Our People

• Alan Whittle, MSc MA FPFS

  I have worked in the Financial Services sector for much of the last 20 years but also have experience working with Government on Rural and Equality Policy and in the Social Sector on Employability.
  
  I’m a great believer in lifelong learning.
  
  After leaving The University of Edinburgh in 2002 with an undergraduate degree in Mental Philosophy I started my career in financial services, quickly realising that further study would be important. Over the next few years, while working for two insurance companies in Edinburgh, I variously failed to make any real headway in my FPC exams. Then I met an inspiring group of people at my first IFA firm who helped motivate me to complete my Certificate in Financial Planning and my Certificate in Lifetime Mortgage Advice.
  
  In 2009 I undertook a specialist course to become qualified as an ISO 9001 internal quality auditor.
  
  I undertook my IMC with the CFA UK in 2011 and achieved my Diploma in Financial Planning from the PFS in 2011 also.
  
  Over the next few years I took some specialist courses with the CISI on Financial Crime and Risk Management whilst also furthering my Financial Planning qualifications with the PFS.
  
  In 2020 I achieved the status of Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society.
  
  In 2020 I completed my MSc in Financial Planning and Business Management with Manchester Metropolitan University, for which I received a Distinction. My dissertation “Alternative Returns – An Evaluation of Motivations for Responsible Investing and the Role of Advice” focussed on the motivations for responsible investing.
  
  My continued research interests are primarily in the fields of social and responsible investing and in what motivates people to invest, particularly in impact investing. I am also interested in applied ethics in a financial services context.
  
  I am currently undertaking research for a PhD in Financial Planning at Manchester Metropolitan University, the subject of which is the intersection of Behavioural Finance and Impact Investing.
  
  Whilst I value my time with financial planning firms and Financial Planners, I also spend time teaching the next generation the skills they will need to succeed as a Lecturer at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

  

• Collaboration

  We are very pleased to be working in collaboration with some fantastic people in the work that we do, particularly:

  • Rebecca Kowalski of Overstory Finance
  • Michaela Pashley and colleagues at Practical Financial Exams (PFE)
  • Max Leslie of Leslie Learning