The Investment Network

Clive Waller

Clive Waller held a variety of management positions in sales and marketing for some twenty-five years with Scottish Amicable and Zurich. He became managing partner of the Training Design Studio in 1999, writing and delivering training programmes on taxation, pensions and investment. At the same time, he set up the specialised research-based consultancy, CWC Research

He chairs The Investment Network, is managing director of the Schroders UK Platform Awards and is a director of NextWealth, a consultancy that helps customers adapt to what’s next in wealth.

Clive has an MBA from Wolsey Hall, Oxford and is an Associate of the Personal Finance Society. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and writes on a variety of issues around retail investment.

Heather Hopkins

In a career spanning Toronto, Boston, Tokyo and London, Heather Hopkins is a data and research expert specialising in retail investment distribution. Heather is the Managing Director and Founder of NextWealth.

Heather was most recently the head of Platforum, a market-research firm servicing the UK platform market owned by Centaur Media, where she worked from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that Hopkins was the head of research for Hitwise, an internet data analytics company, working from London and Tokyo. Earlier, she was an executive at Dalbar, an international financial-services data company, based in Toronto and Boston.

Heather is also active in philanthropy, serving on the board of directors of The Open String Foundation, which provides classical instruments to children in poverty around the world. She organises the Women in Investments meet-up in London, which supports female leaders in the investment industry. She was named “Team Leader of the Year” by Investment Week in 2017.

Heather writes a column for New Model Adviser and is a regular speaker at industry events.

David Moffat

David leads business &proposition development and marketing functions for SS&Cs asset management services in the UK. Born in Zimbabwe and educated in Scotland, David has spent 20 years in the asset management industry with Fidelity, Threadneedle and JPMorgan before working as a consultant for a number of wrap and platform clients. He joined IFDS, now SS&C, in 2007. David sits on a number of industry boards, committees and steering groups in the UK and Europe and is the current Chair of TeX

Geoff Towers

Geoff Towers was told by his first boss to learn the investment industry before he offered advice. Consequently he has worked as a salesman, a trader and a fund manager, before becoming Citibank Asset Management’s operations head, running Barclays International Funds Group, and moving on to be the first CEO of Standard Life’s wrap and platform business. From Standard he moved to L&G and then Friends Life to solve challenges around distribution, Cofunds, Pension Freedoms and an Indian joint venture.

Since 2015 he’s been the CEO of Pershing EMEA driving the tough tech and tough ops needed to deliver the robust trading, settlement and custody that investors need to stay safe.

Geoff’s great interest is understanding and closing the gap between what our customers want and what the industry can provide. So despite experience from five continents, he is still learning – although that doesn’t stop him offering advice.

Jackie Boylan

Jackie Boylan is the Global Head of Investor Servicing for Fidelity International. This role is responsible for providing a market leading service experience across Client Services, Resolutions, Guidance and Advice. Most recently she was Head of Adviser Solutions, the Fidelity adviser platform business managing over £50b in client assets.

She is also the CEO of two boards, Fidelity Administration Services and Fidelity Wealth Management.

In 2019 and 2021 she won the Women of the Year – Platforms at the Women in Investment Awards. Her team also won Best Platform of the Year in 2021 and were Runners Up in 2023.

Before moving to the UK and joining Fidelity, Jackie worked in the Australian Financial Services industry for 20 years. Her prior roles encompassed varied responsibilities including Client Services, Regulatory programmes, Innovation and Process Improvement, Client Experience, Sales, Relationship Management and Strategy.

Passionate about contributing beyond her day job, she has been the Executive Co-Sponsor of Global Gender Balance, and sat on the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council. She also forms part of the Global Early Careers Council. She is a co-founder of the FiCap Charity, a financial institutions charity focused on providing better futures for young Australians.

Jackie holds a Bachelor of Business, as well as Graduate Diplomas in Applied Finance and Investment, Financial Planning and Superannuation Management. She has also studied at both the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia and Insead in Fontainebleau.

Jackie is married and has two daughters. She loves running, playing netball, yoga, travelling, reading and sleeping when possible.

Andrew Martin

As Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew is responsible the company’s business development, sales and account management functions.

Starting out as an IFA, Andrew has since held long-term IT consultancy roles for retail platforms, and senior management roles at Prudential and LV=. He spent 7 years living and working in South Africa.

James Rainbow

James is distribution head for the UK and Latin America. In early 2019, James was acting Chief Executive of the new Wealth Joint Venture between Lloyds and Schroders, Schroders Personal Wealth. He returned to Schroders in October 2019 following his promotion.

Prior to this, James was Co-Head of UK Intermediary Business at Schroders, Chief Executive of Schroder Unit Trusts and a non-executive Director of Benchmark Capital.

James joined Schroders in 2007 and was initially Head of UK Marketing, covering both Institutional and Intermediary clients and then Head of UK Strategic Accounts, responsible for relationships with Schroders largest distribution partners in the UK.

James joined the investment industry in 1996 and worked at John Govett & Co until 2001 and Barings until 2007.

Alan Easter

Alan has worked in product design and distribution since the mid 80’s. The first part of his career was spent leading sales teams for insurance companies and asset managers in the UK, mainland Europe and the US. After a brief dalliance with the Direct market as Sales and Marketing Director for Interactive Investor, he has been on the advisory side since 2006. During this time he has held a full range of Executive positions including CEO of The Beaufort Group, an advisory and investment management group that he formed.

He is currently responsible for all Wealth Management activities of Irwin Mitchell, one of the countries leading law firms.

Emma Napier

Having spent her whole career watching financial services evolve in the UK, Emma is amazed at how things have (and haven’t) changed over the years. Her working life has entered its 3rd decade, yet she remain’s excited about the future of advice, particularly, how that advice is delivered to an individual and what happens after it is. She has a whole heap of experience in-the-thick of the advised/platform world - the last piece of the jigsaw is how technology plays its part in the future of intermediated advice. Bravura offered Emma the opportunity to start playing with that!

Keith Richards

Chairman, Financial Vulnerability Taskforce

A recognised leader within the financial services sector, Keith has over 40 years’ experience operating at executive level across manufacturing, distribution, Financial Planning and regulation, as well as having led the evolution of the largest Professional Membership Body for Personal Finance in the UK and Internationally, the Personal Finance Society (PFS). Keith established a strong media profile as CEO of the PFS and CMO of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), prior to which he was a visible figurehead whilst representing one of the UK’s largest Advice networks (Tenet Group) and prior to that as Head of Retail for the largest mutual insurance company in the UK, Royal London Group.

Actively engaged in the promotion of financial services internationally, he has contributed to the boards of both AIFA/APFA (now PIMFA), AMI, PFS and TISA. He was also on the board of the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA), after establishing EFPA-UK, a founder and Chair of the Pension Advice Taskforce and a member of various government and regulatory working groups. Keith is a founding director of the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce, which is an Independent Community Interest Company (CIC) and director of The Investment Network (TIN) board. He developed greater government and regulatory engagement for the profession in his previous role as CEO of the PFS in the UK, Middle East, Asia Pacific and China and brought about enhancements to professional membership benefits and national CPD programmes. Keith has also introduced several key consumer and professional standards initiatives which include consumer websites, accredited adviser directory, a public pro-bono advice programme in partnership with Citizens Advice and charities of the Armed Forces, as well as a national financial education programme for schools. Supporting the Financial Services sector to build trust with policymakers and the public is a core objective of the FVT, with a vision of greater collaboration to better serve the needs of the Public and augment the vital role that Financial Planning plays in society.

Chris Spencer

CEO EMEA, Bravura

Chris Spencer has more than two decades worth of experience in motivating, inspiring and developing teams to affect positive business change, including process re-engineering, business development and transformation.

As CEO of Bravura’s EMEA region, Chris is responsible for driving the region’s proposition development and leading its sales and account management teams to grow existing and future client revenue and margin.

Prior to joining Bravura, Chris served various companies in the financial services and pensions space as Managing Director, including SS&C and Embark.”