TISA Wealth Management Virtual Open Meeting

Darren has over 20+ years of experience operating in the UK Wealth Management technology space. A passionate and charismatic leader who specialises in helping to successfully grow Financial Services software companies with a proven track record in creating and executing sales and marketing strategies to achieve rapid growth. Senior management roles have been held with Iress, Focus Solutions, Standard Life, SEI Wealth Platform, GBST and now Salesforce. Darren continues to look at how new technologies can benefit the adviser and platform marketplace and is excited to share Salesforce latest innovations in these areas.

Joining the business in 2002, Gareth is now responsible for our Brewin Portfolio Service (BPS) and WealthPilot, the group’s digital channels. In his previous role, Gareth, worked closely with our research department and intermediary division, and oversaw the growth of MPS (Managed Portfolio Service) from just £15m in 2012 to over £4.5bn in 2020 and an intermediary division that grew from £300m in annual sales to in excess of £2bn. In his current role, he developed and is responsible for BPS, the Group’s digital offering, which has attracted in excess of £200m of AUM and 6,000 clients. He also took on the responsibility for WealthPilot in 2020, our new digital financial advice service. Reporting into the managing director of advice and innovation, he works closely with the Executive Committee of the Board to strategically influence the Group and our service offerings utilising new technologies with a laser focus on client outcomes. Gareth is part of our client facing leadership team, who together are responsible for all aspects of the client journey. Gareth is an advisory panel member for the Investment Association’s (IA) fintech accelerator, Engine. He also sits on the TISA Digital Innovation Council. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In his spare time, he enjoys football, NBA basketball, reading and listening to podcasts.

Neeta is a senior executive with over 20 years of global banking and insurance technology experience. She recently won the “Exceptional Women of Excellence Award” at Women Economic Forum, “Inspirational Women” in Women in Banking and Finance and Innovate Finance’s Standout 35 Women in Fintech. Besides her full-time role at Salesforce as Financial Services Transformation Advisor, Neeta is a NED and on the board of Women in Banking and Finance, Money 20/20, advisor at Natwest Accelerator. She is very passionate about technology disruption, transparency in financial services and an advisor to fintech and regtech start-ups and appears in various panel discussions. Neeta is an angel investor in fintech start-ups and is particularly interested in women led fintech start-ups. Over the years, she has performed various roles ranging from building platforms, delivering large-scale transformation programs to top banks and insurance companies, outsourcing, management consulting to heading regions. She has managed P&L to build successful, profitable and scalable business units and led strategic mergers & acquisitions.

John Porteous is Managing Director of Charles Stanley Central Financial Services having joined the firm in March 2019. John has over 30 years industry experience across a number of executive leadership positions within the Wealth Management sector. He is qualified as both a Chartered and Certified Financial Planner. He is also a Fellow of the Institute for Securities and Investment and holder of IMC. A regular presenter at industry events, John has held a number of influential roles including Chairman of the Society of Financial Advisers, Director of the Institute of Financial Planning and Council Member/Director of APFA.