Our Team

Find out more about the team at In Wealth Financial Services...

Core team

3

Maria Mercieca

Managing Director
Who I am …

M aria is a fully qualified Chartered Accountant having completed her Bachelor of Business in Accounting in 1993. She worked for Coopers and Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers) as an accountant and financial planner, working primarily with high net worth individuals and self-managed superannuation funds. Maria then moved on to Equity Trustees in order to assist in the establishment of a financial planning division within the company and later moved on to Towers Perrin, again to assist in establishing the Melbourne financial planning arm.

Maria left the workforce in 2001 to raise a young family. She returned as a part time paraplanner whilst continuing to care for her family in order to keep in touch with the financial planning industry. Maria’s services were soon in high demand. This demonstrated that experienced paraplanners, with a true understanding of the demands and needs of a financial planning practice, were in short supply. Maria had a preference for the technical aspect of providing advice. Sensing an opportunity, Maria decided to carve out a career in the Paraplanning sector.

Maria’s accounting, taxation and superannuation knowledge place her in good stead to provide sound technical advice and to formulate strategies catering to your clients needs.

3

Charles Mercieca

Operations Manager
Who I am …

Charles’ role in the business is many and varied. An Accounting graduate – having completed his Bachelor of Business in Accounting in 1993 – Charles is the primary person in charge of the financial aspects of the business, overseeing Accounts Payable and Receivable, Financial Forecasting, and Budgeting.

Charles has almost 20 years experience in I.T. related roles with some of Australia’s biggest financial services companies, covering projects relating to data security and privacy, reporting and data-mining, forensic analysis and data integrity, acquisition due-diligence, and the establishment of operational standards and best practices. Charles extensive corporate experience makes him the ideal person to look after the data held within IWFS.

Rounding out his responsibilities, Charles is also heavily involved in all operational aspects of IWFS, including its recruiting process, staff performance and training, and the development of operational standards and documentation, and together with Maria, strategy and business planning.

3

Jessica Lansdown

Workflow Co-ordinator
Who I am …

Jess is the friendly voice on the end of our phone line. She is responsible for the plan quotes sent to our clients, the allocation of work to Paraplanners, and the distribution of completed plans back to our clients, as well as other various administrative tasks.

Jess has a good knowledge of the finance industry, having previously worked in banking for 10 years. She has many years’ experience working in customer service, and is now enjoying the challenge of working in the Financial Advice field. She is passionate about organisation and is enjoying putting these skills to work for In Wealth.

Outside of work, Jess has 2 children and loves following them in their sporting activities. She loves following the AFL and cricket, and enjoys baking, reading and watching trashy tv in her spare time.

Some of our Paraplanners

Ashley

Ashley started working in Financial Planning Services in 2009 working in Client Services and Office Management. In 2013, Ashley completed her RG146 qualifications and went on to become a Financial Adviser for the following 6 years, specialising in insurance, wealth accumulation and retirement planning for a wide range of retail clients, also completing the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning.
Having a solid technical knowledge in a broad range of strategies and with two young children, a little weary of travelling for work, Ashley decided to pursue a career change in Contract Paraplanning in order to utilise her expertise and solid proficiency in Xplan, whilst providing the flexibility to spend more time with her family.
Ashley prides herself on working with advisers to achieve the best outcomes for their clients and establishes collaborative relationships with those that she works with. She enjoys working across a broad range of strategies (including a sound knowledge in SMSF and Gearing strategies) and modelling financial outcomes.
Outside of work, Ashley enjoys spending time with her husband and two children and is very lucky to have a close extended family to spend time with. She spends time exploring the NSW regional countryside on long weekends in the caravan and loves good books, good wine and being creative.

Erin

Erin comes to In Wealth with 16 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, 10 of those as a paraplanner. Erin holds an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning as well as exceptional skills in Xplan and AdviserNet platforms.
When not travelling, Erin loves to spend time with her partner and pets, looking to add to her current menagerie of a turtle, a lizard and a dog.
Erin has been with In Wealth since April 2013.

Adriana

Adriana has worked in the financial planning industry since 2012, starting as a receptionist/ administration officer and quickly working her way up to Paraplanner and later as an Adviser. She holds a Bachelor of Accounting and Bachelor of Financial Planning, and is experienced in working with a broad range of financial planning strategies. Adriana prides herself on her strong technical knowledge, and enjoys modelling and analysing various strategies.
In 2017, Adriana proudly won the Financial Planning Association’s Paraplanner of the Year award, and this partially drove her decision to pursue a career change in 2018 and become a Contract Paraplanner – enabling her to do what she is passionate about, working closely with advisers preparing strategies and Statements of Advice whilst gaining valuable additional experience along the way.
In her spare time, Adriana enjoys travelling, camping and fishing with her partner, and generally spending time outdoors enjoying the beautiful Queensland weather.

Sarah S

Sarah started paraplanning in 2008 after completing her RG146. She completed her Diploma of Financial Planning while working in Business Development in 2010.
Sarah is highly skilled in Coin and Xplan and has an interest in the areas of Superannuation, Retirement Planning, Personal Insurance and Investments.
She joined the In Wealth team in October 2013.

Margott

Margott has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years working for both large corporations and boutique family operated businesses. Her first role in customer service/office administration for a financial adviser soon led to a career in paraplanning. She did step out as an adviser for a few years and although loving the client interaction, missed the analytical work involved in preparing and constructing financial plans so moved back to being a Senior Paraplanner. She has a Bachelor of Economics majoring in accounting and commercial law as well as the Diploma of Financial Planning. Her solid technical knowledge base encompasses a diverse range of financial strategies which has allowed her to prepare a wide range of Statements of Advice including those for SMSFs, company and trust structures. She commenced work as a contract paraplanner in 2014 with In Wealth after leaving a large corporation and daily commutes of 3 hours. This has given her the flexibility of working from home and she has never looked back. When not preparing plans she is walking in the bush, learning to play piano and enjoying time with her family.

Joanna

Joanna has worked in the financial services industry since 2001 following the completion of her Bachelor of Commerce degree (Economics and Finance).
Since 2006 (after working in administration and Adviser Support roles), Joanna has worked in various Paraplanning and Technical Adviser roles for a number of companies including Colonial First State and at the same time completed her Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning).
Joanna enjoys preparing Statement of Advice documents of all levels of complexity and has extensive knowledge and skills in Xplan, COIN and DRAFT software.
Joanna’s Paraplanner and Technical Adviser roles have allowed her to gain strong technical knowledge and experience in formulating and analysing strategies and in the preparation of Statement of Advice documents in a variety of areas including wealth creation, superannuation, retirement planning, risk management, social security and aged care.
Outside of work, Joanna enjoys spending time with her family.

Georgina

Georgina has been working in the financial planning industry for the past 9 years and is proficient in Xplan software. Georgina holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Majoring in Financial Planning from Curtin University in Perth and will soon be commencing her studies to become a Certified Financial Planner.
Georgina’s hobbies include travel and spending time with her young family.

Laura J

Laura has been in the Financial Services industry for over 15 years, most recently as a Financial Adviser for a boutique practice in Brisbane CBD. She left to start a family and decided to use her Paraplanning experience in combination with her front line advising capabilities to assist other advisers with their Paraplanning needs.
Laura holds a Diploma in Financial Planning and has exceptional knowledge of Xplan. She specialises in Self Managed Super Funds, Pre and Post Retirement, Gearing and Insurance.
When she’s not working Laura loves spending time with her partner and playing with her one year old son. She loves camping, reading and a bit of karaoke!

Luciana

Luciana joined the In Wealth team in June 2018, with over 11 years experience in the Financial Services industry. Prior to working with In Wealth, she held administrative, paraplanning and compliance roles, working directly with advisers to provide high quality financial advice and service. Luciana holds a Bachelor of Business and Masters of Financial Planning and is proficient in the use of both COIN and Xplan. She loves her job because it provides her with the flexibility to spend more time with her two children and the opportunity to work with a broad range of advisers and strategies.
Outside of work Luciana enjoys spending time with her family and friends.