The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has announced that Marc Olynyk is the new chair of the Financial Planning Education Council (FPEC).
The FPA established the FPEC in 2011 as an independent body chartered with raising the standard of financial planning education and promoting financial planning as a distinct learning area and a career of choice.
The new FPEC chair, Olynyk, is a senior lecturer in Financial Planning and Director of Work Integrated Learning at Deakin Business School. He holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University, a Master of Accountancy from the University of New England, and a Graduate Diploma of Education from La Trobe University.
Commenting on Olynyk's appointment, FPA CEO Dante De Gori CFP said: “The FPA Board is delighted to work with Marc as he brings significant experience within both academia and industry in the areas of financial planning, superannuation, retirement planning, and accounting. He has also played a key role in the development, growth, and recognition of financial planning within both the university sector and the financial planning profession.
“Marc has been a strong advocate for the integration of the CFP® Certification Program into Masters programs. Deakin was the first university to integrate the CFP as an elective into their Master degree. He also led an FPEC sub-committee through the approval of four more education providers. He has excellent relationships with both FASEA and TEQSA and is keen to see FPEC play a stronger role again in the accreditation of tertiary financial planning courses.”
Olynyk replaced Sharon Taylor, who stepped down from chairing FPEC in August to retire at the end of the academic year. Since her appointment as FPEC chair in February 2018, Taylor advocated for both the profession and its educational standards.
De Gori commented: “The FPA Board would like to sincerely thank Sharon for her exceptional contribution to her service to FPEC and the profession. Her input and impact will be missed. Sharon chaired FPEC through a challenging period for the profession and for the educational sector and saw through the transition of accreditation to FASEA and has ensured that FPEC members are now available to support FASEA on accreditations.
“Sharon also supported a number of initiatives designed to navigate these challenges, including the expansion of the FPEC sub-committee roles to include a representative from each university and the exploration of a new research model for financial planning. She has always been steadfast in her drive to ensure quality education at a tertiary level and has never been afraid to refuse accreditation or demand restructuring when deemed necessary.”
