Ageing with Grace Advisory’s Kara Treeby has received two significant national honours at the 2026 Australian Wealth Management Awards, recognised as both Adviser of the Year – Aged Care and Wealth Management Professional of the Year.

The Australian Wealth Management Awards bring together professionals and organisations from across the country to recognise excellence, innovation and outstanding performance within the wealth management profession. This year’s black-tie awards were held at Shangri-La Sydney on 13 August.

For Kara Treeby, CFP® AACS, the evening brought two extraordinary moments.

First, Kara was named Adviser of the Year – Aged Care, recognising her specialist work supporting older Australians and their families.

Then, as the evening drew to a close, Kara was announced as Wealth Management Professional of the Year – one of the event’s major overall honours.

It is significant recognition for Kara personally, but also for an area of advice that has become an increasingly important part of the work she shares with long-time business partner Sarah Leslie CFP® AACS.

Reflecting on the recognition, Kara was quick to acknowledge both her fellow finalists and the important work being done across aged care advice:

“To be recognised alongside such an incredible group of finalists means a great deal. Aged care advice can be some of the most complex and emotionally difficult work we do. We often meet families at a time when they’re overwhelmed, exhausted and facing decisions they never expected to have to make.

It’s a privilege to be trusted at that time, and I hope this recognition also shines a light on the important work being done by advisers across the aged care profession, supporting families when they need it most.”

Sarah was also named a national finalist in the Adviser of the Year – Aged Care category, placing both Ageing with Grace advisers among the finalists recognised by the industry in 2026.

The Work Behind the Award

Earlier this year, Kara and Sarah, together with the broader Story Wealth team, brought Ageing with Grace Advisory to life as its own dedicated service — extending the work of their female-led advisory into a specialist offering for families navigating ageing, care and complexity.

Aged care decisions rarely arrive neatly or conveniently.

Sometimes there has been a fall, a hospital admission or a sudden change in health. Sometimes a family has gradually realised that Mum or Dad is no longer coping at home. In other situations, a partner who has been quietly caring for the person they love has reached the point where they simply cannot manage alone anymore.

Alongside the practical questions come deeply personal ones.

Can they stay at home? What care is available? How will we pay for it? Is residential care now the right option? What would Mum want? Are we making the right decision?

And very often, someone in the family is trying to hold all of those questions at once.

Ageing with Grace Advisory was built to provide families with dedicated specialist advice through those moments – bringing together aged care knowledge, financial expertise and a genuine understanding of the emotional weight these decisions can carry.

Its approach reflects a commitment to helping older people and their families understand their options while protecting dignity, independence and choice throughout the process.

Recognition Shared by a Team

While Kara’s name is engraved on the award, the work behind it has never happened in isolation.

Ageing with Grace Advisory grew from the experience, conversations and commitment of Kara and Sarah, supported by the broader team across both Ageing with Grace Advisory and Story Wealth.

From specialist advice and research to compliance, administration, client support and the many things that happen quietly behind the scenes, bringing a new dedicated service to life takes a team.

It also takes a shared belief that families navigating aged care should not have to work everything out on their own.

Story Wealth has long placed care, empathy, clear communication and making a difference among the values that guide its work. Ageing with Grace Advisory has allowed that philosophy to be applied with even greater focus to the particular complexities of ageing, care and later-life decisions.

Moments That Cannot be Measured by an Award

National recognition is something worth celebrating.

But there is another measure of this work that will always be harder to capture.

It’s the relief when a family finally understands the choices in front of them. It’s helping an older person remain part of decisions about their own life.

It’s giving a son or daughter somewhere to turn when the responsibility suddenly feels enormous.

It’s helping a husband, wife or partner move from carrying everything alone to knowing there is a way forward.

And sometimes, it’s simply the sigh at the other end of the phone when someone realises, they no longer have to navigate the next step by themselves.

Those are the moments that sit behind this award.

Congratulations Kara, on an extraordinary achievement and well-deserved national recognition. And congratulations to Sarah and the entire Ageing with Grace Advisory and Story Wealth team who continue to build this important work around the families who need it.

If this article has inspired you to think about your own situation and what you and your family are going through right now, contact AwG to start the conversation with an Ageing with Grace Advisory Aged Care Specialist.

This information does not consider any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before deciding, you should consider whether it is appropriate based on your objectives, financial situation or needs.

~ Written for the Ageing with Grace Advisory & Story Wealth Teams