Meet Your GCFA Advisers

Ryan is GCFA’s primary financial planning adviser with a deep background in investment management and retirement planning. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science Finance with Honours from the University of Cape Town — one of Africa’s leading universities — and a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning, and has earned the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, the most widely recognised professional qualification in financial planning.

Ryan’s international background brings a perspective on investment and retirement planning that is uncommon in regional Australian practice. His UCT Finance degree involved rigorous quantitative training in portfolio theory, asset pricing and financial analysis. His subsequent work in financial planning — including time in South Africa’s competitive private wealth market — developed practical expertise in retirement income structuring, investment portfolio construction and client advice across complex financial situations.

At GCFA, Ryan handles comprehensive financial planning advice — superannuation, retirement planning, investment strategy and insurance structuring for clients with complex situations. His CFP designation reflects a commitment to ongoing professional development and adherence to the Financial Planning Standards Board’s competency, ethics and professional standards.

Qualifications: BBusSc Finance (Hons) — University of Cape Town · Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning · Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

Trent is the co-founder and driving force behind the WebInsure group. He began his insurance and financial services career in Moree NSW in 1992, working in regional agricultural communities across northern NSW before co-founding WebInsure in 1996. Over more than three decades he has built genuine expertise that spans both general insurance broking and personal financial planning — an unusual combination that is particularly valuable for clients whose personal financial needs intersect with business and agricultural risk.

Trent holds an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning and a Diploma of Insurance Broking, is a Qualified Practising Insurance Broker (QPIB), a Senior Associate of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), and holds the Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) senior associate designation. He is a member of the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA). This combination of financial planning and insurance qualifications allows Trent to advise clients holistically across personal and business risk.

As a director of GCFA and principal of the WebInsure group, Trent oversees the strategic direction of the practice and provides personal financial advice to clients across the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, New England and beyond. His regional background and genuine understanding of agricultural and small business communities is a distinctive asset for clients in those sectors.

Qualifications: Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning · Diploma of Insurance Broking · QPIB · Senior Associate CIP · ANZIIF · NIBA member

Tony brings decades of specialist experience in personal risk insurance — life insurance, total and permanent disability, trauma and income protection. This depth of focus in a specific area of financial services is genuinely unusual and represents real value for clients who need rigorous insurance advice rather than a generalist overview.

As a director of GCFA, Tony provides general advice on personal risk insurance — helping clients understand what they currently hold, whether it is appropriate for their situation, and what needs to change. His extensive insurer relationships and product knowledge allow him to navigate the market effectively on behalf of clients, identifying where policies have become overpriced relative to the market, where definitions are inadequate, and where the structure of cover can be improved without necessarily increasing cost.

Tony works closely with the claims assistance function — a natural extension of insurance advice. Understanding how claims are assessed and what insurers look for at claim time informs how cover is structured from the outset. The best personal insurance advice anticipates the claims process from day one, ensuring that the cover will actually perform when it is needed most.

Experience: Decades of specialist personal risk insurance experience. Director, GCFA Pty Ltd.