Because the richest life is beyond existing, it's truly living.
Welcome to Sun Foster, your dedicated partner in wealth management. We provide expert guidance to individuals and families, offering innovative solutions tailored to meet your specific needs.
About Sun Foster
Sun Foster Private Wealth was founded by Michelle Kelly and Elaine Zhao, two seasoned professionals who shared a quiet but powerful realisation: their corporate careers, while successful, no longer allowed them to deeply connect with clients or deliver the kind of nuanced, personalised advice they knew people truly needed.
Over coffee one day, they voiced a shared truth. They had both felt a growing disconnect from the clients they cared about most. The conversations had become formulaic, the solutions too rigid. What they longed to offer was something more human. Advice tailored to the complexity of real lives, not bound by preset boxes or one-size-fits-all models.
From that conversation, Sun Foster was born.
Their vision: to meet clients where they are, listen without assumption and guide them toward confident, long-term decisions with integrity and empathy. Today, Sun Foster is a reflection of that founding belief: that the best outcomes come from honest partnership, strategic depth, and a genuine understanding of what matters.
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We honour your story and help shape your next chapter.
Our Approach
At Sun Foster we do more than offer financial advice. We build lasting partnerships rooted in clarity, trust and genuine insight. Our approach is guided by five core pillars:
Professional Expertise You Can Rely On
We bring together deep industry experience, strong networks and decades of collective knowledge. But more importantly, we turn that expertise into strategies tailored to your goals, whether you're growing wealth, protecting it or shaping your legacy.
Institutional-Grade Solutions, Personalised for You
We believe every individual and family should benefit from the sophistication once reserved for institutions. We translate scale, precision and innovation into solutions uniquely aligned with your ambitions.
Solutions That Put You First
Every client is unique, so we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. Instead, we take the time to understand what matters most to you, then build forward-thinking, flexible strategies that evolve with you. Our goal isn’t just solving problems, it’s helping you discover new possibilities.
Empowered Advice, Always on Your Terms
We’re here to guide, not to pressure. With thoughtful recommendations and space to reflect, you remain in control, confident and supported every step of the way.
Technology with Integrity
We adopt modern tools that elevate your experience, but understand that even the best tools can't replace personal engagement that drives meaningful results.
Our Advice in Practice
From Fragmentation to Freedom
How a client reclaimed control over her wealth after years of hidden risks and opaque structures
Client Snapshot
A high-net-worth woman with investments scattered across entities and managers, structured by others, but not in her best interest.
Despite her success, she lacked the technical knowledge to navigate this web of complexity and was unknowingly exposed to risks, restrictions, and misaligned incentives.
The Challenge
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Fragmented portfolio managed by multiple firms
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Treated as a wholesale investor, with no safeguards
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Assets trapped in a manager’s proprietary platform
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Locked investments with zero exit flexibility
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No support or reporting after ending a key relationship
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Barriers to migration and self-management
Behind the scenes, vertical integration was serving firm profits not client outcomes
Our Approach
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Shifted assets to a public offer platform - transparent and flexible
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Rebalanced the portfolio to fit her true goals and risk profile
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Built a roadmap for managing locked assets and advocating for exits
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Provided retail advice under full consumer protection
Outcome
Her financial world now reflects her values:
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Transparent: No hidden platforms or inaccessible assets
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Aligned: Built around her goals, not others’ margins
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Protected: Supported by legislation and retail best duty safeguards
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Empowered: Clear, confident, and in control
Our Services
No two client partnerships are the same, but there are some recurring foundational elements that we often address .
Tax & Estate Planning
Our integrated approach ensures your wealth is structured efficiently for both current needs and future legacy.
- Tax optimization strategies
- Estate and succession planning
- Cash flow, debt, retirement and gifting modelling
- Coordination with accountants, lawyers, and fiduciaries for streamlined execution
Life transition support
Major life events can bring both emotional upheaval and financial complexity. We walk beside you during these times, offering structured guidance and thoughtful care to help restore clarity and confidence.
Divorce financial planning:
- Asset division modelling to support fair and informed negotiations
- Post-divorce cash flow and investment strategy redesign
- Guidance on protecting long-term financial independence and rebuilding .
Support through loss:
- Estate administration support to reduce stress and delays;
- Strategic planning for inherited assets and family trusts
- Bereavement-sensitive financial advisory with patience and compassion
Intergenerational Planning
We support multi-generational families with comprehensive solutions that go beyond financial management.
- Education and mentoring for next- generation leaders
- Legacy and value alignment
- Family governance frameworks for cohesive long-term decision making
Cross-Border Client Solutions
Our network of specialists spans tax, law, investment, property, debt and legacy advisory locally and across the globe.
- Advice tailored for international clients navigating complex jurisdictions
- Currency and asset location strategies to optimize outcomes
- Mandarin-speaking advisory for seamless communication across regions
Investment Advisory
We design and manage personalized investment strategies aligned with your financial goals, risk tolerance, and values. Our focus is on optimising real returns - after fees and taxes.
- Access to institutional-grade opportunities and market intelligence
- Asset allocation and diversification
- Liquidity and income planning
- Performance and risk monitoring and reporting - thematic and private placements tailored to sophisticated needs and vetted for quality
Board-controlled entities
We work closely with board-controlled entities to help them perform good stewardship over the financial resources entrusted to them with clarity, accountability and strategic foresight.
Our approach ensures your financial strategy reflects your values, meets fiduciary obligations and delivers long-term impact.
- Tailored investment oversight, governance support and transparent reporting
- Navigate the complexities of ESG integration in a way that is both meaningful and aligned with your purpose
We’re here to raise the standard. Our unwavering commitment to ethics and excellence means your financial future is built on a foundation of integrity and care.
Whether you’re navigating uncertainty or seizing new opportunities,
we walk beside you - illuminating the way forward.
胜者善谋， 果断而变， 如大河行其道， 因势而流
Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.
Meet the Team
Director, Wealth Manager
Michelle Kelly
Michelle began her career in accounting and tax, where a chance encounter with a financial adviser sparked a lifelong passion for strategic planning. After witnessing the tangible impact of tailored advice on clients’ lives, she redirected her energy toward becoming a financial adviser, a path she has pursued for more than 25 years across both boutique and institutional settings in Australia and the UK.
Her experience is deep and diverse: from pricing managed funds and navigating complex tax structures, to leading teams in Private Banking and Wealth Advice at Commonwealth Private Bank. For over a decade, Michelle played a key role there as both a senior adviser and Responsible Manager under its Australian Financial Services License.
At Sun Foster, Michelle brings a signature approach: empathetic, intentional, and profoundly client-focused. She takes the time to understand each client's unique story, values, and non-negotiables, crafting clear and meaningful strategies that align both financially and emotionally.
Michelle’s advice is always designed to make a real difference, not just to balance sheets, but to the overall well-being of those she serves. She frequently collaborates with trusted professionals including accountants and solicitors, ensuring her clients benefit from seamless, integrated guidance.
Director, Wealth Manager
Elaine Zhao, CFA
Elaine brings a rare combination of technical expertise, global perspective, and genuine warmth to her role as a trusted adviser to high-net-worth individuals and families.
Her career began not in a boardroom, but behind the counter of a local bank branch, an experience that ignited a lifelong curiosity about how people relate to their wealth. Since then, she has advanced through roles in strategic financial planning and private banking, delivering complex investment advice to sophisticated clients while nurturing deep, long-term relationships.
Fluent in English and Mandarin, and having journeyed from Tianjin to Sydney, Elaine is especially attuned to the needs of clients who have built cross-border lives and legacies. She is known for her ability to distil complexity into clarity and for fostering trust through discretion, insight, and cultural understanding.
Today, as a Director and Wealth Manager, Elaine serves clients who value thought partnership as much as financial performance. She believes true wealth management is about more than numbers, it’s about preserving the intentions behind them.
Away from the office, Elaine enjoys life in Sydney’s inner west with her young family and holds close the values of humility, purpose, and connection that have shaped her life and career.