My academic career has spanned more than 20 years. I began my academic career as a historian and spent many years teaching history at universities. In 2004, I had a career change when I went to work in industry as a financial planner and loved helping clients achieve their goals. Qualified as a Chartered and Certified Financial Planner, I joined Northampton Business School in 2011 so that I could combine my academic and financial planning interests. In charge of a FCA accredited degree programme, I was responsible for training students to become financial planners and helping employees from a global life insurance company raise their professional qualifications. My current role at Coventry Business School is Associate Head of School for Enterprise and Commercial where I have the responsibility to develop professional development programmes. I am really excited to have an opportunity to work closely with students, and staff from industry and academia.

Research:

• Financial literacy: Financial illiteracy is a pervasive problem in the world. I am interested in the consequences of financial illiteracy and in factors affecting levels of financial literacy. I am particularly interested in financial literacy in the UK.
• Financial education: I have just written (with 3 other authors) a book on Essential Personal Finance: A Practical Guide for Students (Routledge, 2017) This book is designed to help young people understand key issues in personal finance and the steps they need to take to build a secure future.
• Performance of pension funds: A large proportion of national assets are held in pension funds and I am interested in their asset allocation as well as their financial performance.

Area of Expertise:

• Retirement planning
• Wealth Management
• Financial planning
• Investments
• Life planning
• Personal Finance