Meet Bronwen Batty, Senior Financial Adviser

Senior financial adviser Bronwen Batty brings two decades of experience as a financial adviser to Alteris Financial Group. Having joined at the end of 2021, she is a relatively new face in the company, however, in this short time, Alteris and its people have really made a strong impact on her.

“Alteris is a forward-thinking business and at the forefront of providing quality financial advice to clients,” says Bronwen. “This is demonstrated by the people in the business, the systems and processes – all combine to provide quality services to clients. The businesses within Alteris make sense for me as an adviser to provide and offer services that deliver quality advice to clients and the businesses leverage of each other to do this.”

A Certified Financial Adviser with a Diploma of Financial Markets, Bronwen enjoys working with the professional group of like-minded people at Alteris Financial Group.

Her areas of interest include complex strategy for clients and women’s wealth, particularly in supporting women to transition through life phases. She especially enjoys developing long-term client relationships, goal setting and supporting clients to make informed financial decisions that align with their values. “Clients are at the centre of everything we do,” says Bronwen. “I’m a people person so helping people is what drives me.”

As such, her typical day involves preparing for client review meetings and new client meetings, meeting with clients, writing up file notes and follow-up work post meetings. She also liaises with new clients received via introduction, considers client strategies, reviews client advice documents in preparation for sending and works with client service managers and paraplanners regarding clients. In addition, Bronwen is required to keep abreast of current market environment in relation to client portfolios.

Reflecting on her early steps into the world of finance, Bronwen explains that her parents directed her to an office-type job following school. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I more or less fell into this industry,” she says. “I remember my path and mindset after school was just to work and save money to travel. My first job in financial services was at Bankers Trust (now BT), where I worked as an assistant/PA in Commodities in the dealing room. It was certainly an exciting environment and introduction to financial markets for a young person.

“At this time, my Mum bought me a book on managing finances, saving and budgeting. This, and working in an environment where the larger end of town were managing and investing money directly on the market for institutional investors, generated an interest in me in how individuals seek and access advice.

“There were not many advice roles advertised around this time, so while at Bankers Trust I moved into its Funds Management area. Here, I received comprehensive training on the technical aspects of superannuation, retirement and investments. I just understood it and naturally starting thinking about strategies and how they could help people.”

From here, Bronwen started talking with retail clients as part of the Client Services Team, and also worked at the Investor Services Centre in Martin Place.

Later, while at BT, Bronwen had roles managing client service teams, then Superannuation Education, to BT’s corporate client staff. “However, after our second son was born, it was difficult to commute to the city – I was no super woman!” she says. “So, I looked to put my experience into becoming an adviser. I studied my CFP and worked locally in accountancy practices as an in-house financial planner.

“When our second son started high school, I wanted to work back in the city where there was more opportunity for an adviser and joined Mercer, becoming a principal of the firm. My values and passion for helping and servicing financial advice clients has led me now to working for a privately owned boutique firm that holds the same values.”

These days, when it’s time for animal-lover Bronwen to enjoy some downtime, she says she will most likely be found spending time with her family, walking the dog, playing soccer, watching her sons play football in winter, or training at outdoor bootcamp. And, when COVID-19 restrictions permit, Bronwen loves to catch up with friends at cafes or restaurants, and plan her upcoming and highly anticipated holidays.

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