About Private Wealth Architects

A firm built for the long view.

Private Wealth Architects is a Perth-based financial planning firm working with families, professionals, and business owners across Australia. We design considered strategies that hold up over decades — not market cycles.

Our story

A practice shaped by its clients.

Private Wealth Architects was founded by Katie McDonald to bring something simple and somewhat rare to the Perth market: financial planning that begins with listening, and ends with a plan a client can actually live by. The work is unhurried, the advice is considered, and the relationships are built to last across decades — not portfolios.

The firm works with families navigating significant transitions, business owners thinking about what comes next, professional households balancing competing priorities, and women shaping their own financial lives on their own terms. Different starting points, but a shared expectation: that someone will hold the whole picture, ask the right questions, and stay in the room for the long haul.

Founder & Lead Adviser

Katie McDonald

Managing Director

Katie brings unique knowledge to the financial planning profession, with over 25 years of investment experience and 18 years of financial literacy education. She collaborates with small businesses, professional families and women to give them the confidence to make smarter financial decisions.

The right plan begins with the right question. Most of our work is in the listening.

With a strong focus on strategic financial advice, and using a comprehensive range of investment mediums tailored to suit our clients’ situations, Katie enables clients to achieve their personal financial objectives. Katie is an effective communicator and influencer at all levels. She is highly regarded in the industry and presents annually on behalf of Curtin University, the Australian Institute of Management and the University of WA. She is also a frequent speaker at events relating to women and finances, runs regular workshops and is widely published on matters of wealth and financial management.

Qualifications
Bachelor of Business (Finance Major) · CFP (Certified Financial Planner) FAAA · Advanced Diploma (Financial Planning and Services) · Self Managed Super Fund qualification · Family Business Accredited Advisor · Collaborative Professional Accredited Advisor · Member of the FAAA (Financial Advice Association Australia)

Avril Liljekvist

Financial Planner

Avril is known for her calm, thoughtful, and highly organised approach to financial advice. She works closely with individuals and families who value clear communication, careful consideration, and guidance they can trust when making important financial decisions.

Valued for her ability to listen deeply and understand what truly matters to her clients, she brings clarity to complex financial matters, helping clients feel informed rather than overwhelmed. Her advice style is practical, measured, and grounded in helping people feel confident about their choices both now and into the future.

Qualifications
Bachelor of Business (Financial Planning and Services) · Bachelor of Arts (English)
Authorised Representative No. 1302645

Alex Davis

Director

Alex is a Chartered Accountant with deep expertise in superannuation, self-managed super funds, retirement strategy, and estate planning. His career has been spent advising small-to-medium enterprise owners and their families on the technical and structural decisions that compound across decades — the kind of advice that’s easy to underestimate in the moment and impossible to undo later.

He holds an SMSF Specialist Advisor accreditation and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. His steady, technically rigorous approach has shaped how Private Wealth Architects thinks about strategy across generations of client families.

The team

Our valued support team.

Our advisers are supported by a team of associates and client managers.

Tayne De Passey

Junior Associate

Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Financial Planning)

Daniel Carroll

Junior Associate

Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Economics)

Jenny Sarnejo

Client Manager

Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)

Trish Codera

Client Manager

Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) · Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt

Advisory Board

Counsel from beyond the practice.

The Private Wealth Architects Advisory Board brings senior perspective to the firm — on governance, strategy, and the long view. Each member contributes expertise from a career outside the practice, and meets with the firm regularly to test, challenge, and sharpen the work.

Mal Di Giulio

Managing Director — Nexia Perth

Mal is the Managing Director of Nexia Perth, and has been a director in the Perth office since 1994. He is the former Chairman of Nexia Australia and played a key role in developing and driving the strategic direction of the network. A hands-on, think-outside-the-box operator, Mal leads a bright, capable and effervescent team trained to add value.

Theuns Klopper

Director, Corporate Services — Nexia Perth

Theuns is a Director of Corporate Services at Nexia Perth. Diligent, principled and forthright, he is a lateral-thinking problem-solver committed to delivering high-quality services and enabling client success.

Wendy Clarke

Director, Business Advisory — Nexia Perth

Wendy is a Director of Business Advisory at Nexia Perth. A forward-thinking and determined business professional with over three decades of experience, she has demonstrated her expertise in accounting and advisory services in both the UK and Australia.

Nunzio Di Iorio

Director, Business Advisory — Nexia Perth

Nunzio is a Director of Business Advisory at Nexia Perth with over 30 years of experience in taxation. A unique combination of technical expertise and personable manner, he is a creative thinker who delivers innovative solutions, thrives on challenges, and builds long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.

Let's talk

An introduction is where the work begins.

If our approach resonates, we welcome the opportunity to meet. The first conversation is unhurried, confidential, and at no cost — an opportunity to understand each other before either side commits to anything.

Begin a conversation