Advice built around you.
Because at the end of the day, it's your retirement, your family, your life. We just help you protect it.
The thing that makes us
genuinely different.
Most financial advice in Australia has a structural problem. The adviser sits between you and the recommendation, but often there's something else sitting between you and the adviser — a dealer group, a product provider, a licensee with its own approved list. That's not a conspiracy. It's just the way the industry is built.
We built Redwood specifically to not work that way. Brian and Ryan hold their own Australian Financial Services Licence. There's no institution above them with a product list or a commercial arrangement. When they recommend something, the only question they've answered is whether it suits your situation.
That's a smaller thing than it sounds, until you're the person sitting across the table wondering whether the advice you're getting is actually for you.
"The only one that really wins in that situation is me, and I don't want to do that."
Brian Kearney — on whether to charge a client for implementation help they needed
What this looks like
in practice.
A few things we do that most advisers don't say out loud.
We'll tell you when we can't help you.
There are situations where the fee doesn't make sense for the client. Where the best thing we can do is point you in the right direction and let you go. That is not a failure. That's what it means to put your position ahead of ours.
We give free advice to people we can't charge.
If someone needs help and we can give it, we do. Not because it's good marketing. Because the person needed help and that's reason enough. We've sat on calls giving genuine guidance to people we knew we'd never invoice.
We tell you the uncomfortable truth.
If your super is underperforming and you've been avoiding looking at it for ten years, we'll say so. Gently, but clearly. The advice that actually helps someone is rarely the advice they were hoping to hear.
We won't oversell what advice can do.
Financial advice isn't magic. It's clarity, strategy and someone looking at the full picture with you. Sometimes the answer is that you're actually fine. We'll give you the real one either way.
Why we started Redwood.
Most people don't avoid their finances because they don't care. They avoid them because life is full, money feels complicated and nobody ever really explains how all the pieces fit together.
Brian and Ryan both came up through the operational side of financial planning before becoming advisers. Brian through client services, Ryan through paraplanning and compliance. They saw the same thing from different angles: capable, hardworking Australians making significant financial decisions with incomplete information, or no advice at all.
The tradie who earns decent money but has never looked at his super. The mum who took years off to raise kids and now has half the balance her partner does, without understanding why. The 60-year-old who started late, paying for insurance they didn't need, in the wrong investment option, with no real strategy.
These people don't think financial advice is for them. Redwood was built to change that. Not by making advice feel cheaper or easier in a marketing sense — by actually doing the work. Sitting with someone, looking at the full picture, and giving them the honest version of where they stand.
The people behind the advice.
Two advisers and the person who makes sure everyday Australians actually find them.
Brian Kearney
AR 128 9461 · BCom Finance & Financial PlanningBrian started his career in client services, which means he's seen the advice process from every angle — not just the adviser's side. Plain language, no unnecessary complexity, and a genuine interest in whether the outcome actually suits the person in front of him.
He's the kind of adviser who will tell you when something isn't worth doing. Clients don't always expect that. It's usually the thing they remember most.
Ryan Humphries
AR 130 9222 · Grad. Dip. Financial PlanningRyan came up through paraplanning and compliance — the part of financial planning most people never see. He has an unusually sharp eye for detail, which shows up in the quality of the advice he puts his name to.
Clients who've worked with Ryan often say the same thing: they finally understood what was actually happening with their money.
Briannah Michaels
Client Services · Marketing & MediaBriannah handles everything that happens before a client picks up the phone — the content, the social media, the website and the blog. She turns what Brian and Ryan do every day into something people actually find and understand.
She also manages client services, which means she's often the first voice you hear at Redwood.
Directly licensed.
Directly accountable.
Redwood holds its own Australian Financial Services Licence. Brian and Ryan are not operating under a dealer group or aligned to any product provider. Their names are on the licence. The accountability is direct.
An adviser operating under a dealer group has another institution in the chain — one with its own commercial interests. That doesn't automatically make the advice bad. But it does mean the question "is this right for you?" has to travel further to get answered. At Redwood, it doesn't.
The worst outcome is you walk away
knowing you're on track.
Fifteen minutes. Free. No commitment. We'll look at where you actually stand and give you the honest version of what we see.
Book a Free Strategy SessionRedwood Financial Planning Pty Ltd | AFSL 561 658 | ABN 46 679 016 525 | Gold Coast, QLD | Servicing clients nationwide.
The information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice. It does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, please consider its appropriateness and read our Financial Services Guide.