“In a room full of people taking, be the one who gives something back.”
I didn’t plan to end up in financial services. I studied Classics – Greek and Latin – at university. When I graduated, my parents – a painter and decorator and a kitchen lady from South London – had a simple message: go and get a job. I walked into a recruitment office in Croydon, spotted an ad for an ‘inspector,’ and asked what they inspected. It turned out to be selling life insurance on behalf of Royal Life. I had no idea what I was signing up for.
More than 30 years later, that accidental start has taken me from doorstep conversations in Surrey to Chief Executive of Skandia UK, Vice Chairman at Old Mutual Wealth, and now Chief Executive Officer here at Mattioli Woods. But the moment I come back to most – the one that says everything about why I’m still in this industry – happened early in my career.
I was an adviser visiting a family in Surrey to deliver the benefits of a life assurance policy. I was the only person in the entire process who gave them something. Everyone else had taken something away. That stays with you. It’s why I don’t think we take the privilege of being an adviser seriously enough – and why I care so deeply about the kind of firm we’re building.
When I became CEO of Skandia, I was one of the first in that role without an accountancy or actuarial qualification. The regulator put me through the wringer, and rightly so – it was a risk. But what I brought to the table was something you can’t study for: the ability to read people quickly, identify good purpose, and keep sight of what actually matters. Clients aren’t paying for a technically perfect plan. They’re trusting you with their future, and that deserves more than a spreadsheet.
Growing up in a South London council house, money was always tight. My parents were wonderful people, but there wasn’t much left over. That experience never leaves you – and it shouldn’t. It means I understand, in a very real sense, what financial security gives people: freedom to make choices, to support the ones you love, and to build something that outlasts you. I have two young grandchildren now, and that feeling of wanting more for the people who come after you – that’s something I carry into every conversation I have.
At Mattioli Woods, I believe we have a genuine opportunity – and, I’d go as far as to say, a responsibility – to become the best non-institutionally owned wealth management business in the UK. That ambition is built on something simple: treating clients with respect and integrity, every single time. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe, completely, that we can get there.
Outside work, I’m an avid reader – Plato’s Republic is rarely far from my desk – and I have a house in a quiet Portuguese village that I escape to when I can. Much like good financial advice, the best things in life tend to find you when you least expect them.
