TISA Financial Advice & Guidance Conference 2026

Lucy has worked at the FCA since 2008 across a variety of different roles. The majority of her career has been spent in Supervision, but she also has extensive experience of designing and implementing policy, having overseen the implementation of the Mortgage Market Review and the overhaul of the financial promotions rules for high-risk investments. She also spent a year in Authorisations, as Head of Department for dual-regulated firms. Currently, Lucy is the Director of Consumer Investments. This includes the Supervision of Advisers and Intermediaries, Wealth Managers, Self-invested personal pensions, Crowdfunders, Peer to peer and Platform Firms. Lucy is also responsible for overseeing the policing of our perimeter for unauthorised business, ensuring we intervene assertively on misleading Financial Promotions.

Mahrie is the International head of Financial Markets and leads the practice firmwide. She specialises in investment funds and financial services regulatory work with an emphasis on regulated funds such as UCITS. She acts for fund and wealth managers, administrators, platforms and distributors as well as financial advisers and other intermediaries.

Millie is a managing associate in our Financial Services Regulation practice. Millie’s primary focus is advising institutional managers, investment banks, private banks and wealth managers (both in the UK and globally) on a wide range of regulatory matters, including advice on MiFID2, UCITS, AIFMD, SMCR, compliance with the FCA rules, compliance policies and procedures and ESG issues. In addition, she has coordinated a significant number of regulatory change projects, including FCA authorisation applications, advising on the impact of these on products and financial services.

Nici has an extensive background in retail banking, insurance and investments. Her current role is Chief Executive of Foresters Financial, one of the larger Mutual Insurers in the UK, focused on supporting everyday families to save and protect themselves for the future. Nici was previously Chief Commercial Officer at OneFamily, Managing Director of Saga Money, and she has held senior roles at major banking groups, including Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland. Nici has held several board positions, including non-executive roles at Accent Group and Catalyst, both social housing associations, and she is an executive board member at Foresters. Nici chairs the Financial Education Committee of TISA (The Investment and Savings Alliance), focusing on how we can support the financial education and wellbeing of young people. She sits on the board of The Association of Financial Mutuals. Nici graduated from Oxford University with a first-class degree in Biochemistry and achieved her MBA at Harvard Business School. She represents Great Britain in Duathlon.

James Carter is Head of Platform Policy and Oversight at Fidelity International where he leads Fidelity’s engagement with the government, regulators and industry bodies in the development of long-term savings policy and the business’s analysis of the impact and opportunities of new regulations. He is also responsible for the oversight of the assets, products and services offered through Fidelity’s platforms. With 25 years of experience in the long-term savings market James was previously a Director in Willis Towers Watson’s pension consulting business, having also worked for KPMG and Aon, advising trustees and employers operating large DC pension schemes.

Colin has worked in the pensions industry for over 35 years and has held a number of senior technical and management roles at Legal & General during this time. He currently provides technical and policy strategy advice to the Workplace Savings business and is passionate about improving member outcomes. He is a member of TISA’s retirement policy committee and retirement strategy group and represents L&G on a number of other trade body and government forums and committees.

Matt Collins is Legal Director for Vanguard’s UK Personal Investor platform. He leads legal coverage for the business, supporting the development and ongoing operation of Vanguard’s UK retail investment proposition. Matt has over a decade of experience as a lawyer, with a strong background in retail, client facing financial services. His expertise spans investment platforms, regulatory change, consumer protection and governance, and he works closely with the business to enable innovation and good client outcomes.

Rebecca is a propositions manager at the Money and Pensions Service. She worked extensively on the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and MaPS's response to the FCA's proposals for targeted support. Rebecca has extensive consumer and financial guidance experience, having worked for more than two decades at Which? as a personal finance journalist and head of the Which? Money Helpline. She believes strongly in the value of guidance in helping consumers make informed financial decisions, particularly vulnerable consumers and those most in need of support.

Clare is a Director of Savings & Investments at Barclays Smart Investor. Previously a financial journalist with over 15 years’ experience covering consumer finance, her work now focuses on breaking down the barriers to investing and supporting people with their investment decisions. She is passionate about helping people raise their financial awareness and understanding so they are more confident about managing their money and achieving their financial goals. Clare is also a Trustee on the board of the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute.

John Gathergood is Professor of Economics at the University of Nottingham. His research specialises in behavioural personal finance using data from financial services providers. John has advised the Bank of England; Competition and Markets Authority; Department for Business, Enterprise, Innovation and Skills; Financial Conduct Authority; Her Majesty's Treasury; and the Open Banking Implementation Entity. He has conducted research in partnership with Argus Analytics, Barclays Stockbroking, Experian, Hargreaves Lansdown, Lloyds Banking Group, National Employee Savings Trust, Natwest Markets and Rightmove. He has also undertaken pro bono advisory work for the third sector including the Money Advice Trust and Stepchange debt advice charities. Much of his research involves collaboration with firms and policymakers on research useful for both knowledge and practice.

Ben is the CEO and co-founder of Life Moments, a purpose-driven company focused on helping financial services brands create impactful, digital customer engagement experiences. Since its founding in 2018, Ben has worked with major brands such as Aviva, Virgin Money, Mortgage Advice Bureau, and Standard Life, helping them enhance their customer experience strategies. Life Moments specialises in data-driven approaches to customer engagement, providing both the philosophy and technology necessary to deliver fast, iterative results. This expertise is particularly aligned with Consumer Duty regulations and Targeted Support, allowing the company to equip clients with best-in-class tools for understanding and supporting customers throughout their life moments. Life Moments is also advancing its AI capabilities, introducing AI powered, purpose-built solutions to improve financial wellbeing and customer understanding. Prior to Life Moments, Ben spent 18 years at HSBC, where he led several business units and served as Co-Head of the UK Financial Services team. He advised clients on strategy, regulatory changes, and capital raising. After leaving HSBC, Ben worked closely with government departments like DWP, DCMS, and the Treasury on policy and customer development initiatives. Now, alongside his position at Life Moments, Ben also serves as a Non-Executive Director at Trafalgar House Pensions Administration.

Kirsten is a Senior Manager at Lloyds Banking Group, leading on policy and external engagement for the Mass Affluent division. She has a strong track record in developing policy approaches that lead to better customer outcomes, at Lloyds and previously as a regulator and ombudsman. Kirsten is currently focused on the FCA’s review of the advice / guidance boundary, including its policy sprint to test Targeted Support.

Gavin Vollmer is a recognised leader in the UK wealth and retirement sector, combining deep industry experience with large scale transformation expertise across consulting and financial services. Before consulting, he built hands on experience working across wealth management, wrap platforms, discretionary fund managers, and Model B platform propositions, giving him a grounded understanding of adviser models, platform economics, investment governance, and end to end customer journeys. Gavin now helps firms tackle complex strategic and regulatory challenges spanning advice and support models, operating models, propositions, distribution, digital enablement, and major transformation programmes. He works closely with executive teams across the wealth, pensions and life market and is an active contributor to industry debate on the future of advice. Currently, Gavin is supporting firms as they respond to Targeted Support and the broader Advice–Guidance Boundary Review, helping them design scalable, commercially viable operating models and credible regulatory responses that improve consumer outcomes. A respected leader at Baringa, Gavin is known for his people first approach and his ability to build trusted relationships that drive meaningful, long term change.

Liz Waldron is Head of Product & Client Experience for Vanguard’s UK Personal Investor business. She leads Client facing, Product & CX enablement teams. Liz has over 30 years experience in Financial Services. Her expertise spans digital transformation, proposition development, service innovation and helping businesses move from start-up to scale. A consumer advocate, she is passionate about helping investors achieve better financial outcomes through alleviating fear, building confidence and improving financial literacy. She is also currently leading Vanguard’s Targeted Support efforts.

Sophie leads TISA’s work on the Advice/Guidance Boundary Review, Disclosures, Financial Education, Financial Crime and TISA’s Inclusive Investing initiative. Before joining us, Sophie worked in Wholesale Markets Policy at the FCA, gaining experience in Primary and Secondary legislation, as well as FCA consultations. She has worked on Brexit and the LIBOR transition and was seconded to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Prior to that, she worked in M&A for a FTSE 100.

Renny has been at TISA for over 8 years and is the Head of Policy: Products & Long-Term Savings. He has been in the industry for nearly 35 years and has held various management and senior management positions at a range of financial services organisations. Qualifications wise he holds the CII accreditations of Certificate in Life and Pensions, Certificate in Financial Planning and Diploma in Financial Planning. He is a frequent commentator in the media and has significant involvement in the ongoing Government agenda of change through his TISA role and membership of several industry working groups and committees.