Women in finance – Amanda Cassar

“There is still a long road to correcting the gender disparity that’s present in the finance sector.”

Amanda Cassar is the Adviser Director at Wealth Planning Partners on the Gold Coast, but when she started her career, she had never heard of a financial planner. That’s not surprising considering the term only came to prominence in the early 90s.

But Amanda will be the first one to say that it isn’t just job titles that have changed over the years. There were few women practicing in finance when she first started and she observed that she was often the only woman in a meeting room. Now there are obviously more, but there is still a long road to correcting the gender disparity that’s present in the finance sector.

It’s a topic Amanda is passionate about. As well as helping her clients in areas such as risk mitigation strategies, SMSFs and investment, Amanda is also a proponent for women in finance as well as promoting financial literary for women.

Amanda believes when it comes to personal finance, women aren’t quite up to scratch yet.

“The challenges women face with their finances is generational. For a long time, women weren’t tasked to look after finances, but that changed as more of them joined the workforce. Now the problems they have are to do with financial literary and confidence. I’ve met some very smart, successful women who put their head in the sand when it comes to finances and neglect to get help when they really need it,” Amanda said.

As for women practicing in finance, there are initiatives to help bridge the gap – one of which is AFA Inspire, which is a collaborative and supportive network for women seeking and providing financial advice. It organises several events during the year – recently it held a lunch on International Women’s Day. Amanda has been running the Gold Coast chapter of the association for around 5 years and loves being involved and supporting women.

For women wanting to move further in their financial careers, Amanda Cassar suggests “they should approach someone to be a mentor – there are some amazing women, in the space, include Jenny Brown, Deborah Kent and Michelle-Tate Lovery, who would be more than willing to share their journey and provide advice.”

When asked whether she had a female mentor, Amanda explains “my mentors were men, because there weren’t that many women around when I was getting started.” It was perhaps this lack of female peers that compelled her to look for liked minded women to connect with, which she found in Business Chicks. The organisation has attracted international speakers of the highest calibre, including Sir Richard Branson, Michelle Bridges, Arianna Huffington and Sir Bob Geldof.

It also offered her what she considers to be the most rewarding experience of her life – working with charity The Hunger Project in Uganda and Malawi. She explains that it completely changed her perspective and that she has photos of the children she worked with on her computer as a reminder on what’s important.

And what’s important is acknowledging women’s contribution to the finance industry – especially women like Amanda, who is part of a larger network that offers support to people who are just beginning their careers.