Victorians dominate the shortlist for the Association of Financial Advisers’ (AFA) Adviser of the Year award.

Three advisers from the state are in the running: Jenny Brown from JBS Financial Strategists, Dennis Jones of Beacon Wealth and Michelle Tate-Lovery from Unified Financial Services.

The other finalists are Mark Rando of Rando & Associates in WA, Olivia Maragna from Aspire Retire in Queensland and David Clark of Clark Pacific Financial Services in NSW.

The award, now in its 10th year, is sponsored by Zurich. The winner will be announced at the AFA national conference on the Gold Coast on October 30.

AFA CEO Richard Klipin says it is encouraging that half the finalists are women. “We are seeing innovation flourish and practice leadership grow and these finalists are a credit to this profession and the life-changing advice they provide,” he said.

Zurich Life and Investments CEO Colin Morgan says the finalists have “seemingly done the impossible, raising the bar even higher than before”.