New Member Directors appointed to PFS Board

Carla and Dan joined their first PFS Board meeting on Monday 3 July, where Anthony Ward was also made interim PFS President. At the same meeting Elizabeth Bastin, an existing Member Director, was re-appointed as a Lay Director of the Board and Don MacIntyre was retained as interim CEO of the PFS for a further six months.

Anthony Ward, interim President of the PFS, said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed Interim President of the Personal Finance Society. The PFS have helped me throughout my career, and I know it will play a key role for all members going forwards.

I am delighted to immediately welcome Carla and Daniel to the PFS Board. They bring significant professional experience from within and beyond the financial services profession. We have begun a process to identify further Directors, who – alongside others to be appointed by the CII Group Board – will collectively provide the necessary leadership, strategic focus, and good governance that PFS members deserve as we enter an exciting new phase for the organisation.

There has never been a better time for the public to seek advice and as the leading membership body, we have a wonderful opportunity to shape a united profession which builds public trust. I look forward to growing our profession with input from members, the PFS Board and the CII.”

Carla Brown is Managing Director of Oakmere Wealth Management Ltd and Director of CL Wills and Estate Planning and has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services profession. Carla is a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the PFS, an Education Champion with the PFS and winner of the 2021/22 PFS ‘Chartered Financial Planner of the Year’ award.

Daniel Williams is an Independent Financial Adviser with Morgan Williams & Co, based in Yorkshire. Daniel was awarded PFS Education Champion of the Year at the 2022 Personal Finance Awards and has been named as a CityWire Top 35 Next Generation Planner for three consecutive years. 

Don MacIntyre, Interim CEO of the PFS, said: “Our new Member Directors joined their first PFS Board meeting on 3 July and rapidly advanced a range of business. I am pleased to confirm that at that meeting the PFS Board signed-off the PFS annual accounts, re-established its Nominations Committee, and agreed a process for identifying and recruiting additional Member Directors to join the Board at our AGM in September. The PFS Board also agreed to recruit a new, independent Chair.” 

Biographies

Carla Brown

Carla is Managing Director of Oakmere Wealth Management Ltd and Director of CL Wills and Estate Planning.

Carla is a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the PFS, She graduated from Loughborough University with an MSc in Wealth Management in 2018, is accredited as a later life adviser with the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA), and holds a Certificate in Relational Financial Planning. In 2019, Carla won the inaugural SJP ‘Chartered Financial Planner of the Year’ award and in 2021 went on to win the prestigious PFS ‘Chartered Financial Planner of the Year 2021/22’.  She has been nominated for multiple other awards.

Prior to starting her own business in 2011, Carla spent 15 years working with HSBC and Bradford & Bingley as an Independent Financial Adviser, and Cheshire Building Society as a Financial Consultant. She has also gained governance experience as a Trustee and Director of DMPL Ltd, a resident’s association for a private housing development, and as a school governor.

Daniel Williams

Daniel has been an Independent Financial Adviser with Morgan Williams & Co since 2016, and also sits on the firm’s investment committee. Daniel is a specialist in Cyber Crime avoidance, leading his firm’s work in the space and educating other Financial Advisers and Financial Services Professionals, in part as a member of the PFS ScamSmart initiative. He is an Education Outreach Ambassador for the Yorkshire Region and an Education Champion for the PFS ‘My Personal Finance Skills’ initiative, running workshops in schools across the UK.

In 2022, Daniel was named the PFS ‘Financial Education Champion of the Year’ and has been identified as a CityWire Top 35 Next Generation Planner on three occasions. Prior to becoming an IFA, Daniel was Managing Director of creative design agency, Tailor and Baker, and an international headhunter, with RMI Consultants Ltd.

Anthony Ward

Anthony Ward, Head of Virtual Wealth Management at Barclays Wealth, is an experienced leader with a passion for Financial Planning.  Having practiced as a Financial Planner in Banks and Accountancy firms, before moving into leadership roles and leading teams of Financial Planners and Wealth Managers, he has first-hand experience of the power of financial planning, and how it can add huge value to clients, their families and society as a whole. 

As a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the PFS, throughout his career Anthony has been actively involved in developing the profession and held various roles supporting the CII and the PFS, most recently joining the Board of the Personal Finance Society in September 2021.  During his time on the Board he has used his experience to represent the members and shape the strategy of the PFS and as Interim President he looks forward to leading the PFS members towards a bright future.