Julie Kelway

“Pensions changed my clients’ lives – I’ve spent decades making sure they change yours too.”

Most people find pensions baffling, the rules have shifted so many times over the decades that even the most switched-on clients can struggle to know where they stand. That’s where I come in, and after more than 35 years in financial services, I know this landscape better than most.

My career began in an actuarial department at a large insurance company that relocated to Exeter, where I was working through what would today be called an apprenticeship. This early grounding in the numbers behind pensions (how funds grow, how risk is calculated, how life expectancy shapes financial decisions) gave me the foundations for the knowledge I grew. From there, I moved into group pensions, then spent years at Midland Bank (now HSBC) where I wasn’t just dealing with life, pensions, and investments, I was also placing mortgages and covering everything from car to marine insurance.

I went on to become a pensions technical adviser at Prudential, then a partner at an independent firm, before joining Hurley Partners, which was acquired by Mattioli Woods in 2020.

One of the things I’m most proud of is the 15 years I spent as a volunteer adviser for the Pensions Advisory Service, a Government-sponsored charity that helps people who can’t afford professional advice. I took on complex cases involving large company pension schemes, a world quite different from my day-to-day work, and in most cases, I was able to get a good result for people who’d otherwise have had nowhere to turn. It kept me grounded and reminded me why this work matters. I had to step back when my own client workload grew, but the experience sharpened skills I use every day.

What clients get from me is deep technical knowledge delivered simply, and a responsiveness that’s consistent. I return calls and emails the same day wherever I can, because I know that when something is on your mind, waiting adds unnecessary stress. I’m a chartered insurance practitioner, and I’ve watched pension legislation evolve over decades. That means I don’t just explain how the rules work today, I can explain how we got here and what it means for you.

Whether you’re approaching retirement and trying to make sense of your options, or a business owner looking to make the most of pension tax relief, I’ll take the complexity off your plate and give you clarity you can act on.

Outside of work, I’m based in Dorset and divide my time between gardening, cooking, and co-owning an Arab racehorse, which has, perhaps unexpectedly, introduced me to a rather interesting network of people.