL Advisory Boards, writing articles for newspapers, speaking engagements at seminars, presentations and on radio. I became Chair of Education in my State with our professional body (IAFP) and helped bring about the merger that eventually formed the FPA. I worked with Integratec, Tribeca and Kaplan in delivering education programs to the industry.
I enjoy helping others to achieve their goals and dreams. The opportunity to write for Financial Writers Australia and our valued clients is one that I cherish – whether it is an article, some marketing material or whatever the brief.
I have two mottos in life –
“Integrity is like virginity because you only get to lose it once” is courtesy of my late Dad and “Everything is possible – miracles just take a bit longer” demonstrates that the word “can’t” is not in my vocabulary.
I look forward to working with you and providing you with the solution to your needs.
John Buttling, Marketing & Media Writer
In my book, WINNING Hearts & Minds With WORDS, the ‘About the Author’ page humbly says, in part: I am a multi-award winning (25 awards in 10 different communication arenas) career copywriter, editor, corporate & marketing communications consultant and a published journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, national publications like the Financial Adviser and international magazines like Thinking Business.
This is not time for being modest. Credibility in your eyes is on the line so I’d better brag to show that I’ve ‘walked the talk’ and ‘written to smitten.’
The cold, clinical boring facts are that my experience and expertise include writing and editing corporate profiles, capability statements, media releases, PR, major tenders/proposals, marketing strategies, websites, client and customer standard letters/surveys, customer/adviser newsletters and magazines, brochures, flyers, advertising copywriting for print, radio and TV, direct mail and videos, technical writing, sales/adviser support, incentives, competitions, conference scripts/theming, seminar scripting, speech writing and event promotion. Most of this has been in the financial services industry, working with 20 industry organisations of all sizes and ambitions.
The warm, fuzzy facts are that my clients tell me they love my creativity, professionalism, attention to detail, results-focus and sense of humour.
My "WINNING Hearts & Minds With WORDS" book is a valuable resource for the financial services industry’s head offices and adviser networks because it draws on 30 years of experience in our industry to offer practical tips for win-win external communications. A case study reveals how forward-thinking industry players can grab the opportunity, with help from FWA, to gain an edge in client communication. The team here is the best in the business.
Thank you for reading about me. However, all of us at FWA are much more interested in you, your organisation and your communication needs.
Our Writing Team relies on our professional Editing Team to add that important "spit and polish" to their work before our clients receive the first draft. Meet our Editors here.