Ascendia partnership team

David Barlow

David is the Noosa Tax & Accounting partner and is responsible for the day to day running of our Noosa office.

David has been with the firm since 2007 and brings a strong tax minimisation focus (as well as compliance management) to the practice for the benefit of business people, senior executives and professionals. As an Ex-Melbourne CBD practice partner with five years senior partnership experience David previously managed a large client base with a strong focus on:

tax minimisation
property development, and
apartment / building management

David currently provides strong support and management of the tax planning service at Noosa and has assisted management rights and business clients with special purpose reports, as well as taking responsibility for the oversee of all Sunshine Coast Tax and Accounting clients.

Since he has been with the firm David has also overseen the streamlining of a number of important business processes, including:

small business client work papers
management rights / resort manageent related work papers
procedures and filing methods to assist ascendia to maintain its professional rate freeze
tax planning reporting and workpaper templates
profit & loss / for sale reporting and workpaper templates (in resort management, insurance broking, real estate egency, speciality retail, service stations, and a variety of other business types)
business cashflow reporting.

David holds a Bachelor of Business and is a Certified Practising Accountant. He is a member of Certified Practising Accountants in Australia and the Taxation Institute of Australia. He resides locally with his family on the Sunshine Coast.

Andre Cox

Andre heads up the Brisbane Accounting and Tax service and is responsible for the day to day operation of the Brisbane office. His focus is on in-depth support to business and senior professional and executive clients – not just compliance. Although he regards this as very important.

Regular and effective financial management reporting is an area that Andre has been supporting our larger clients with - especially inportant in more testing economic times.

Andre is a founding partner of the firm. He has 30 years experience in public and tax accounting - across a wide range of small and medium sized businesses including:

engineering firms and consultancies
manufacturing businesses
agricultural ventures including cattle, dairy, chicken, crops etc.
real estate incl. large project ventures
developers: commercial and large residential
car sales businesses
builders: multiple project
management rights / resort management / permanent apartement management
large retail store chain ($250M per annum turnover).

Over his career Andre has seen a range of business conditions – successfully assisting many of his clients through two (and now three) recessions. Clients wanting to reduce their business risk, improve profitability and cash-flow should talk to Andre at this critical time.

Andre has also been providing support to ex-patriots and cross-nationals and has assisted many to maintain their compliance without major anxiety for themselves, at the same time as introducing appropriate tax planning and minimisation for their benefit.

Andre holds a Bachelor of Business and is a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and a member of the National Institute of Accountants. He lives with his family in Brisbane.

Chris Robinson

Chris joined us in 2008 and is the business consulting partner of the firm. He operates out of our Brisbane office and oversees the day to day operation of the consulting team which provides owner / controller level, business-change advice and consulting services. The business consulting team focus mainly on medium - large sized business clients. Chris's team currently provides services from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast.

Chris has been recently advising a number of business clients in this area including a 50 store national retail chain - and he and his team have been successful in working with these clients to significantly increase sales and improve team performance - even in these difficult economic times.

Chris was formerly the CFO and then the CEO of Amart All Sports. In this role he assisted and then led the growth of the business from 10 million to over 200 million per annum revenue - through organic growth and an acquisition.

During his tender as CEO Chris also lead a successful management uyout of the A-mart All Sports chain and the Rebel Sport business with the support of a large Private Equity firm.

Over the last 25 years Chris has gained successful experience in developing and growing businesses with a strong focus on:

business development
business control
business funding (including equity capital) and capital re-structuring
brand management, and
obtaining and driving trade and private equity sale opportunities.

You may have a business that can become a large business or obtain an excellent sale price in the right circumstances. Chris's strong support can provide you with the level of experience and contacts - derived from having been there and done it - to enable you to maximise your success.

Chris is a Fellow CPA and holds a Bachelor of Business [Accounting]. He lives in Brisbane with his family.

Sherman Jenner

Sherman is responsible for running the wealth management team. His team provides advice and wealth management services to enable our clients to maintain their lifestyle and meet their income needs and financial goals - as their personal circumstances and / or the economic environment changes.

The wealth management team currently manage clients portfolio's and provide client services from the Noosa office. Ascendia wealth is currently servicing Brisbane and Sunshine Coast clients as well as clients in New South Wales, ACT and elsewhere in Queensland and overseas. Sherman spends 2 days a week in the Brisbane office and 3 days in the Noosa office seeing clients.

Sherman has specialised in wealth management for business people and self-funded retirees for over 10 years. Previously he has been employed as a salaried adviser at AMP, GIO, and then in private practice with Broad Pollock & Co and Archer Gowland (Noosa). Sherman is also the managing partner and a founding partner of ascendia.

Clients seek out Sherman and his team, or are referred by professional colleagues when they:

have a business purchase or sale, asset purchase or sale, change of business relationships or structures, or change of work status
are approaching retirement or have the opportunity to use retirement tax structures (around 50 years old) to minimise tax and accumulate assets for the future in a tax effective manner
have successful business performance and are keen to accumulate assets in a tax effective manner going forward
are self funded retirees and need to review their situation to ensure they have their financial affairs in order - so that they can in fact meet income levels that will enable them to maintain their lifestyle
are concerned to protect their assets as they continue in business or in the context of estates planning or personal relationship changes and property settlements. This is done through the prudent use of trusts, testamentary trusts, superannuation trusts, property settlement processes simultaneous re-organisation of how assets are held, and with careful consideration of the relevant estates, family maintenance and bankruptcy laws [We work with a legal partnership where appropriate]
have substantial dependance on key individuals in their business dealings that they wish to insure against and / or organise a succession plan in relation to.

Having successfully applied for an independent financial services license from ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission) in 2007, the ascendia wealth team is able to offer clients a wide range of investments and services on a fee-for-service basis, allowing our wealth managment to be comprehensive and independant as required: e.g.:

full service share-broking
australian listed income securities- fixed and floating interest rate,
australian listed property trusts
full research by Lonsec and Aegis available, written advice and regular review / portfolio construction for income / capital gain / tax effectiveness etc.
initial public offerings of securities available via wholesale commsec partner
options trading service and compliance and client administration - to generate additional income and reduce unsystemic portfolio risk
government guaranteed on-call cash accounts - to enable operation of your portfolio including direct rental properties, B-Pay facilities, nil transaction fees available
direct property investment structuring and budgeting advice and administration
portfolio administration services including, where appropriate: Navigator, Summit, Mentor etc.
wholesale direct managed funds including relating to: international equities, small companies, fixed interest, resources, emerging markets
self managed superannuation advice, administration and investment management
superannuation pension portfolio management - to ensure your pension portfolio meets it's liabilities to pay your pension over time.
advice on financial arrangements and use of trusts and companies for the making and holding of investments including testamentary trusts.

Sherman holds an MBA in Financial Management (UQ), a BA in Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment and a Diploma of Financial Planning. He is a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Practising National Accountant. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association, the Australian Institute of Taxation and the National Institute of Accountants. He resides locally in Marcus Beach on the Sunshine Coast with his family.