Running between the Raindrops by Julie Bennett and Gwen Fletcher tells the story of Gwen Fletcher, AM, Australia’s First Lady of Financial Planning and her role in extending the financial planning profession far beyond America’s shores to Australia. It was Gwen who took the first step towards globalisation of the profession and thanks to her, Australia became the first country in the world to adopt America’s Certified Financial Planner™ designation.

Born in the era of the Model T, Gwen Fletcher began her career in the male-dominated accounting industry when it was unfashionable for women to have a career. She worked for the US Army in Sydney during World War II and, once the war was over, for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). She then went on to work for a Liberal Federal Member of Parliament, rubbing shoulders with innumerable Ministers and several Prime Ministers, before entering the world of financial planning.

Gwen’s services to the Australian financial planning profession were recognised by her country in 2007 when she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Her contribution to global financial planning was recognised by the American financial planning community when she was awarded the prestigious Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award in 2007. In 2010 Gwen became the inaugural Patron of Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession.  Running between the Raindrops quietly attests to the fact that older women can spectacularly succeed – and with great warmth and grace – in the challenging world of financial services.

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• Running between the Raindrops