Our People
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Yitz JaffeChairmanYitz Jaffe has over 50 years' experience in finance both as a chartered accountant and as a business consultant. He started practicing accountancy in Manchester in 1955 and was one of the founding partners of accountancy firm Downham, Jaffe & Co. Yitz acts as chairman and mentor to Phil Rose. -
Phillip Rose APFSChartered Financial Planner, Group CEO
Winner of Retirement Financial Planner of the Year 2011Phillip Rose has used his vast experience working in a large corporate company to replicate the large company offering - providing in-depth specialist services and regional client focus on a national scale through IFA South LLP in Southampton, IFA North in Leeds, the specialist pension business in the pension partnership, the specialist employee benefit business in Sovereign employee benefits and Pro Sport Wealth Management LLP.
Pro Sport Wealth Management is a nationwide offering providing specialist advice to sporting professionals, and was most recently appointed as adviser to members of the Professional Football Association. Phillip has since acquired a dedicated pension administration business in Leeds and an employee benefit specialist business on the south coast. In addition, he and long-time business associate John Holt co-founded Chartered Financial Planning Company Independent Financial Advisor Limited in 2006 - which advises a wealth of high net worth clients.
Phillip’s successes include the establishment of his own sole trading business, which he subsequently sold to AIM listed accountancy practice Numerica. He spent three years on the financial services board of directors and when Numerica was subsequently purchased by BDO Stoy Hayward - one of the largest LLP’s in the UK - Philip earned a place on the Executive Board of Directors and gained first-hand experience on the workings of a multi-national company.
He was also one of the first financial advisers to achieve the coveted Chartered Financial Planner status and was one of the first advisers in the North West to gain the ISO 22222 accreditation; both qualifications promote consumer confidence and are the highest of standards of personal financial advice. His vast experience means he fully understands the issues and time constraints a business owner at every level must deal with when looking to manage personal and business wealth.
In his limited spare time Phillip enjoys holidays, going to the gym and fast cars. -
John Holt APFSChartered Financial Planner
Director – Independent Financial Advisor LimitedJohn Holt co-founded Independent Financial Advisor Ltd in 2006, with long-time business associate Phillip Rose. John’s credibility in the financial services arena has been established over almost two decades, and his breadth of experience has been gained through the many years he spent working in a small independent IFA practice, as well as his time with serviced corporate clients in one of the largest worldwide accountancy businesses.
John provides bespoke independent financial advice and has established long term relationships with personal and corporate clients. He has a developed business network across reputable solicitor and accountancy firms in the North West, who are advocates of his services and regularly recommend him to their clients.
John's success is owed greatly to the pride he takes in his work, his meticulous attention to detail and efforts in establishing long term client relationships by guaranteeing a high level of service and client satisfaction.
John holds an individual Chartered Financial Planner status, and ISO 22222 qualifications and is further developing his advanced level knowledge of the industry. He will soon become a Fellow of The Personal Finance Society, which highlights his dedication to the wider profession.
Away from the office, John is a keen sportsman, with football, squash and golf among his interests. -
Adam Wilkinson FPFSChartered Financial Planner, FPFS, AIFP, ASFA
Partner - IFA (North) LLPAdam is a new addition to IFA (North) LLP, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and qualifications. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, holds the Certified Financial Planner status and is also an IMI Securities Representative.
During the last 15 years, Adam has been responsible for managing the regional private client operations of several leading accountancy practices and employee benefit consultancies.
Adam’s role and expertise covers a broad range of private client services including discretionary investment management, tax deferral/mitigation planning, specialist pension structures and lifetime cash flow modelling. He is also heavily involved in advising a wide range of corporate clients on their employee pension schemes including implementing employee benefit IT systems, transitioning employees from defined benefit (“DB”) schemes to defined contributions (“DC”) schemes, designing and delivering new DC schemes and rationalising multiple DC schemes into a single replacement modern web based DC arrangement.
In his leisure time Adam is a keen sports fan and rides both mountain and road bikes, as well as playing golf. He admits that on certain rare occasions when feeling suitably devoid of any common sense he is also known to venture down the odd pot hole. -
Gareth Griffiths BSc (Hons) Cert PFS, CeMAPFinancial Adviser
Partner – Pro Sport Wealth ManagementWith 14 years under his belt as a professional footballer in all leagues outside of the premiership, Gareth is well placed to deliver independent financial advice to those clients in the sporting domain. Gareth co-founded Pro Sport Wealth Management LLP with Phillip Rose, and his insights as a fellow sportsman, coupled with the duo’s Corporate Chartered Status, means clients in this area can benefit from a unique and fantastic proposition.
In addition to sport, Gareth’s achievements include a First Class Honours degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University. After setting his sights on financial services, he went on to gain his Financial Planning Certificate and CeMAP qualifications whilst still playing football. Gareth was a delegate for the Professional Footballers Association for seven years and in the last four years of his career served on the Management Committee of the PFA, reporting directly to chief executive Gordon Taylor, OBE, and senior members of the management board. Committee responsibilities included the preparation of financial statements for each financial year, selecting suitable accounting policies and applying them consistently.
Since 2006, Gareth has been working as a qualified Financial Adviser with a core client base of footballers, managers and coaches. In 2008 he was elected as a Trustee of the PFA funds. His experience has given him intimate knowledge of player issues and highlights the need to maximise their earnings potential. He has an extensive network of contacts covering the Premiership, other leagues and related professional advisers. Most recently Gareth has extended his knowledge and skills to other sports and is advising international rugby union players and providing educational seminars for members of the rugby football league. -
Paul Mullin BA (Hons) APFSChartered Financial Planner
Financial AdviserPaul Mullin joined Pro Sport Wealth Management after retiring from professional football at the end of the 2010-2011 season following a period of 10 years at Accrington Stanley, where he became their record appearance holder. Paul is a qualified Chartered Financial Planner and was one of the first ex professional footballers to achieve this qualification. He has more than seven years’ experience within financial services, and is an Associate of the Personal Finance Society. Paul offers a bespoke advisory service to individuals, companies and company directors. His sporting background has given him a valuable insight into the unique financial issues facing sportsmen and women.
Paul has learnt first-hand that a career in sport is relatively short, and as such it is essential to protect assets and formulate a plan to aid the smooth transition to the next life stage. Paul and other Pro Sport Wealth Management advisors understand this, predominantly from experience, and so are perfectly placed to create a tailor made solution for those with careers in sport. -
Malcolm Lay Cert PFSPartner – IFA (South) LLP, Sovereign Employee BenefitsMalcolm’s area of expertise is in employee benefit issues – an area of financial services in which he has accumulated more than 25 years’ experience. He heads up Sovereign Employee Benefits, based on the South Coast, and provides his services direct through Group IFA.
Malcolm’s CV includes a stint on the main board of a large employee benefits firm and a member role on the Senior Management Team of a ‘top 6’ firm of accountants.
His specialist skills comprise all areas of pension scheme administration - from inception through to staff communication strategy - as well as advising companies pre and post acquisition or merger covering the integration of benefits and TUPE issues.
Much of Malcolm’s dialogue is with HR professionals as well as the main board of a business where he can demonstrably add value to their employee benefit spend.
Malcolm believes that employers have a positive role to play in providing a well-rounded benefit package. His 28-year pedigree with Sovereign Employee Benefits gives a virtually unrivalled proposition to either an owner managed business that is growing or a FTSE 350 business.
Malcolm is renowned for his uncomplicated style, particularly when negotiating the engagement strategy with clients so all parties are clear in their responsibilities and choice. -
John Le Poidevin Cert PFSEmployee Benefits ManagerJohn Le Poidevin has been installing ‘big business’ benefit packages for smaller businesses for more than 20 years. He joined Sovereign Employee Benefits Ltd in 1990 with 16 years experience of finding financial solutions for private clients, and for financial advisers, both as a Manager and Consultant.
John was appointed a Director of Sovereign in 1992 and worked closely with the founding Directors, developing the pension and benefit services to small and medium sized businesses throughout the UK.
John has developed advanced communications skills over decades, the foundations of which were laid in the early years. Back then, he assisted clients from all walks of life, giving him a wider understanding of the requirements of business owners and their employees when developing a staff reward structure, including pension and benefits schemes.
John’s experience and our offering will continue to be invaluable, particularly in the near future, when the automatic enrolment of all eligible employees into a qualifying workplace pension arrangement will occupy every employer. -
Janet Green Cert PFSEmployee Benefits ConsultantJanet joined Sovereign in 2003 and deals mainly with corporate clients with whom she has built successful and long term relationships. She believes strongly in the engagement with the whole company when communicating the value of benefits without the jargon. Janet is a lead presenter to groups and senior management, services her own customer portfolio and handles new business acquisitions and set-up – in addition to corporate pensions and employee benefits.
Janet is married with three children. Her husband runs a small business – something Janet believes has given her a broader perspective when considering the many different aspects of financial planning. It also helps her to appreciate the many factors that can impact the choices that companies and clients make.
Janet’s background includes roles in other IFA businesses, both as a mortgage adviser and administrator. With a passion for France and the French language, she taught French to adults for many years and believes that this training helps with the translation and explanation of our pension system. -
Peter Burton Cert PFSPartner – The Pensions Partnership LLPPeter is a veteran of financial services with a career spanning 42 years in the industry. He is a Partner at The Pensions Partnership LLP and a Member of the Personal Finance Society. During the last 27 years, Peter has been specialising in the provision of advice on all types of pension arrangements to professional advisers and their clients. He is a regular speaker at seminars and workshops designed for accountants and other professional advisers and their clients.
Part of Peter’s current duties involves technical research to ensure that The Pensions Partnership LLP always operates within HM Revenue & Customs’ rules, whilst offering maximum flexibility to clients.
Peter’s duties in former roles include the setting up of a pension administration division within Church House Investments Ltd - which, at that time was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Church House Trust plc, a Private Bank acquired by Virgin Money in January 2010. In March 2011, ‘Church House Pensions’ was acquired by The Pensions Partnership LLP, and continues to offer the full range of SSAS, SIPP and EFRBS ‘bespoke’ pension arrangements to a client base of mainly High Net Worth individuals
Prior to joining Church House, Peter was the lead Consultant in the Leeds office Executive Benefits team at Barnett Waddingham, Consulting Actuaries, before being promoted to Associate on 1 May 2003. Before that, Peter was employed by BWD Rensburg Plc from 1993 to 1998 as Director, in charge of pensions with responsibility for a team of eight people. During his time with Rensburgs, he was also responsible for negotiations leading to the ‘white labelling’ of their ‘FlexiGold’ SIPP with a leading Life Assurance Company and the subsequent in-house training of the Client Executives. -
Joanne Linley APMI, Cert PFSPartner – The Pensions Partnership LLPJoanne Linley has 22 years’ experience within the pensions industry and is both Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI) and a member of the Personal Finance Society.
She began her career with the actuarial firm, Mercers, where she worked for nine years. Joanne then joined Barnett Waddingham as an Administrator for both SSAS and SIPP schemes and was promoted to head of the SIPP Team in the Leeds Office in 2002. Joanne was a founder member of Church House Pensions, which was established in 2006. -
Kevan Pearson Cert PFSFinancial AdviserKevan Pearson joined IFA Ltd in August 2010 from an independent national network, bringing with him a wealth of experience gained over a 27 year timeframe in the UK Financial Services Industry.
Kevan holds a Certificate in Financial Planning, and advises clients on a wide range of financial issues as well as working closely with other professionals such as accountants and solicitors. -
Philip Pearson Cert PFSFinancial AdviserPhilip Pearson has more than 22 years’ experience in the UK financial services industry and holds the Certificate in Financial Planning and the Mortgage Advice Qualification. He became associated with Independent Financial Advisor Limited in August 2010 after being with an independent national network.
Philip advises clients on a wide range of financial issues as well as working closely with other professionals such as accountants and solicitors.
