Granite Financial Services
Westfield Tower 2, 101-99 Grafton Street, Bondi Junction NSW
(2)
Westfield Tower 2, 101-99 Grafton Street, Bondi Junction NSW
(2)
Unlike most financial advisers, I have an extensive and broad professional background. I am also a Chartered Account having commenced my career with Price Waterhouse. I have also worked as a corporate taxation consultant and then moved into corporate finance at Westpac Institutional Bank for over a decade.
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2 customer reviews
Anna Malaspina
I have had the opportunity to work with Craig as he helped me sort out my finances leading up to my retirement years. Craig took the time to understand what was important to me and explained in great detail what his recommendations were and why. At all times I felt informed, valued and listened to and I am happy watching my investments growing. Craig's patience with me and calm, methodical approach ensured that I understood the risks and benefits of what I was doing in terms of my investment. I'm grateful for his advice and incredible knowledge. I have certainly learned a few things! More...
Chris Muir
Exceptional service. Very knowledgeable and professional. A great personal investment
What do you love most about your job?
Showing clients how to achieve their life goals which are enabled by a financial plan that they can see will work! But I also enjoy the people I meet and experiencing the evolution of the relationship over time; many of which evolve into friendships.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I worked in "corporate" for many years and as good as it was for those years, there came a time where I just wanted to "do it my way".
Why should our clients choose you?
Many advisers and financial institutions talk about being client focused and building a relationship, but usually that means so long as it is on their terms. I don't take on everyone as a client; but if I do I'm "all in" for the client.
Can you provide your services online or remotely? If so, please add details.
Yes. Well, I think we all can; if we couldn't we wouldn't have survived 2020 and 2021!
What changes have you made to keep your customers safe from Covid-19?
Servicing clients online and being available including outside normal business hours where necessary. For a financial adviser, being safe during Covid was a medical consideration and also a financial one. Being available to discuss what markets were doing and why, and not making rash decisions was key.
Strategic financial advice that addresses exactly what you want to achieve and any other opportunities I might identify (with your agreement). What does this actually mean? See below.
Strategic financial advice is where the services which follow below are brought together in a co-ordinated fashion to deliver to clients' medium to long term personal, family and financial objectives.
In addition to financial advice I have significant experience in banking, accounting and tax consulting/structures (e.g. SMSFs, trusts, company and combinations thereof).
And example of this involved a strategy to drain franked dividends from a private company over time in a tax effective way (i.e. prevent top-up tax and in fact generate tax refunds out of excess franking credits) and at the same time have sufficient personal cash available to make contributions to super (concessional and non-concessional) in a way that maximised the contribution and total super balance caps.
Investment strategies that align with what you want to achieve and your risk tolerance.
Superannuation and retirement advice that allows you to live the retirement you envisage.
It is vitally important that all retirement strategies are supported by projections of client's full life expectancy to ensure that you do achieve your expected retirement style. This also highlights the assets you may leave behind and raises estate planning considerations.
Whole of life financial projections to ensure that the recommendations I make can work for the long term.
The key to projections is understanding the assumptions on which they are based and being prepared to act if/when they become invalid.
Personal insurance advice to ensure that you and those dependent upon you are protected in the event of death, disability and illness.
Sometimes overlooked by clients in the pursuit of wealth creation. However, I talk to clients wanting their Life, TPD, Trauma and Income Protection to be more cost effective and those who are in the unfortunate situation where they are having to make a claim. This is a constant reminder to me to not allow clients to think that serious injury or illness cannot happen to them, because it can and often without notice. The impact on families can be devastating where appropriate insurance is not in place. Default insurance inside super is almost never appropriate to a client's individual circumstances.
Realistic SMSF advice; including where it is needed and where it isn't.
SMSF's can very effective vehicles in certain situations. However, I have seen them set-up in circumstances where they never should have been. I will always recommend what is in the client's best interests and explain it fully.
Estate planning advice.
Taxation, structures and asset protection strategies. See some examples below.
A decade of corporate tax consulting gave me significant experience and skills that are very useful in financial planning.
One example was a strategy that reduce a client's effective tax rate on a capital gain to 11% whilst at the same time delivering on their retirement planning objective.
Another involved the strategy to drain franked dividends from a private company over time in a tax effective way (i.e. prevent top-up tax and in fact generate refunds of excess franking credits) and at the same time have sufficient cash available to make contributions to super (concessional and non-concessional) in a way that maximised the contribution and total super balance caps.
Another was vetting a client's accountants recommendation to set-up a complex tax structure. On this occasion it didn't make sense because of the extent of the ongoing costs that would be incurred.
Mortgage and debt management strategies.
Mortgage and debt management strategies link to cash flow management, budgeting, effective capital allocation and tax planning.
Cash flow budgeting.
Consult and collaborate with your other professional advisers such as tax accountants and lawyers so as to deliver a complete solution.
Its is always important that client's advisers can work together when necessary to produce the best outcomes for the client.
