Kenneth Hopewell

“Good advice gives people the knowledge to understand their situation and the confidence to act.”

When I graduated, I had a plan: become a financial adviser and help people plan for and achieve what they want from life. I decided to go to South Korea first – just for a year, to teach English and see the world. The 2008 financial crisis hit while I was there, and one year turned into considerably longer. I arrived as a graduate with a backpack and left as a head teacher with years of experience in education behind me.

Teaching has given me a lot of transferable skills that I use as an adviser. It has given me the tools I need to simplify complex information so that clients can understand their financial plan, active listening, empathy, and the ability to organise and plan for the long term. All valuable skills that an adviser needs to be able to find out what truly matters to each client.

Some people think a financial planner only picks investments. The reality is very different and far more valuable. What I do is help people understand what they truly want from their lives, build a plan around that, and give them the knowledge to feel genuinely confident about every decision they make. We look at short-, medium-, and long-term goals, and adjust the plan as life changes, not just when markets do.

There’s an enormous amount of noise around money, and social media has amplified this. It’s important for people to be able to get advice they trust and can rely on. Pension regulation alone has changed significantly over the last few years and under current plans, pensions will be within our estates for Inheritance Tax from April 2027. There is a tremendous amount that can be done.

I have always been a people person, and my favourite part of the job is getting out of the office and meeting clients. I love sharing stories and I’m lucky enough to meet so many different people for my job. I sometimes meet people at their workplace, and I have been given some interesting demonstrations of what people do.

Outside of work, I’m kept busy by my children, who are getting faster on their bikes and scooters while I seem to be getting slower. I love getting outside and into nature with my family, including our dog, Bernie.