| JD: How did you get into Financial Services?
LB: After leaving university in 1987 I “fell” into the Financial Services industry as a sales consultant selling products from one company. After 14 months I joined an Independent Financial Advice practice in Gloucester and the rest, as they say, is history.
JD: So you have been an adviser ever since?
LB: No. I started as a financial adviser but, over the years, developed skills in technical work and compliance. Although I am still registered and able to give financial advice, I prefer the research and technical side of things; this is important because every person is different with a different set of financial needs, aspirations and existing policies. My role is to analyse these areas and to produce a report outlining the various areas in which we think we can help.
That said, my “speciality” is pensions and retirement planning. I enjoy sitting down with people to talk through and plan their options to make sure that they have the right plan and outcome for their own unique set of circumstances.
JD: Do you have any specific qualifications?
LB: I have been lucky as my previous employers encouraged me to obtain various qualifications and provided me with the time and wherewithal to do so. As a result I hold the Full Financial Planning Certificate (FPC) and have also progressed to the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC) which I have held now for several years. I hold the designation of Associate of the Personal Finance Society.
I have also obtained qualifications specific to my pensions speciality and these are the G60 Pensions exam, the K10 Retirement Options and K20 Pension Investment Options exams. Since the introduction of new pensions legislation in April 2006 I have also obtained CF9 which is an exam specific to the changes implemented. Lastly I also hold the CF8 qualification which entitles me to give advice in the area of long term care planning.
For the last four years I have been an Assistant Examiner with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
JD: Who do you
prefer to work with?
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LB:
As pensions is my field of expertise, I work with people of all ages and from all walks of life. More often than not, it is with people aged 40 plus who have existing arrangements and need a review of them to see if these plans will fulfil their expectations; or with people approaching retirement or wishing to draw the benefits from their pension plans in the most appropriate way.
There is so much information about pensions in the public domain from the government, the Financial Services Authority and groups such as the Consumer Association that I think people need to sit down with an adviser, review their current position, visualise their future and discover the options opened to them.
At the end of the day, to paraphrase a well known strap line “a pension is for life, not just for Christmas” and decisions made now regarding pensions must carry that person through the rest of their life. In fact, quite often, after your house a pension fund will be the largest asset you hold!
JD: What did you do before you became a Financial Adviser?
LB: As I mentioned earlier, I was at university where I studied Business Administration and French (no link between the two). The Business Administration side of my studies has provided me with a good grounding for running a new company, although at the time I didn’t know it!
JD: Are you married?
LB: Yes I am.
My husband, Graham, is a freelance technical trainer within the, yes, you’ve guessed, Financial Services industry. His speciality is taxation and trusts and compliance which is very useful when I need some advice! My step daughter, Eleanor, will shortly graduate from university having studied Drama and is due to be married later in 2007.
JD: How about hobbies?
LB:
I am a keen swimmer and walker. I am also an enthusastic, although not always successful, gardener and I am a member of Highnam Quilters which is a patchwork and quilting group in my village, on the edge of the Forest of Dean. I am a passable creator of hand-made greetings cards and enjoy cross stitching, in fact all crafts.
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