Meet the Team

Craig is a Certified Financial Plannerand the Presenter at our Financial Education Seminars.

He manages our direct relationships with our valued clients and customers. He is keen to ensure that we work as a team and deliver the best service we can.

Craig has always lived in Cardiff and considers himself lucky to be blessed with 2 children and 3 step children. His family takes up a lot of his personal time. Though he still manages to socialise, play and manage a football team. He likes to watch Everton whenever he can.

Craig started in Financial Services in 2000. He considers himself extremely fortunate that he’s found his vocation.

Hard work and constant study has resulted in Craig reaching Certified Financial Planner. Only the top 1% reach this level of qualification. Craig really enjoys presenting at
seminars.

He is passionate about sharing his knowledge with people who need it. He especially likes to receive questions from the audience. On a personal note he loves playing and reading with his little ones and sharing as much time as he can with his family.Craig has also recently been awarded the BSI:ISO22222 International Award for Financial Planning and is an affiliate member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners. 

Emma has worked in financial services since 1994.

Originally from Durham, Emma is a graduate of Cardiff University Business School, attaining an Economics degree. She began her career working with derivatives traders

in an investment bank, before moving into private client advice. Emma has been an Independent Financial Adviser for fourteen years.

Emma is one of the few Chartered Financial Planners in Wales. She is a Pension Transfer Specialist, holding advanced Pensions qualifications; and has completed the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate and is an Associate  of the Personal Finance Society. Emma

also has a compliance background, particularly within the complex area of pension advice. She enjoys the technical aspects of planning, as well as forging long term client relationships.

In her spare time Emma loves spending time with her family and friends, socialising, and the cinema. Emma keeps fit by taking long walks with Coco, her rescue dog, and cycling. She also enjoys gardening, and has her own allotment where she attempts to grow vegetables! Emma is a classically trained pianist, and whilst she is no longer performing, she still enjoys teaching in her spare time. 

Oliver has joined the growing Financial planning team at Penguin and has been a Financial Planner for over 10 years having reached Diploma status.

He has recently moved back to South Wales from London where he worked for 8 years and now lives in Cardiff with his Wife and 2 children.

Oliver started his career in financial services as a Paraplanner and therefore has all round experience in knowing what it takes to deliver a good quality service to clients.He particularly enjoys helping clients to gain confidence and take control with regard to their financial affairs. He believes that financial planning should be straightforward and satisfying process for his clients.

Financial planning is a logical and explorative process which starts by helping a client to become very well organised. Once achieved, clients can then establish exactly what it is they want for their future. Only then can a comprehensive and robust plan be put in place in order to achieve those goals…the rest is just detail!

He enjoys working with a variety of different clients from business owner’s, sports professionals, through to the grandchildren of certain clients and firmly believes that no two client’s needs are ever the same.

On a personal note, he enjoys playing golf whenever he can and is a member of Royal Porthcawl Golf Club. He previously represented Wales and Great Britain at Amateur level but now just plays for fun. 

Gavin has joined the growing Financial planning team at Penguin and has been a Financial Planner for past 4 years having reached Diploma status.

He has always lived in Cardiff and is married with a Son. Family is a major part of his life, and his Son takes up a lot of personal time with all his sporting activities he is part of, although still finds time to socialise with friends as is a keen Rugby and Football (Chelsea) supporter.

Gavin started his career in financial services as a Financial Adviser within the Co-operative Group. He particularly enjoys the interaction of meeting new clients to help share his knowledge and give an understanding of the importance and benefits of good financial planning, as he believes that it will have a positive impact now and more importantly in the future.

Building and maintaining client relationships over the long term is of the highest importance, to help support you clients through their individual journeys of life.

He believes the purpose of good financial planning is help enhance and enrich a client’s lifestyle

On a personal note, he loves spending time with friends and family, and enjoys weekend breaks with friends playing golf and family holidays in the Sun.

Lisa has a Psychology Degree, and in 2001, whilst studying for her Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Psychology, she also started work in the Financial Services Industry.

After obtaining her Diploma and then going on to pass her Financial Service Exams, in 2004, Lisa started working for Craig as a Paraplanner. Her role involves completing a lot of behind the scene tasks; preparing and administering Wealth Management Plans, Reports, and Suitability Letters for our clients. Lisa’s work involves reviewing existing arrangements, researching solutions or possible options, and then preparing recommendations for clients. Once the client has agreed their preferred solution, she works to put this in place and ensure all the necessary paperwork is completed.

Lisa is very organised and enjoys making things easier to read and understand. She likes to help the clients see what they currently have, and show them how they can plan effectively to achieve their Financial & Lifetime Goals. She also enjoys helping to manage and review our ‘Advanced Investment Strategy’ (AIS) system.

On a personal note, Lisa has always had a passion for dancing, and from a young age represented South Wales in a whole host of dance competitions and received many awards and medals, reaching championship level in both solo and team events. She then went on to teach young children to dance, choreographed routines for competitions, and organised shows. Now, although she tries to keep fit by going to zumba dance classes & the gym, her personal life centres around her family, especially her husband & two young sons. She loves playing & reading with her two boys, and whenever they can, they enjoy their family weekends away to her parents’ caravan in Tenby. Appreciating the value of “getting away”, Lisa is also a respite foster carer for her mother, so that her mum can enjoy well-deserved breaks from her 24/7 job! 

Sophie has been working within the Financial Services Industry as a Client Relationship Manager since 2008.

After passing the CF1 UK Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics exam at the young age of 19 she is currently studying for the next three Finance exams that will help her pursue a career in the industry. In October 2011 Sophie started her new role within the company as Technical Assistant.

Sophie’s job role now involves completing behind the scenes tasks such as helping the Senior Paraplanner to review clients existing arrangements, research solutions and possible options and then she helps to prepare recommendations for clients that are easy to read and understand. Once the client has chosen their preferred solution she works to put this in place and ensure all necessary paperwork is completed. Sophie is the friendly voice at the end of the phone whenever you need your questions answered; she enjoys the day to day conversations with our valued clients.

In her free time Sophie can usually be found socialising with her friends and spending as much time as she can with her family. She enjoys cooking for others and is also regularly in Cardiff town centre, shopping for new shoes!Sophie likes to keep fit by attending the gym and her pink bike is often seen in the office after she has cycled to work. 

Sinead moved to Cardiff from Waterford, Ireland in 2005 to study a diploma in Sport & Exercise Science at Glamorgan University.

After completing the Diploma, Sinead decided that she wanted to pursue a career within the Financial Services industry and took a job with Legal & General as an Investment Services Associate which helped her to gain more knowledge about the industry.

In October 2011 Sinead joined Penguin as our Client Relationship Manager, a role that involves administrating client files and ensuring the advisers have everything they need for their meetings, taking telephone calls and liaising with service providers to gather all the information so that the technical team can complete their roles.

Sinead is the friendly face in reception that greets our visitors and ensures they have a lovely tea or coffee during their meeting.Sinead is looking forward to furthering her career within the industry and is studying to complete the Certificate in Financial Planning so that one day she is able to become a Financial Planner.

In her spare time, Sinead enjoys playing football for a local team and keeping fit at the gym. She also enjoys spending time with friends whilst in Cardiff and regularly travels back to Ireland to spend time with her family.