Vanessa Townshend has been awarded the title of Retirement and Later Life Specialist of the Year 2018 at the Personal Finance Society awards! The awards ceremony was held at the O2 Intercontinental Hotel, at a black-tie dinner, on Thursday 22nd November. The awards were hosted by broadcaster and presenter Clive Anderson.

Having come second at the awards for the past two years, Vanessa has said “I am delighted and honoured to be recognised as Retirement and Later Life Specialist of the Year 2018. Winning this award, against such tough competition from all over the country, is the highlight of my career.”

The Personal Finance Society is the largest professional body for the financial advisory profession in the UK, with in excess of 35,000 members. They promote the highest standards of professionalism for technical knowledge, client service and ethical practice across the entire financial advice community for the ultimate benefit of consumers.

By entering for the Retirement and Later Life Advice Specialist Award, members entered a rigorous two-stage judging process designed to enable them to demonstrate the range of knowledge and skills necessary to give their clients accurate, clear, effective and highly professional specialist advice in retirement and later life planning.

Vanessa graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in International Business Studies with Japanese. In 1998, Vanessa joined a National IFA in Guildford before moving to a London-based Stockbroker. Vanessa progressed through her financial planning exams early on in her career, whilst providing back office support and technical research. In 2005, she relocated to Preston and joined Springfield Financial Services Ltd, where she is now a shareholding Director.

In 2015, Vanessa became a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, and she has also completed the Foundation Certificate with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners’ (STEP), which includes Trusts, Wills and Administration of Estates.

Vanessa enjoys providing holistic advice, incorporating retirement planning, investment management, care fees, later life planning and estate planning. She holds the Society of Later Life Advice (SOLLA) accreditation and is a pension and retirement specialist with expertise in all types of pension rules and regulations, including occupational pension schemes, private pensions, pension transfers and pensions on divorce.

Congratulations, Vanessa! All the team at Springfield are very proud of you.