Directors and Qualified Advisers
Lee Wallis, Chartered Financial Planner, APFS, Managing Director
Lee has over 35 years experience in the financial services sector working both for insurance companies and IFA firms. Lee’s experience includes managing sales teams, training and developing staff as well as being successful as a client adviser in his own right. Formerly Branch Manager of the Life Association of Scotland in Croydon and Director of Donald Duncan (Life & Pensions) Ltd which he established in 1982.
Lee joined the industry in 1974 where he became one of the top Sales Consultants for Scottish Amicable. A strong advocate of Independence and Professionalism, Lee obtained the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate in 1994 and the key G60 Pension qualification in 1999, followed by G70 Investment Portfolio Management in 2003. Lee is now a Chartered Financial Planner and an Associate of the Personal Finance Society.
Warren Fairchild, Chartered Financial Planner, APFS, Director
Warren joined the Burrows Keith Group Ltd (BKG) in 1992 and became a Director of the Company in 2000. In addition to his role as an Adviser, Warren has responsibility for the Financial Management of the company. Warren obtained the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate in 1996 and the G60 Pension qualification the same year. He achieved Chartered Financial Planner status in 2009 and is an Associate member of the Personal Finance Society.
Warren’s experience includes working for an insurance company as a Broker Consultant and in the Pension Department of a national firm of Independent Financial Advisers. He has over 25 years experience in Financial Services.
David Baker, Chartered Insurance Practitioner, ACII, APFS, Director
Possessing over 30 years industry experience David joined COBRA Financial Services in May 2010 after a long and successful career with a global financial institution during which time he held a number of senior management positions. David’s expertise extends across a wide range of business disciplines which has helped shaped COBRA’s proposition and distribution strategy in preparation for the Retail Distribution Review. Operationally David has overseen COBRAs Client segmentation, fee menu and service model, as well as recruited high calibre advisers and contributed to a number of business development opportunities.
David is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner, an Associate of both the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) and the Personal Finance Society (APFS).
David Gomez, Associate Director
David joined COBRA Financial Services in September 2008 and has in excess of 23 years experience in the Financial Services industry. Prior to joining COBRA he was a Director of a successful IFA practise for 18 years. The company was acquired by COBRA in September 2008.
David advises across a range of financial planning issues with particular focus on Investment, Pensions, IHT and Retirement Planning.
david.gomez@cobrafs.co.uk
Martyn Lodge, Dip PFS, Regional Manager
Martyn has in excess of 22 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry, having worked with AXA for 10 years, and reaching the position of Area Sales Manager, during which time he was responsible for the Management of a Team of Advisers. The remainder of this time was spent working as an Independent Financial Adviser, the role in which he is currently employed.
Having passed the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate in 1994, Martyn then worked with the Chartered Insurance Institute in helping further develop the benchmark Financial Planning Certificate and was involved in item writing, editing and marking of the examination. He has also achieved personal examination successes in the Pensions and Long Term Care areas.
In his role as Business Development Manager, Martyn was involved in the establishment of a Joint Venture with a leading firm of Chartered Accountants, gaining valuable knowledge for our business on the needs of the Professional Introducer. He is now working with one of the South's leading Law firms as part of a new Joint Venture, set up to provide Financial Services advice to their clients.
Martyn advises across a range of Financial Planning issues with his main focus and area of expertise being Pensions and Investments.
martyn.lodge@cobrafs.co.uk
Paul Stevens, Cert PFS, Senior Consultant
Paul joined BKG Financial Services in April 1997. Paul achieved The Financial Planning Certificate in early 1998, and obtained the Mortgage Advice Qualification the following year. Prior to BKG, Paul worked for AXA for 5 years and has over 15 years experience in the industry. Paul is now working towards obtaining further qualifications at the Advanced level demonstrating his ongoing commitment to the financial services industry.
Paul advises across a range of financial planning issues with particular emphasis on pensions for both individual and corporate needs and employee benefit packages.
paul.stevens@cobrafs.co.uk
Guy Freeman, Senior Consultant
Guy joined COBRA Financial Services in October 2010 and brings with him a wealth of expertise developing business opportunities with accountancy practices.
A successful track record in this sector coupled with his technical proficiency has enabled Guy to fit seamlessly into COBRA Professional partners and drive our professional relations with Legal and Accountancy introducers.
guy.freeman@cobrafs.co.uk
Carl Baker, Consultant PFS
Carl joined COBRA Financial Services in January 2010 from Scottish Widows, where he was a Regional Account Manager. Carl has spent the last 10 years working in various guises within the financial services industry. He has worked with both financial services providers and intermediaries. Carl's key area of experience is within employee benefits, however over recent years he has been developing his wealth management skills. Carl completed his Certificate in Financial Planning in 2006 and is currently studying for the Diploma.
Carl advises across a range of financial planning issues, with particular emphasis on pensions for both individual and corporate needs, and employee benefit packages.
Carl is a rugby enthusiast and currently plays for Sutton & Epsom RFC. Carl also enjoys golf and motorsports.
carl.baker@cobrafs.co.uk
Chris Siggery - Healthcare Consultant
Chris joined COBRA Financial Services in January 2012 from the Jelf Group where he spent the first 2 years in Commercial Finance and the following 3 years in Employee Benefits, namely Group Private Medical Insurance. During his time at Jelf, Chris had always developed new business opportunities through introducer channels before the opportunity arose to work with COBRA to maintain and grow the existing book of healthcare business. When COBRA decided to bring healthcare in house, Chris was asked to manage the changeover and implement the process required to service our clients effectively. Since starting at COBRA, Chris has continued the excellent client retention rates in an extremely tough and competitive market, and has picked up some exciting new business wins by working closely with colleagues and network members. Having set up the healthcare division, Chris’s ambition is to double the size of the portfolio over the next 2 years through building relationships with introducers, maintaining excellent client service and offering good, honest broking advice.
When not working, Chris likes skiing, playing tennis and running. Chris is currently training towards his 4 and fifth half marathons and has ambitions of competing in triathlons.
chris.siggery@cobrafs.co.uk