Stephen Spandl
Stephen was born into a farming community in the county of Suffolk in the mid 50s. He left school with A level passes in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. Stephen went on to study Chemistry at the University of London. Having gained an honours degree, he stayed an extra year at College to take a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
After spending nine years teaching in a Northamptonshire secondary school, he made a career change in 1987 and joined the national firm of insurance brokers, Growth Alliance. In 1990 Stephen set up as an independent financial adviser in Northampton and became a member of DBS Financial Management. In 2002 his firm, Kingsway Independent Financial Services, merged with the Market Harborough firm, Hazlewood Insurance Services to become Hazlewood Investment Services Ltd, whose offices are in Moulton Park Business Centre in Northampton.
Stephen believes that financial planning should be recognised as a profession with its own professional governing body. He has sought to increase his knowledge and competence over the years by studying for a number of financial qualifications, including Foundations of Financial Planning in 1990 and the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate in 2000. He is an Associate of the Institute of Financial Planning and in 2002 attained the status of Certified Financial Planner. For more on this, see below.
The growth in the number of clients that Stephen deals with has been due in large measure to his commitment to people as their financial needs change. One outcome of this is his being recommended by satisfied clients to others who need financial advice. This is illustrated, too, by the fact that Stephen still advises clients who were first introduced to him in the nineteen eighties.
Stephen married Mary in 1979 and has two children, both of whom have now left home. Mary works as an administrator at Hazlewoods and has passed the Chartered Insurance Institute examination, Certificate in Financial Administration.
Whilst believing that it is important for people to properly manage their financial assets and income so that the best use can be made of them, Stephen does not believe the attainment of wealth to be the most important thing in life. He is a Christian and seeks to live his life as a follower of Jesus. Stephen and Mary worship at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, where Stephen is currently serving as an elder. You can find out more about this at www.mountpleasantchurch.com
In his leisure time, Stephen enjoys biking, gardening and walking to the top of the fells in the Lake District.
More about the Certified Financial Planner qualification
The CFP Licence has become the most widely recognised financial planning credential in the world. It required a combination of experience, examinations, ongoing educational activity and ethical behaviour. Just over 700 CFP professionals in the UK are part of a global community of approaching 105,000 in 20 countries.
The qualification is the most relevant to provide the adviser with the tools to deliver the job that they and their companies want them to do. The IFP and the Certified Financial Planner accreditation are acknowledged by the FSA in their documentation and seen as equivalent to the Chartered Financial Planner award offered by the CII. Good advisers who have passed a number of examinations are at last tested on whether they can apply the knowledge with their clients. This helps them move from the transaction to consider the whole picture for the client and communicate their findings in a way which is consistent with their clients expectations.