About Us

Philosophy

Every client is on their own investment journey.
We believe it is a shared journey with our clients, our role being to provide guidance and support across all areas of their financial life.

Our unique education process enables our clients to understand investing. With this understanding comes empowerment and the ability for our clients to provide informed consent to the advice we provide.

We respect your money and where that money has come from.

TEAM

Steven Scarano, Director | Accountant | Financial Planner

Steven is an experienced, qualified accountant and, more recently, has extended his qualifications into financial planning. Having started with Focus Wealth Advisers in 2019, his role progressed from providing assistance with the delivery of financial advice to becoming a qualified financial planner himself. He continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the business, while also offering accounting and taxation services.

Steven’s career in accounting came later in life after having run his own successful local business for over 10 years. This has given him the knowledge and understanding to work with individuals and business clients: he knows “what it takes” to help them achieve their financial goals.

Steven loves spending as much time as possible with his family and travelling to warmer climates. Steven holds a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Financial Planning. He is a member of the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) and is a Registered Tax Agent and Member of the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), with a Professional Practice Certificate.

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Catriona Sgouros, Director | Financial Planner

Catriona’s first career was as a language teacher, teaching French Language and Literature and English as a Foreign Language whilst living abroad. On returning to Australia, and with small children, Catriona decided to find work that enabled her to work from home and became a bookkeeper. It was then a natural progression into a career as a financial planner, which she commenced in 2014.

Catriona has always found the most rewarding part of her job to be speaking with clients, in particular those approaching or already in retirement: learning about their lives, how they got to where they are, and where they want, or need, to get too next. She is a strong believer in the power of a great financial strategy, reviewed regularly, to assist clients in achieving their goals while gaining peace of mind along the way.

In her free time Catriona loves to catch up with friends and family, read, travel, and go for walks while listening to true crime podcasts. She is also a dedicated supporter of various streaming services.

Catriona holds an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours). She is a member of the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) and the SMSF Association.

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Linda Ford, Office Administrator

Linda has been an integral part of our team since 2017. As one of our two Office Administrators, she assists with, among other things, general client queries, the implementation of advice recommendations and the administration of corporate actions. She works with both advisers and clients to achieve the best outcome for our clients and is an adept problem-solver.

Linda has extensive experience in administration roles in various professional areas, including accounting and law.

Melinda Humphrey, Office Administrator

Melinda has a scientific background in natural resource management (B.Nat.Res(Hons)) and has extensive experience in administrative management roles in both government (National Parks & Wildlife Service) and private business.

Melinda assists with the onboarding of new client accounts, the implementation of advice recommendations and with everyday client enquiries.


How We Help

Understanding

You need to understand the why, where, how and what of your investments. For example, is your superannuation invested in one fund or multiple funds, depending on your work history? What fees are you paying?

When we meet, our first step is to understand you: your background, your financial journey to date, and your short-term and long-term goals, both lifestyle and financial.

Understanding what assets will pass into your estate is an essential step in planning for your family’s future: therefore, knowing what assets will pass directly to beneficiaries outside of your estate is an important component of our overall advice process.

Managing

An important step in our ongoing service to you is the review of your portfolio of assets; how these are performing and whether they need to be re-aligned to meet your changing financial needs. Portfolios are viewed at least annually; however, we will be contacting you regularly should there be any specific opportunities or challenges in the market that may affect your holdings and of course you are able to contact your adviser with any questions or concerns you may have.

Optimising

Our approach to optimising your financial journey revolves around crafting a robust game plan tailored to your unique aspirations. We understand that achieving your lifestyle and financial goals requires more than just luck; it demands deliberate and well-calculated strategies.

Our seasoned experts excel at determining, implementing, and adapting strategies that drive you towards your objectives. We explore every avenue to maximise super contributions, ensuring a tax-free income during your retirement years. Moreover, we strategically reduce the tax burden on your independent adult children, should they be beneficiaries of your superannuation.

We believe in striking the perfect balance between growth and defensive aspects within your portfolio. Our aim is to position you optimally for investment opportunities while maintaining a comfortable level of risk. With our guidance, you can be ready to seize opportunities without ever compromising your peace of mind.

At Focus Wealth, optimising your financial future isn’t just a goal – it’s our commitment. Let us chart a strategic course towards your dreams.

Financial PlanningTax & Accounting