David Brown

Chairman & Senior Insurance Adviser

David is an optimistic visionary, never satisfied with good enough, always seeking to improve the way he runs his business, the lives of his clients and his family life.

For more than a quarter of a century, David has led a multi-award-winning financial services practice with a diverse skillset that combines industry knowhow with practical, passionate and personalised service. His dual qualifications and experience in both accounting and financial planning make David a formidable force when it comes to providing sound, considered financial advice to medical specialists, self-employed professionals and business leaders.

He is particularly passionate about protecting his clients, and those they love, from having their financial aspirations derailed by unexpected life events. As a business owner and father-of-four, David has first hand insights into the complexities of balancing personal and professional financial goals and obligations. Drawing upon his experience as an accountant, David’s extraordinary talent as an adviser and business owner is to integrate the many aspirations of his clients’ family and business life and recommend sensible, considered options that encompass his clients entire financial life.

The overarching principle that drives David is – doing what is best for the firms’ clients, 100% of the time. The one overwhelming comment that a client can say that means more than anything else to him is “David, I trust you”.

Vincent O’Neill

Chief Executive Officer

Vincent grew up in Northern Ireland before moving to Dublin to commence his degree in Commerce & Law at University College Dublin. After moving to Australia he joined Stanford Brown in 2007 to work in the private client investment team.

Vincent is a Private Wealth specialist focusing on providing financial advice to high net worth clients on wealth creation, retirement planning and asset structuring. His primary focus is developing lasting relationships through helping clients understand and define their personal, professional and financial goals.

In his role as CEO, Vincent manages a team of highly qualified professionals with extensive experience and unique areas of core expertise. This diversified skill set allows Stanford Brown deliver advice which is knowledgeable, pro-active and a source of genuine value add for their clients.

Vincent is married to Chantelle, and they are the proud parents of daughters, Roisin, Niamh and son Thomas. He enjoys relaxing with his family and is an avid sports fan who loves an opportunity to watch his favourite teams play live.

Hamish Harvey

Principal & Private Wealth Adviser

Hamish is a Wealth Management specialist, who focuses on providing financial advice to individuals, trustees and directors requiring specialist guidance in the planning, structuring and investment of their assets.

As a result of experience and education Hamish has accumulated considerable technical knowledge in the areas of wealth management, retirement, superannuation and estate planning. This knowledge is applied in conjunction with fundamental financial planning principles to all client portfolios.

Hamish, originally from Adelaide, completed school at Pembroke and went on to complete a Bachelor of Commerce at Bond University.  Hamish then moved to Sydney and begun his career as an Equities Adviser prior to moving to the United Kingdom.  Working as an Equities Adviser in both Sydney and London, Hamish gained invaluable experience in global markets and managing portfolios on behalf of his private clients.

Whilst living in the UK, Hamish took the opportunity to travel the world. On his return to Australia in 2005, Hamish joined the team at Stanford Brown and went on to become a Partner in 2007.

Hamish is married to Louise, and they are the proud parents of Isabella and George.

Ashley Owen

Chief Investment Officer

Ashley was born in Singapore, educated in Australia and the United States and now lives in Sydney.

In a career spanning 34 years he has held several senior executive roles at Citigroup, HSBC and ANZ Banking Group where he was responsible for a variety of national functions including lending, credit, branch operations, marketing, financial control and strategic planning at national and group levels.

For the past 15 years he has focused mainly on investment markets, and has developed a proven fact-based approach to managing long term investment portfolios that is based on how financial markets work in the real world rather than slavish adherence to flawed academic theories. His focus in portfolio management is on risk management and downside protection. Prior to joining Stanford Brown he spent 5 years advising and managing $4b in client portfolios for a major independent Australian advisory group, with all portfolios beating their relevant benchmarks.

Ashley holds degrees in Economic History, Law and Finance and is a CFA® charter-holder. He is a member of the Education Advisory Board Working Committee of the CFA Institute (US). He has written three books on finance and investing for Wiley, the leading global publisher of technical and education books. He has spoken at numerous conferences in Australia and Asia on financial markets and investing.

Ashley has lectured on capital markets for the Securities Institute of Australia at various times since the late 1980s and has also lectured for the CFA Sydney Society. He was a co-founder of Tribeca Learning (since sold to Kaplan Learning), a leading provider of financial training to finance professionals.

He has been a director of a number of companies including listed, private, charitable and not-for-profit organisations and is a current director of Third Link Growth Fund, a top performing Australian share fund that donates all of its fees to Australian charities. He is also a co-founder and major contributor to www.cuffelinks.com.au, a leading independent financial newsletter for investors and industry professionals.

James McFarland

Director, Insurance & Corporate Employee Benefits

With over 14 years’ experience in the insurance and corporate services industry James leads our risk insurance team. He is well known for his friendly and professional manner as well as an advocate for his insurance clients at claim.

James started in the Insurance industry in October 2000. He has extensive experience partnering with high income earners, business owners and partnerships in developing tailored insurance solutions to meet both their individual and business needs.

One of James’s most important attributes is that he recognises that the relationship between an insurance adviser and client is ongoing and long term. The relationship does not end after your insurances policies are first issued but continues to be monitored and tailored to suit both changes in your financial circumstances and changes to the insurance industry.

James finds the most rewarding aspect of being a Risk Adviser is as your advocate at claim time. He understands the intricacies of the claims process and the possible challenges of dealing with insurance companies at an already stressful time.

James is married to Jolene and they are the proud parents of daughter Evelyn and son William.

Andrew Griffin

Private Wealth Adviser

Andrew joined Stanford Brown in 2012 having previously worked for Travelex, managing the foreign exchange transactions and risk protection for corporate importers and exporters in Australia.

Andrew chose to change career to the financial advice profession which directly complements his passion for people and investment markets. He enjoys interacting with individuals, couples and families and providing truly personalised and tailored financial advice, presented in an understandable and jargon-free way. Andrew is on track towards completing the highest qualification in the advice field, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

Andrew is married to Camilla and they are the proud parents of their first child, Luke. Andrew is a tennis tragic, playing competition at least twice a week, he also doubles as the Stanford Brown resident tennis coach each summer. Andrew finds relaxation in travel, live theatre and musicals, movies, food/cooking, swimming, surfing, and skiing.

Cris Abellar

Private Wealth Adviser

Cris has worked in the financial services industry since 2005 and since that time has developed an expertise in providing high level structuring and strategic advice to clients.

She prides herself on forming long term relationships with clients and assisting them achieve their lifestyle and financial goals. She does this with an emphasis on client service and developing personalised financial advice in a number of areas including:

• Constructing both wealth creation and retirement plans
• Recommending appropriate investments to achieve client objectives
• Reviewing and restructuring investment portfolios

Cris enjoys the rugged outdoors and her favourite way to unwind is walking her dog on the beach or through a national park.

Kirsten Lynn

Private Wealth Adviser

Kirsten entered the financial advice profession in 2015 after a decade providing advice in the fields of public policy and law.

Prior to joining Stanford Brown in 2018, Kirsten worked with high net worth clients at a private bank to protect and grow their wealth, with a particular focus on inter‑generational wealth transfer.  She was also previously the head of governance and professional standards at an Australian Financial Services Licensee.

Kirsten takes the time to really understand what is important to her clients, what they need and what they wish to achieve, both financially and personally.  She also takes the time to ensure that her clients understand their financial world and have the information, support and guidance they need to feel comfortable with their strategies and decisions.

Outside the office, Kirsten enjoys spending time outdoors with her family. She and her husband live on the lower north shore with their two young daughters.

Jenny Gao

Private Wealth Adviser

Jenny joined the Financial Planning industry upon completion of her Masters Degree in Professional Accounting.  Building on her strong technical knowledge and many years’ experience in the financial services industry, Jenny has developed particular strengths in strategic financial structuring and planning.  

Jenny firmly believes the core element of a truly personalised plan is the in-depth understanding of clients’ needs, goals and core values.  She finds her work most fulfilling when she can provide peace of mind to her clients so that they can focus on the important things in their lives. Jenny prides herself on her relentless persistence in providing the best outcome for her clients.  

Away from the office, Jenny enjoys spending quality time with her husband Brian and little baby boy Joshua. Her current personal task/challenge is to be creative with food so that Joshua does not reject them.  

Stephen Wilson

Private Wealth Adviser

Stephen spent nearly 17 years trading derivatives in the financial markets in Sydney, Abu Dhabi and London.  As a Director at Macquarie Bank, he has spent considerable time assisting wholesale clients understand their risks and assisting them in mitigating those risks so they can concentrate on their core business.  In managing teams of traders and product structurers Stephen has developed strong skills in understanding the complexities of finance.

In 2016 Stephen decided to change careers and commenced a Masters of Financial Planning which he completed in 2017.  He commenced working as an adviser at Stanford Brown in early 2018.

Stephen enjoys unravelling the complexities of finance and is looking forward to working with people to help them get the maximum from their work and helping them feel secure with their financial future.

Stephen is a proud new father and is looking forward to swapping the sleepless nights of a trader for that of a father.

Nicky Boustred

Private Wealth Adviser

As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Nicky worked in financial services for many years in both Johannesburg and Sydney before moving into a career in financial planning. Nicky ran her own self-licensed boutique financial planning business for several years, merging with Stanford Brown in 2020. Nicky’s prior experience and technical knowledge coupled with strong client relationships enables her to provide deeply relevant customized advice to her clients to help them achieve financial wellbeing.

Nicky is married to Andrew and has 3 adult children.

Todd Stanford

Private Wealth Adviser

Todd is a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Accountant (CA) with SMSF specialist designation. He has over two decades of experience, working principally in large and medium size professional service firms delivering tax and financial advice to individuals and private family groups.

Todd hails from country NSW, moving to Sydney in late 1995 to start his career with KPMG in their audit division and later their executive tax division. There he worked with expatriates of large multi-national corporations providing employment tax, superannuation and salary packaging advice. He was admitted as a CA in September 1999.

In August 2000 Todd joined Andersen to help establish their private wealth division and achieve his aspiration to provide valuable integrated tax/financial advice. He spent the next 16 years working in CA Firms including EY, MGI Boyd and William Buck, advising private clients and Not-for-Profit groups on their financial matters.

Todd works closely with his clients to help them find solutions to their financial challenges, so they can live the life they wish knowing they are financially secure. He is very aware of the privileged position he holds and of the trust placed in him in this important role.

Todd has a passion for Philanthropy assisting clients to design their own structured giving programs, including private foundations. He also acts as Responsible Person on clients Private Ancillary Funds.

Todd lives in the lower Blue Mountains with his wife and three children (who keep him very busy!). He is a music enthusiast (and vinyl collector) a keen golfer and loves fishing when he can get away. Todd is also actively involved in the local inter-church group and has been on the committee since the early 2000’

Aaron Wijesinghe

Associate Adviser

Aaron spent his early years growing up in Canberra, later moving to Sydney’s Hills District. While completing his studies at university, Aaron discovered a passion for finance and people which led him to join the Stanford Brown Corporate Employee Benefits team in 2016.

Aaron has completed a double degree in Applied Finance and Economics, and is on-track for completing his Master of Financial Planning degree by the end of 2019.

Aaron works with Corporate clients who truly care about their staff to help design, implement and manage engaging benefits and wellness programs.

Outside of the office Aaron can be found spending time with his family and friends, travelling, or going for runs and hikes with his partner, Carla.