As Director and Co-Founder of AGS Financial Group, Alex Berlee has been helping clients achieve financial security since 1997. Alex is a Certified Financial Planner® with qualifications including a Bachelor of Economics and Diploma of Financial Planning. His expertise spans investment strategies, superannuation, and retirement planning, with a particular focus on high-income executives and clients preparing for life after work.
What Alex enjoys most about his role is seeing the long-term impact of financial advice on his clients’ lives. Many have been with him for decades, and he finds great satisfaction in reflecting on the progress they’ve made together. Clients often value his ability to explain complex strategies in a clear and practical way, giving them confidence in their decisions. This translates into Alex’s business roles in conducting webinars, financial planner mentoring, and client communications.
At AGS, Alex believes clients benefit from the group’s ability to provide a complete financial service under one roof, covering planning, accounting, and mortgage advice. This integrated approach ensures that every aspect of a client’s financial life is aligned and working toward their goals.
Away from the office, Alex enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons. They especially love family trips to the snow for skiing and snowboarding.
Alex remains committed to helping clients create clarity, build wealth, and enjoy peace of mind about their financial future.
In the media
Independent coverage, podcasts and interviews. See the full press hub for all AGS media.
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M&A vs organic growth: What is the best way to grow adviser numbers?
A Money Management feature on how advice groups are expanding adviser numbers as the profession shrinks, with the Financial Advice Register down to about 15,000 from roughly 28,000 at the time of the Hayne Royal Commission. AGS features among the firms profiled, alongside larger networks like Entireti and Shaw and Partners. Co-founder and director Alex Berlee is quoted on the gap between a smaller planner pool and steady client demand, pointing to the firm's September acquisition of Hartley Financial as a way to grow its advice team beyond the advisers it develops internally.
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AGS Financial Group's acquisition of Hartley Financial
The adviser trade press covered AGS Financial Group's full acquisition of Hartley Financial and Tax & Wealth, a deal combining offices across Sydney and Melbourne and expected to add around $2.6 million in group annual revenue. CEO Paul Bolstad said what drew AGS to Hartley was a shared integrated model of planning, tax, accounting and lending under one roof, and matching values focused on the client relationship rather than the single transaction. Co-founder and director Alex Berlee said the main gain was geographical presence in areas where AGS had contacts but no local office, alongside the need for qualified advisers in a market thinned by post-Royal Commission standards. Clients on both sides keep the same advisers, phone numbers and offices, with continuity the priority through the transition.
- Money Management AGS acquires Hartley Financial in competitive market
- Financial Newswire Integrated wealth firms consolidate interstate reach via acquisition
- International Business Times Australia Sydney Financial Firm AGS Group Acquires Hartley Financial Amid Aggressive Wealth Sector Competition
- Professional Planner AGS Financial expands into three new locations through acquisition
- Signalbase AGS Financial Group Acquires Hartley Financial
- MitchelLake AGS Financial Group M&A Activity: The Leadership Read
- MergerLoop AGS Financial Group / Hartley Financial Group (WA-85041) — ACCC merger review
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AGS on the managed accounts boom
Alex Berlee was quoted across the adviser trade press on AMP North's Managed Portfolios Insights Report, which found managed portfolios now make up 30% of advised funds under advice in Australia (up from 16% in 2021), with North's platform rising 31% to $28.3 billion over the year to June 2026. Across the coverage he pointed to AGS's strong take-up of separately managed accounts and the firm's retirement-specific SMAs: income-focused portfolios built to reduce volatility for retired clients, using a bucketing approach that splits growth and defensive assets into separate SMAs.
- ifa (Independent Financial Adviser) SMAs support greater advice efficiency, retirement outcomes
- AdviserVoice Managed portfolios are rapidly becoming 'the default operating system' for advice businesses today
- Money Management The winners & losers of the managed accounts boom
- Financial Newswire Managed Accounts FUA doubles over 5 years
- SMS Magazine Managed accounts gaining traction
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Matthew Lloyd and Alex Berlee launch Ensombl's new Aged Care Conversation series with host Sarah Leslie. They unpack how recent aged care reforms have raised complexity and cost, how home care packages, RADs and co-contributions now interact, and why advisers must lift their aged care capability or partner with specialists to serve clients through the transition.
Also on: YouTube
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A new lens on retirement: helping clients live — not hold back
Alex Berlee is quoted on setting client expectations through market volatility — clients who understand the structure aren't rattled by short-term bumps because they trust the plan.
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Lifetime Income Series #3 — Innovative Retirement Income Streams
Alex joins the final installment of Ensombl's Lifetime Income Series with Ben Hillier of AMP, discussing how innovative retirement income streams (IRIS) can help clients manage financial and emotional risk and confidently transition into retirement.
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The pros and cons of debt recycling strategies
Alex-authored piece on debt recycling — when the strategy works, the tax mechanics, and where it fails. Published in Firstlinks Edition 593.
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AFR Smart Investor — Top 50 Financial Planner
Alex Berlee was named a Top 50 Financial Planner by AFR Smart Investor Magazine six times — in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 — recognising sustained technical excellence in financial planning.