Ruth Sturkey, Former IFW Chair and financial wellbeing ambassador

Compère and panel debate participant: Financial Wellbeing - Marketing fad or cultural game-changer?

Previously the Chair of the IFW Board, Ruth Sturkey is a keen financial wellbeing ambassador and will compere the IFW Conference 2024. Ruth co-founded boutique financial planning firm The Red House, which merged with Paradigm Norton in 2017; she is now a Non Executive Director for the merged firm. She was the host of the podcast ‘Money Espresso; no froth conversations exploring money and life’ where her aim was to get people talking about money and explore how money and business can be a force for good. She also coaches financial planning business owners.  Ruth can be seen regularly presenting at industry events and holds considerable influence within the financial planning profession.

Scott Robinson, The YogiBanker

How Yoga and Banking came together.

Scott Robinson is a senior finance professional, experienced mindfulness meditation and yoga teacher, corporate well-being champion, Mental-Health First Aider, and specialises in offering yoga & meditation services under the brand of ‘Yogibanker’.  Originally from Sydney, Australia, Scott is UK head of Regulatory Policy in the Transaction Policy & Advisory Group & global co-lead for ‘Balance @ Work’ within CFO People Strategy at Deutsche Bank.

Scott has been short-listed twice for the Inside Out Awards (which celebrate mental health and those who champion it) in 2023 and 2024, for the ‘Behind the Scenes Champion’ Category.

As an experienced financial services professional, Scott’s mission is to bring yoga, mindfulness, and a culture of wellbeing to the financial sector. By holding the space and in doing so helping people to feel better in their bodies and minds, Scott hopes to lead and inspire others to practise a more holistic way of living whilst working in financial services.

Victoria Dale, Inclusion 365

Diversity in the financial sector: Who’s doing what well?

Victoria Dale, founder of Inclusion 365, is on a mission to support employers and busy HR Leaders to move from reactive to proactive when it comes to driving their ED&I agenda forward. Her approach is about taking those small steps to build inclusion into everyday conversations, decisions, actions and behaviours. Victoria has worked with a diverse range of businesses across different industries from large to small businesses. Sectors include global technology companies, engineering firms, professional services, financial services, retail, media, adverting to higher education institutions and local and regional government.

Kim Bendall, Go Paraplanning

Chair of breakout discussion 'Diversity in the financial sector: Who’s doing what well?'

Kim Bendall will be moderating the Victoria Dale’s breakout discussion: ‘Diversity in the financial sector: Who’s doing what well?’ She is the founder of Go Paraplanning, and is a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, Certified Financial Planner^TM and a CISI Fellow and Accredited Paraplanner. She moved into outsourced paraplanning in 2012 and founded Go Paraplanning in 2020.  Go Paraplanning has grown organically since then, and now employs a team of very highly skilled and experienced paraplanners providing technical and consultancy support to a select group of like-minded, high-quality financial planning firms throughout the UK.

Chris Budd, Founder of the Institute for Financial Wellbeing

Panel debate participant: Financial Wellbeing - Marketing fad or cultural game-changer?

As well as taking part in the panel debate, Chris Budd is chairing the breakout discussion with Dr Thomas Mathar: ‘Why do we even talk about financial wellbeing?’

Chris founded the Institute for Financial Wellbeing, then called the Initiative, in 2019. He is the author of The Financial Wellbeing Book, the second edition of which will be published in Spring 2023. He is also the author of The Eternal Business, and two novels. In 2018 he sold the majority of his financial planning company Ovation Finance Ltd, the company he founded in 2000, to an Employee Ownership Trust. His consultancy, The Eternal Business, helps business owners work out if selling to an Employee Ownership Trust might be their own succession plan. Chris lives in Somerset with his family and too many guitars.

Laura Purkess, financial journalist, The Sun

Panel debate participant: Financial Wellbeing - Marketing fad or cultural game-changer?

Laura Purkess is an award-winning financial journalist, currently Consumer Champion and Senior Consumer Reporter at The Sun where she wins back money for readers and covers all things personal finance. She previously wrote about money for The Daily Mail after spending three years covering the financial advice market for Citywire New Model Adviser.

Kate Shaw, founder of Financial Life Planning

Panel debate participant: Financial Wellbeing - Marketing fad or cultural game-changer?

After 17 years working as an independent financial adviser, financial planner and mortgage protection expert Kate Shaw set up Financial Life Planning because she wanted to do things differently. That was in 2015. Since then she has shifted her focus from selling products to prioritising what clients actually need. It’s an ethos that chimes with financial wellbeing tenets, and begins with the story of the individual, couple or business. As well as speaking on the panel ‘Financial Wellbeing – Marketing fad or cultural game-changer?’, Kate will co-present the IFW Awards, sponsored by Timeline, with Mike Parker.

Kim Uzzell, Online Strategist & Founder Iconic Wealth for Women

Developing honesty and disclosure in the client space.

Kim Uzzell is the Founder of Iconic Wealth for Women. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CISI and Chartered Wealth Manager and has been working with people and their money since the late 1980s, predominantly as a Private Client Stockbroker and Wealth Manager, and latterly a Private Banker.   

Alongside a career which has introduced her to the many aspects of behavioural finance, Kim is also a Certified Financial Coach and Certified Trauma of Money Coach, and works with the deeper levels of clients’ relationships with money using a range of modalities including clinical hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT and Belief Coding. 

Darren Cooke, Red Circle Financial Planning

Chair of breakout discussion: Developing honesty and disclosure in the client space.

Darren Cooke is chairing the breakout discussion with Kim Uzzell:
‘Developing honesty and disclosure in the client space.’

Darren has been working in financial services for more than 30 years. A Chartered Financial Planner (CII), a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society (PFS), and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (MCSI), Darren set up Red Circle Financial Planning in 2012. He is a keen advocate of life being for living, for clients and advisers, and believes a flexible work-life balance is crucial to this.

Dr Thomas Mathar, Aegon UK

Why do we even talk about financial wellbeing?

Dr Thomas Mathar heads up Aegon UK’s Centre for Behavioural Research, supporting internal and external stakeholders with behavioural research and the application of nudge-theory to help people live their best lives, now and in the future.

Thomas has been with Aegon since 2016, having previously worked in research agencies and government, health, consumer industries and in finance.

Victoria Hicks, Founder of The Exit Partnership

Looking at 2030: What does financial wellbeing look like for your clients?

Victoria Hicks is a recognised authority in the field of financial planning, mergers and acquisitions. With a proven track record and deep expertise, she brings invaluable insights to speaking engagements. As the founder of The Exit Partnership, a leading M&A firm specialising in assisting owners of financial planning firms, Victoria also possesses a real-world understanding of running and exiting a regulated business.

The sale of her chartered firm in 2018 lends a unique perspective that resonates with audiences. With over 15 years of experience advising private clients and business owners, Victoria has a profound grasp of uncovering the ‘why’ behind financial decisions and is passionate about empowering individuals to achieve their goals and attain financial freedom. Her speaking engagements foster a focus on financial wellbeing, ensuring that audiences gain actionable insights for their own journeys.

Tom Morris, Ovation

Chair of breakout discussion: Looking ahead to 2030 - What does financial wellbeing look like for your clients?

Tom Morris is chair of the breakout discussion with Victoria Hicks:
‘Looking ahead to 2030 – What does financial wellbeing look like for your clients?’

Tom  is a Director and Chartered Financial Planner at Ovation Finance, based in Bristol. He was a founding Director of the IFW when it launched as the Initiative for Financial Wellbeing in 2019.

Tom has been researching the topic of financial wellbeing for over six years and uses it to help individuals and business owners plan for the future.

Mike Parker, TimeLine

The IFW Awards

Mike Parker will be co-presenter of the IFW Awards, sponsored by Timeline,  with Kate Shaw (bio above). Mike is Business Development Manager at Timeline for the West & Midlands regions. Mike is a FPFS, IMC qualified Chartered Financial Planner with over 30 years in Financial Services. Mike has previously held roles as a Pensions Development Manager, Technical Adviser and Pensioneer Trustee Representative at Scottish Widows and Prudential. More recently he ran the Midlands region for 14 years at A J Bell.

Ryan Briggs, Founder, FinWELL

Financial Wellbeing in the Workplace

Ryan Briggs enjoyed an early career in professional sport before ordaining and qualifying in financial services in 2013.

With many of us not learning the basics around money at school, Ryan recognised the need for employees to improve their knowledge, understanding and confidence through support offered to them at the workplace.

Ryan founded FinWELL Training Ltd in 2022. The organisation is now an award-winning financial education and wellbeing company having worked with over 100 employers of all sizes and sectors.

Ryan created the first ever #FinancialWellbeingMonth launched in April 2024 as awareness campaign to show the importance of and links between financial wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention.

Ryan is also a husband and father to two young children, a mental health first aider and also a proud ambassador and advisory board member of the R;pple Suicide Prevention Charity.

He also sits on the leadership team for the Global Wellness Institute representing financial education and wellbeing.

Emma Waller, MoneyMinded

Financial Wellbeing in the Workplace

Emma Waller is the founder of MoneyMinded, a financial wellbeing organisation delivering content, training and workshop delivery.  She is an award-winning financial wellbeing consultant with extensive experience of supporting people to improve their financial knowledge, skills and behaviours.  Emma works across private, public and voluntary sectors, designing and delivering financial wellbeing programmes for commercial clients, charities and community groups.

Emma co-authored Martin Lewis’ Your Money Matters book. She provides content and training for a number of national organisations including the NHS and other government departments, high street retailers and national charities.

Emma regularly delivers financial wellbeing workshops in the workplace and in community settings, she also provides support to schools and colleges, helping them embed financial education across the curriculum. Emma also has over 20 years’ experience in education, firstly as a Teacher of Economics and Business, followed by roles in Senior Leadership as Director of Learning and Assistant Principal responsible for performance and standards.

Hiren Panchal, IFW Vice Chair and founder of Wensons Financial and Wensons Legacy

Chair of the breakout discussion on Financial Wellbeing in the Workplace

Hiren Panchal will chair the breakout discussion on Financial Wellbeing in the Workplace with Ryan Briggs and Emma Waller. He is Vice Chair of the IFW as well as being a Certified Financial Coach and Founder of Wensons Financial and Wensons Legacy.

Hiren Panchal provides trusted advice and guidance to help clients live the lives they visualise.

Professor Martin Hyde, University of Leicester School of Business

Looking at retirement: What will the third life stage offer you?

Professor Martin Hyde is a Professor at the University of Leicester, researching work, retirement & health in a global context. His main research interests are ageing and later life and he has published on a wide range of topics from quality of life, work and retirement, health inequalities and globalisation.

He has been involved in a number of large-scale studies including the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), the Survey for Health.

He is a member of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee for an Ageing Workforce. 

Sarah Marks, RedSTART

Panel: How we make financial education relevant to the next generation.

Stephanie Fitzgerald, The Money Charity

Panel: How we make financial education relevant to the next generation.

Stephanie Fitzgerald leads on The Money Charity’s work with Young People across the UK, including our Money Workshops, Student Money Manual and resources for teachers.
Stephanie has over ten years of financial capability experience and before that had a background in working and volunteering in education and the charity sector in a variety of roles. This has included working in schools, on National Citizens Service programmes and for government. Steph has international experience as a Programme Manager at The Commission for Financial Capability in New Zealand, which involved running workplace and community Financial Education ‘behaviour change’ programmes across the country.
Stephanie is passionate about helping people to gain more confidence in managing their money and to enjoy the control and freedoms it brings, especially young people.

Dr Louis Williams, Dynamic Planner

Using technology to elevate levels of financial wellbeing.

Dr Louis Williams is Head of Psychology and Behavioural Insights at Dynamic Planner, a Visiting Fellow at the University of Reading. He specialises in behavioural science, applied psychology, eye movement behaviour and aesthetics. Louis holds a PhD in psychology and has worked with Dynamic Planner since September 2019, when the business embarked on its government-sponsored behavioural science and investment project with Henley Business School. Louis is an experimental psychologist and has worked with universities across the globe on multidisciplinary research projects. He is keen to use experimental methods and apply findings to help investors make better decisions. He is an experienced teaching fellow and has attained fellowship of the higher education academy.

Watch a short video (under two minutes) about what to expect from his IFW Conference keynote.

Harjeet Heer, Logic Financial Services Ltd

Chair of the breakout discussion: Using technology to elevate levels of financial wellbeing.

Harjeet Heer is chairing the breakout discussion with Dr Louis Williams: ‘Using technology to elevate levels of financial wellbeing.’

Harjeet is a Founding Director and Chartered Financial Planner at Logic Financial Services Ltd, based in Oxfordshire. He is a member of the IFW board as well as heading up its research stream, and brings a sense of calm to any meeting room or Zoom  call. He has a keen interest in behavioural economics and financial wellbeing.

Steven Hill, CEO, Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

How financial wellbeing and mental health are inextricably linked

Steven Hill joined Coventry and Warwickshire Mind in 1994, he has played an integral role developing the organisation and was appointed CEO in 2018.

During 2022/23 Coventry and Warwickshire Mind supported 32,275 adults, children and young people offering NHS Talking Therapies, supported accommodation, 24hour care facilities, crisis housing, safe havens, autism support and a range of emotional wellbeing services.

Steven holds several membership roles such as National Mind’s Network Committee, Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Partnership, place-based Collaborative for Warwickshire and the Mental Health Provider Collaborative. He is a founding member of the Coventry & Warwickshire VCSE Mental Health Alliance and of the wider Coventry & Warwickshire VCSE Alliance.

Emily Pool, Happy Planet Financial Planning

Chair of breakout discussion: Anxiety stemming from financial control issues.

Emily Pool is chairing Steven Hill’s breakout discussion ‘How financial wellbeing and mental health are inextricably linked.’

She left her City banking career in 2017 and pivoted into a career in financial planning. She was looking for a change that would give her a greater sense of purpose and an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of individuals and their families. She is the founder of Happy Planet Financial Planning.

Emily is particularly focused on working with professionals in the accumulation stage of their lives, helping them achieve the lifestyles they want now whilst working, and in the future when they will want to enjoy the fruits of their labour.