About AICS
AICS makes their clients successful by implementing commercial and practical compliance solutions via their unique set of skills.
The objective is to achieve ‘Success without Stress’ by taking care of your corporate governance activities.
Bringing realism to compliance is our goal.
Our mantra is that compliance is a by-product of best practice.
As the driver of best practice, Australian Independent Compliance Solutions P/L (AICS) is working with business owners daily to keep them up to date with the ever changing regulatory environment and asking them “how can we make this work for you and your clients?”
We are really proud of being invaluable in helping our clients meet their challenges in a manner that maintains their reputation and minimises any financial impacts.
Our energy and passion comes from being up to date with the regulatory changes and working closely with our clients to successfully implement good standards without jeopardising commerciality.
Why are we different?
BACKGROUND
Cheyenne M Walker (Founder and Managing Director) started AICS in 2017 with the vision that compliance must be independent from the dealer groups in order to uphold market integrity for the Australian Financial Services Licensees (AFSLs) and the Australian Credit licensees (ACLs) to demonstrate to their clients, they are achieving high standards in corporate governance.
AICS has been created to deliver a suite of best-of-breed licensee and adviser/broker support services which can either be accessed as an end-to-end solution, or selectively as needs require. Our approach is respectful and consultative because we partner with our clients to build a good compliance culture. AICS does not act as an outsourced company but engages with our clients as internal resources.
Meet Our Team
CHEYENNE WALKER
Cheyenne has held senior roles with ING Australia, Suncorp, Madison Financial Group, KPMG, and other smaller national dealer groups.
She has over 30 years of experience in the industry, specializing in corporate governance and holding positions as a director and in company secretarial roles for private and public companies.
She has previously worked as an authorized representative, allowing her to have a commercial, practical approach to AFSL and ACL compliance.
She is a member of the Australian Compliance Institute (ACI), Independent Compliance Committee Member Forum (ICCMF), and the Financial Adviser Association (FAAA). Cheyenne is a former member of the FAAA Professional Standards Committee (PSC).
Cheyenne has been honored by the IFA Excellence Awards for Compliance Consultant of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
JUDY BAKER
Judy began her career at State Bank Victoria, where she spent 20 years leveraging her role as a springboard for professional and educational advancement. She has held various positions in internal audit, as well as domestic and international exchange dealings. Additionally, she earned a Bachelor of Business with a specialization in Accounting during her tenure.
Subsequently, Judy shifted her career from banking to financial planning, taking on a role as a paraplanner at a mid-sized firm, overseeing a portfolio of her own clients. For a 10 year period and hold the status of Certified Financial Planner (CFP).
Judy has acquired extensive knowledge of Xplan and Coin software, including template building, and has a strong grasp of the advice process and client management.
CLAIRE STOKER
Claire takes pride in mentoring and assisting others in understanding and embracing compliance while showing them how to incorporate compliance requirements into internal procedures.
With over 30 years of experience in the financial planning and banking industries, Claire has developed skills and experience working with practices conducting external compliance annual and remedial reviews of Representatives and Licensees.
Claire has also gained experience in practice and operations management, procedure and policy writing, mentoring and training, proofing documents, tolerance, Xplan development, and client service management over the course of her career.
Claire is passionate about helping representatives and their teams stay on track and ensure that they operate compliantly.
Her success in these areas is due to her keen eye for detail, natural talent for improving internal procedures, reputation for being very approachable as an auditor, and ability to help people understand compliance requirements by explaining them in simple terms.
EMMA GASPERINI
Emma has been a dedicated professional in the financial services sector in Brisbane since 1997. Her journey includes significant contributions to the evolution of non-bank lending, mortgage management, mortgage brokering, financial planning, accounting, and business advisory services.
Holding directorship roles since 2004 in the financial services industry and selling her Financial Advice business in 2020. She is recognized as a Trusted Adviser, celebrated for her knack for transforming ideas into profitable ventures.
Her vibrant energy is a boon to our team, stemming from her firsthand experience as a Trusted Adviser and Business Owner, coupled with her commitment to integrating compliance seamlessly into daily business operations.
Emma’s qualifications include a Master’s in Financial Planning, an ACL since 2010, Corporate and AR responsibilities since 2011, and she has been a SMSF Specialist Adviser since 2014. Current member of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
ROBERT WALMSLEY
Robert has over 28 years of experience in the financial planning industry. He is an enthusiastic advocate for quality practice and advice.
Robert has firsthand experience as an adviser and spent 16 years as a practicing adviser before moving into leadership and senior leadership positions within the industry. He has a wealth of knowledge and a deep understanding of the financial planning profession; he understands the demands on both advisers and licensees. His advice experience has been gained through his career with NAB, Telstra Super, AMP, and more recently KPMG.
His approach is practical and pragmatic, you will find him approachable, collaborative, and supportive. He is experienced in leading others through change and has advanced coaching and mentoring skills, one with a focus on reaching the best outcomes.
Robert is a Certified Financial Planner® (non-practicing) member of the Financial Advice Association Australia.
CARSTEN ZUBER
We are delighted to introduce Carsten, an experienced Financial Services Leader whose impressive career spans across retail, public, and industry fund sectors within boutique, medium-sized, and large-scale Wealth Management businesses, including Superannuation Funds.
Carsten has excelled in various roles, including stakeholder relationship management, people leadership, and supervising and monitoring professional staff such as Financial Advisers and Paraplanners. His expertise extends to risk and compliance, where he has established robust frameworks, led teams, and conducted thorough control testing. Additionally, Carsten has a strong background in quality assurance of financial advice, complaints remediation, and strategic planning.
With a knack for developing innovative strategic initiatives and connecting strategy to operations, Carsten leads the execution of these initiatives practically and inclusively. His strong due diligence and investigative skills, coupled with a natural curiosity, enable him to present effectively at all management levels.
Carsten’s key strengths include collaboration, setting high standards, empathy, a customer-centric approach, and building trust. His past employers, including KPMG, AMP, QSuper, and Garrisons Financial Planning, have benefited from his exceptional leadership and expertise.
We are confident that Carsten’s wealth of experience and dedication will significantly benefit our clients and partners. Please join us in welcoming him to our team!
Client Testimonials
I have known and worked with Cheyenne professionally for over 5 years. I have found her approach, experience and expertise to be of a very high standard. I have and would recommend her services to any licence holder.
Sean Preece
Chief Risk Officer – Yellow Brick Road
Cheyenne was a great help to us at a time where we needed a lot of flexibility in the role. Anything we threw at her was a ‘yes no problem’. Thanks Cheyenne.
Ronna Ludgate
General Manager Risk Solutions at
Commonwealth Bank
Cheyenne is a dedicated, hard working compliance professional.
She is one of our “go to” people for compliance contracting.
Jenni Erbel
Director, Strategic Outsource Solutions
Cheyenne is a person with a sound knowledge of the law as it pertains to Financial Planning and always made herself available to assist the Practitioners to properly interpret and apply the laws and use them to raise the standards of advice.
Bruce Henderson
Financial Planner
I worked with Cheyenne during some tough times after the GFC and she was brilliant, thorough but fair.
Scott Heathwood
Director of Lifestyle Asset Management
I have known Cheyenne for over 10 years and can highly recommend her work ethic and attention to detail. Many of my industry peers, who have been audited by Cheyenne, speak very highly of the way that she conducts herself in meetings, in sometimes difficult situations.
Kevin Wyld
Shareholder at Financial Simplicity and Director of CCUBE Financial Software Pty Ltd
I have had the privilege of working very closely with Cheyenne for over 6 years, during the course of her implementation of CoMetrix. In her role that includes driving the compliance business of AdviceNet, I have found her to be very knowledgeable and competent in all aspects of compliance as it applies to the financial services industry.
Cheyenne always manages to combine a high degree of professionalism with a personable approach that makes her a total delight to work with!
Jeff Deakin
Monitoring & supervision, revenue distribution and financial reporting
technology for the financial services industry. Business Development Manager and Co-founder of Cirrus Technologies.
Cheyenne is a highly capable and personable professional. She is highly competent and gives her all to her role.
Her unobtrusive, but very effective, approach earns her the respect of clients and peers alike.
I would certainly recommend her services.
David Busoli
Enhancing the business success of SMSF Advisers through
mentoring, problem solving & strategic administration
Cheyenne is a true treasure. Her knowledge and practical application of Financial Services compliance and Corporate Governance is emplementary.
This is combined with an energy and passion for excellence and a genuine empathy and caring that she employs to successfully implement change when required.
I was lucky enough to work with Cheyenne from around 2004 to 2008 where she was instrumental in establishing FSR, Compliance Frameworks and supervision programs.
She has been instrumental in establishing communciation and working groups for Compliance professionals. Cheyenne has also been instrumental in the successsful development and establishment of Cometrix Complaicne Software.
I have no hesitation in recommending Cheyenne for any position she seeks to attain. She will be an asset in any endeavour.
Lyn Dixon
Experienced Compliance and
Professional Standards Executive
I had the pleasure of having Cheyenne in my team as a Contractor for a period of approximately 6 months. During this period, Cheyenne had the responsibility to ensure the processes designed for the frontline staff and authorised representatives complies with the relevant legislative requirements and business rules. and most importantly meets customer expectations. Cheyenne was also responsible to complete oversight activities in order to identify the effectiveness of some of the Operations.
During the short period of time I had the privilege to have her in my team, Cheyenne completed her work diligently and on time and required minimal supervision. She was also never too busy assist the rest of the team when required.
Niruki Fernando
Senior Manager Risk and Compliance at Suncorp Group