With much of his time spent advising clients, Chris oversees the smooth running of the business. He also chairs our investment committee, which is responsible for selecting and monitoring the funds that we invest in on our clients’ behalf. As our longest serving member of staff, he champions the investment principles that we founded our company on and makes sure that we continue to uphold them.

Chris joined us in 1998 and has 23 years experience in the industry.

He began his career with the fund management monitoring team at Skandia Life (now Old Mutual Wealth) and later joined Frank Russell, a global specialist in investment consultancy and ‘managing the investment managers’. Looking after the pension funds of large multinationals, it was here that he honed his strong analytical skills.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in Financial Services, Chartered Financial Planner, Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, Associate of the Personal Finance Society, Investment Management Certificate

Derek is a Chartered Financial Planner with specialist qualifications in taxation, trusts, pensions and retirement options. With a modest, self-effacing manner, his expert financial advice is always clear and straightforward and he speaks extensively at seminars for both industry professionals and private individuals.

Derek joined us in 2001 and has 26 years experience in the industry.

He has advised a wide range of private and corporate clients during his career. Having played for Scotland’s international rugby union team for 10 years and toured Australia with The British and Irish Lions, his clients also include many well-known sports personalities.

Qualifications

Chartered Financial Planner, Member of the Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute

Specialising in investment, inheritance tax and retirement planning, Tony helps clients maximise their income and investment returns, and minimise all three taxes. He works with private clients and trustees, and advises solicitors on their trustee obligations as well as on care fees funding packages.

Tony joined us in 2004 and has 26 years experience in the industry.

Entering the financial services industry in 1991 after four years as an army aircraft engineer, Tony is now a Chartered Financial Planner and his professional expertise helps clients secure sound financial outcomes for them and their families.

Qualifications

Chartered Financial Planner, Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, Associate of the Personal Finance Society, Certificate in Lifetime Mortgage Activities, Certificate in Long Term Care Insurance

Phil oversees the recommendation documents that we produce for clients and is responsible for monitoring all of our activities to ensure continued compliance with industry regulations.

Phil joined us in 2010 and has 17 years experience in the industry.

He began his career within the pension administration department at Old Mutual then joined Origen (formerly Aon Consulting) and moved into the independent financial advice arena. With roles including administration, technical and advisory, and specialising in pensions, he went on to hold advisory positions with two start-up firms.

Qualifications

Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the Personal Finance Society

Samantha is part of the administration team, with her role including managing processes for new clients and providing on-going support to our existing clients.  She is also responsible for the day-to-day running of the administration team.

Samantha joined us in 2014 and has 9 years experience in the industry.

She started her career in financial services at Premier Asset Management in Guildford then moved on to an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) company in Fleet, where she provided administrative support to three chartered financial advisers.

Samantha has recently been promoted to Operations Manager but retains the administration department under her wing.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) in Sociology, Certificates in Investment Administration; Investment & Risk; and Pensions & Retirement Planning

Accounts Manager

Justine is responsible for our accounts department.

Justine began her career within private practice accountancy firms encompassing statutory accounts, taxation, audit and management accounts and obtained her Chartered Certified Accountant qualification. She specialised in small and medium sized enterprises.

Justine then moved into management accountancy within various industries before joining Murdoch Asset Management in 2018.

Qualifications:

Chartered Certified Accountant FCCA

Joe oversees all aspects of the Financial Planning Team, who are responsible for the production of client reports and technical support to our chartered financial advisers and is currently working towards completing the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning.

Joe joined the company in March 2020 and has 14 years’ experience working within the financial services industry. He began his career at James Hay as an Administrator, progressing through the business to a Business Development Manager position before joining Openwork as a Retirement Planning Specialist.

Most recently, Joe has worked in senior Financial Planning roles with Succession and Gallagher before joining Murdoch Asset Management as the Financial Planning Manager.

Qualifications: Diploma in Financial Planning, Award in Pensions Update, Certificate in Financial Services, Certificate in Mortgage Advice, Certificate in Life & Pensions

Richard is responsible for the production of client reports as well as providing technical support to our financial advisers. He also looks after all of our IT systems, ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Richard joined us in 2002 and has 22 years experience in the industry.

His career began in the market research department at Skandia Life (now Old Mutual Wealth), where he provided data support for the UK sales force and company directors. He then moved to Scottish Value Marketing, the marketing arm of fund management group SVM Asset Management, where he worked closely with the investment sales team.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in Financial Services

Sarah is responsible for the production of client reports and she provides technical support to our financial advisers. She is currently working towards completing achieving the Fellowship Diploma in Financial Planning.

Sarah joined us in 2013 and has 9 years experience in the industry.

With wide knowledge of financial services, investments and pensions, Sarah began her career as an administrator at Lloyds TSB Private Banking then moved on to Grant Thornton UK LLP before joining us.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) English, Advanced Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning, Certificate in Financial Planning, Certificate in Mortgage Advice

Justin is part of our Financial Planning team.

He is responsible for the production of client reports and providing technical support to our financial advisers. He is also working towards completing the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning.

Justin joined in April 2020 and has been working in financial services for 18 years.  He started out as an administrator for James Hay before moving into the financial planning side with Chestergate Financial Planning where he became a paraplanner. Looking to broaden his knowledge he moved on Gallagher where he made the step up to a senior role and joins Murdoch with the intention of moving into an advisory role himself in the future.

Qualifications: Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning, Certificate in Paraplanning, Advanced Diploma units in Investment Planning, Retirement Income Planning and Financial Planning Process.

Larysa joined us in October 2019 as a senior financial planner,  having worked in the Financial Services Industry since 2010. Since joining us, she has studied hard and is now qualified as a Chartered Financial Planner.

Previously Larysa worked for Barclays PLC, AXA Wealth Elevate Wrap Platform and Nationwide IFA LEBC having  learned and developed all aspects of the investment administration, compliance, legislation, customer journey and technical  support.

Qualifications:

• CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning
• CISI Investment Operations Certificate
• HND In Business
• Diploma in Revision and Bookkeeping.

Larysa is aiming to become a Fellow of the PFS.

James joined us in November 2020 as a senior member of our financial planning team and will be responsible for the production of client reports and providing technical support to our financial advisers.

He started his financial services career 8 years ago as a paraplanner.  James worked for a small protection broker firm before moving to Gallagher to gain a wider understanding of holistic wealth management.

James is currently working towards obtaining his Advanced Diploma.

Qualifications: Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning; Certificate in Equity Release; Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management; Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Award in Long Term Care.

Charlyn is part of our Financial Planning team, where she is responsible for the production of clients’ investment reports.

Charlyn joined us in 2018 and this is her first position in the industry.

After graduating from the University of Sheffield, Charlyn worked in a variety of different industries, including education and healthcare equipment.  Charlyn joined us in 2018 to focus on a career in financial services and has now successfully completed her Certificate in Financial Planning and is now working towards a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.

Having grown up in Berlin, she is also a native speaker in German.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) in Theoretical Physics

Certificate in Financial Planning

After graduating from the University of Winchester, Emma joined us as part of the administration team. She has since moved into a financial planner role, where she is responsible for the production of clients’ pension reports.

Emma joined us in 2015 and has 3 years experience in the industry.

She has attained a Certificate in Financial Planning and is currently studying for a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in Business Management, Certificate in Financial Planning

Ben started his career in financial services at the age of 18 when he relocated to Tunbridge Wells to take part in AJ Bell’s inaugural school leaver programme.

Since then he has completed the Investments Operations Certificate and Capital Markets Programme.

Since joining us in 2019, he has been studying for the diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. His aim to eventually becoming a Chartered Financial Planner.

Qualifications:

RO1 – Financial services, regulation and ethics

RO2 – Investment principles and risk

RO3 – Personal taxation

RO4 – Pension and retirement planning

RO5 – Financial Protection

CISI Investment Operations Certificate

CISI Capital Markets Programme

Ben is working towards further qualifications so we wish him every success!

Austen, who joined us in 2007, is our Head of Investments.

He is responsible for the research, analysis and management of our investment portfolios. He is also deputy chair of our investment committee. This spans across researching funds, meeting portfolio managers, developing new investment ideas and implementing company procedures for research and analysis.

He began his career in the international division at Towry Law, one of the largest wealth advisory firms in the UK. Since joining us, he has become a well-known and respected analyst within the industry and was voted into Citywire’s Class of 2013 Top 30 Under 30 by his peers.

Austen is currently working towards a CISI Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification

Qualifications

BSc (SocSci) (Hons) in Economics and Finance, Investment Management Certificate, Certificate in Securities (Retail), Investment Advice Diploma

Mark is responsible for the production of fund reviews and performance comparisons and sits on the investment committee.   He also meets with fund managers and co-ordinates all processes relating to fund switches to ensure a smooth and seamless experience for clients.

Mark began his investment career with Murdoch in 2011,  but had a keen interest in investments from a young age, including managing his own portfolio when he became old enough to invest in a Stocks and Shares ISA.

He is currently studying for the level 7 CISI Chartered Wealth Manager qualification which he hopes to complete in early 2021.

Qualifications

Investment Management Certificate (IMC), Certificate in Financial Planning (CertPFS), MSc in International Management and Marketing, BA (Hons) in Business and Management.

George has a BSc in Economics, Finance and Banking from the University of Portsmouth and has worked in engineering and insurance. Outside of work, he’s a regular at the gym.

Amy is part of our administration team, with her role including managing processes for new clients and providing on-going support to our existing clients.

Amy joined us in 2015 and has 14 years experience in the industry.

She began her career in the financial sector in the rights and royalties department of Cengage Learning, an academic and professional publishing firm. She then spent two years working as a contractor for Lloyds Banking Group, mainly dealing with customer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman.

Emma is part of our administration team, with her role including managing processes for new clients and providing on-going support to our existing clients.

Emma joined us in 2016 and has 3 years experience in the industry.

Emma started her career in financial services working for a general insurer within their administration team then moved into a claims role. She went on to spend four years in New Zealand working for a large accounting/advisory firm supporting a team of risk advisors before returning to the UK.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in English Language and Linguistics

Rachel is part of our administration team, with her role including managing processes for new clients and providing on-going support to our existing clients.

Rachel joined us in 2017 and has 8 years experience in the industry.

She began her career in financial services with Post Office Money, initially offering a range of financial products to clients and later qualifying as a mortgage adviser.

Qualifications

Certificate in UK Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics, Certificate in Mortgage Advice

Elina is part of our administration team, with her role including managing processes for new clients and providing on-going support to our existing clients.

Elina joined us in 2018 and has 13 years experience in the industry.

She began her career in financial services with Contractor Financials Ltd, a specialist mortgage broker helping contractors to secure properties throughout the UK.  Her main role was mortgage processing.  She then moved on to work for Lifetime Planning Ltd, trading as Super Contractors, in the Alton office. LPL is  a broker offering expert mortgage and protection advice, where she worked on mortgage case management for 2 years.

Elina is studying toward The level 3 Certificate in Financial Services, and so far has passed LP2 Financial Services products and solutions unit in August.

Elina is fluent in three languages – Latvian, Russian and English

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in Linguistics from University of Latvia

Stephanie joined us in 2020 with 4+ years of experience in the financial industry.

After graduating from University she spent 2 years gaining administration experience across several industries, finding her way into the role of Receptionist at Contractor Financials ltd.  She then went on to progress into a Protection Case Manager role as the company went through huge changes. Finding her feet in the Financial Industry she continued to strive for knowledge and experience within a growing team.

Qualifications:

BA degree in English Language and Linguistics

Shona began her career in the financial services sector 13 years ago at Building and Civil Engineering Ltd, after having children.  She started part-time in Corporate client services administration for Pensions and Insurance.  Moving then to Implementing The People’s Pension into Corporate Clients for their Automatic Enrolment obligations. She moved up to leading the Team providing operational and administration support to Key Corporate Clients of The People’s Pension.

Shona likes musical theatre – 42^nd Street, Joseph etc or comedy theatre anything by the Mischief Theatre company.

Qualifications:

Certificate in UK Financial Services, Regulations & Ethics

Certificate in Pensions Administration

Certificate in Pension Automatic Enrolment

Level 3 in Leadership & Management

Margaret is responsible for organising our seminars and arranging meetings for clients. She also ensures that our databases are up to date, manages production of our company literature and looks after our building and facilities.

Margaret joined us in 2005 and has 13 years experience in the industry.

Her varied career includes working for a chain of bookshops and setting up a new department and helpline for an electronics company. She also spent a number of years working as agent liaison for an English language school, arranging courses for foreign students and travelling in Europe and the Far East.

Qualifications

Certificate in Financial Services

April has joined us from a customer services background.  Her main role will be booking in annual client reviews.  Client reviews are part of our service and are valuable to ensure your current investments remain appropriate for attitude to risk and objectives.

Qualifications

April has a Certificate of Higher Education in Criminology & Sociology