Peter Kingswell-Farr

Director and Independent Financial Adviser

Independent Financial Adviser for individuals and businesses
Peter has been an IFA since 1986 giving investment and product advice on a wide range of situations including property purchase and various types of protection (term assurance, critical illness, income protection and so on) for individuals and families.

He advises people on building up savings for retirement planning. As a pension specialist he is able to guide clients on consolidating pension funds from different sources.

Peter also advises business owners in both a personal capacity and with regard to their companies, this includes pension provision responsibilities and employee benefits.

"Many business owners see their companies as their retirement fund. I work closely with directors and partners to develop tax efficient retirement strategies, which might include Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) and Small Self Administered Schemes (SSAS). I help with strategies for business succession planning and protection advice (Key Person, Share Purchase Protection) to ensure that there will be sufficient capital to cover liabilities and losses and to make sure that the retiring directors, or their families will be provided for without jeopardising the future of the business."

Peter also helps businesses to decide their strategy for provision of employee benefits, which may involve Stakeholder, Group Personal or Occupational Pensions, Group Life, Critical illness, Income Protection and Medical insurance. "I advise employees on their options, fund choice and contribution levels so they have a strategy to build up funds for their future whilst also protecting themselves and their families if things go wrong."

Peter's role as company director

Peter oversees the office team and information technology (IT) systems.

"In 2010 we made changes to the office layout, phone systems, introduced a document management system and scanned files. The biggest challenge was to electronically input an entire client bank, this included policies and investments so that we can provide a better service and have full client information available at the touch of a button.

The Client Account Managers now work more closely as a team and we have created a culture of togetherness between what were two firms."

In everything we do we keep three core principles in mind:

1) To ensure our clients are well looked after and get the right advice at the right time;
2) As a team we enjoy our working environment;
3) We build a compliant and stable business.

"Whether our clients are savers, investors or borrowers, we want to be a friendly, reliable, trustworthy and professional ally to them and to provide real solutions and advice in all financial matters."

Background

Peter studied Hotel Catering and Management before joining a National Firm of IFAs in 1986 as a Trainee Financial Adviser. He then went on to work for two other firms before joining Tony at Baker Davies. In addition to the Financial Planning Certificate, Peter has attained further qualifications in Mortgage advice and G60 - the Advanced Pension Exam. He works alongside other professionals including solicitors and accountants and has been called as a specialist witness in legal proceedings.

Hobbies and interests

With a young family most of Peter's spare time has already been spoken for, his wife Helen and twin daughters Izzie and Beth are always looking for new and exciting things to do as a family. When he can self indulge, Peter can be found running along the country lanes near his home village of Sixpenny Handley. "Village life is very important to us, getting involved and feeling part of the local community is an incredible opportunity and experience for a young family like ours." Other hobbies include cycling, camping and DIY, the odd round of golf, following the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur and on those fine warm dry days (not often then) getting out and about on his motorbike. "Music (or what I call music) is very important to me and whilst my playing days are over, getting to see new acts at local venues and attending a few music festivals each year is somewhat more than a hobby or interest, it is bordering on an obsession."

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