Simon O'Connell

Areas of expertise

Simon specialises in:

Simon advises on all aspects of personal financial planning but has particular expertise in pensions, retirement planning and inheritance tax planning and financial planning on divorce.

Experience

Simon has worked in Financial Services for over 30 years and provides advice on retirement and investment planning, inheritance tax and inter-generational estate planning for families, business owners, trustees and entrepreneurs. His wide range of network of contacts allows him to quickly help clients identify and resolve issues in a cost-effective manner.

Simon was previously Branch Head for a national IFA and has also managed pensions, new business and claims departments for several national Life Assurance firms. He enjoys long lasting relationships with clients and other professional connections and enjoys educating families and business owners to make best use of their finances. Simon also acts as a volunteer mentor for young entrepreneurs.

Simon is a member of Resolution and is on Evelyn Partners Family and Divorce national committee, heads up the team across the South of England and is actively involved in marketing and business development strategies. Simon helps family practitioners and clients achieve fair outcomes for couples going through a divorce or separation and provides education on areas such as pension sharing, cashflow and investment planning.

Notable client work and achievements

Helped a couple retire several years earlier than expected by providing them a detailed cashflow analysis and making their pensions, regular savings and investments more tax efficient and amending their risk strategy.

Advising a family to achieve an inheritance Tax saving of £234,000 by helping to restore their Residents Nil Rate Band by gifting cash to younger generations and investing in Business Relief Schemes that provide potential savings after 2 years.

Advising a couple getting divorced with pensions in excess of £4m to share the pensions in the correct order in a tax efficient way for the future benefit of all of the family and making use of both of their Lifetime Allowances. The tax saving was over £200,000.

Working as a shadow expert with a lady for over 2 years to get a fair settlement. The joint estate was over £5m, going through a difficult divorce I helped to plan her post-divorce future using cashflow in the negotiations and working together with her solicitor, mediator and accountant.

Mentoring a young entrepreneur with his business and introducing him to an accountant, a virtual PA and a social media firm to grow the business, be more profitable and to spend more time on the parts of the business he enjoys. This made him more time efficient and effective which meant he could spend more time with his young family.

Professional qualifications and memberships

Chartered Insurance Institute - Chartered Financial Planner
Member of Resolution
Member of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce
Mentor for the Kent Foundation
Member of the Heart of Kent Hospice Business Club