Alex Smith

Alex Smith

After 20 years working in the corporate world of pensions and investments, Alex joined Watson Moore IFA as he wanted to work more flexibly and help his clients in an ethical and sustainable way. He manages our West London office based at Chiswick Park.

Alex is a Chartered Financial Planner and an Affiliate of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He has experience in planning estates and Inheritance Tax Planning, although the majority of his time is spent retirement planning and pension planning.

In his spare time, Alex loves sport, especially skiing, hill running and rugby. He generally loves being outdoors!

Qualifications:

  • Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning (QCF)
  • Associate of Personal Finance Society (APFS)
  • G60 Advanced Pension Planning – Pension Transfer Specialist
  • Affiliate of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)

Why are you an IFA?
After 20 years working in the Corporate world of pensions and investments I wanted to work more flexibly and run my own book of clients in an ethical and sustainable way.

Why did you join Watson Moore?
I had worked on the other side of the fence and had seen many good (and some not so good) IFA practices. I have known Chris Moore for years and really liked how they manage money and how they operate.

Why do you think you are qualified to manage client’s money?
I’m a Chartered Financial Planner and an Affiliate of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). In short, I’m comfortable in planning estates and Inheritance Tax Planning although the majority of my time is spent on planning retirements and pension planning

Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m 47 and I live in Ealing with 3 teenage children. I love sport, especially skiing, hill running and rugby – generally I love being outdoors. It makes me happy.

What’s your Typical client?
Most of my clients are my age or a little older. Most are planning for their retirement, whether in 3 months’ time or 15 years away. I also have numerous retired clients and those looking to solve Inheritance Tax issues to pass on more of their wealth to their loved ones.

How do you Help Clients?
For many of them it’s about a transition into retirement. For my parent’s generation they worked full-time to 60/65 and retired for perhaps 10-15 years. Life has changed now. I see many of my clients phasing into retirement, working part-time or perhaps setting up their own business or doing consultancy or contracting work. This can make retirement less daunting, more enjoyable and financially rewarding.

The new “Pension Freedoms” brought in 2015 by George Osborne really enable a flexible retirement and clients love the freedom this gives them. There are also numerous tax advantages to this type of semi-retirement.