Who are we?
Chelsea was founded in 1983 as a firm of independent financial advisers by its present Chairman, Dr John Holder. We were the first intermediary to discount initial charges on unit trusts and bonds, and later PEPs and ISAs. Over the last twenty-eight years, our clients have saved many millions of pounds they would have paid in charges had they bought direct from investment companies, and we are still leading the way with ISAs. Simply by sending your investment application to us, you can save up to 5.5%, an incredible £620 on a £11,280 ISA. So, to get your investment off to a flying start, invest through Chelsea Financial Services.
Below are some brief biographies of our key members of staff:
Darius McDermott - Managing Director
Darius McDermott is now in his seventeenth year within the industry, all of which have been spent with Chelsea. He joined on a training scheme after graduating from Birmingham University with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry. He gained experience in all business departments before being made Managing Director in February 2000.
As a strong campaigner for financial education and investor rights he has pursued an active role in the media, appearing on Channel Four News, BBC 2's Working Lunch and Radio 4's Money Box. He also has a prominent presence within the national written media and is regularly quoted in various newspaper finance pages. He was the winner of the IFA Personality of the Year 2010 award from Professional Adviser magazine and also won the 2011 'Investment IFA of the year' award at the ‘Media IFA of the Year’ awards run by "Unbiased.co.uk", the professional advice website.
Juliet Schooling Latter - Head of Research
Juliet Schooling Latter has been at Chelsea for over 10 years, she joined after graduating from University College London, with a degree in economics. Made Head of Research in 2001, Juliet selects funds for Chelsea's panel and model portfolios which are featured in our Viewpoint magazine. She also compiles a Fund Review, which covers over 500 funds complete with Buy/Hold/Switch recommendations and risk ratings, and features regularly in the trade and national press.
Sam Holder - Head of Operations
Sam is our Head of Operations and we are proud to say he holds the Chartered Financial Planner title. Sam joined Chelsea in 2000 after graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Business Studies. He has 12 years of experience and knowledge of the financial services Industry. Many Chelsea clients will have spoken to Sam over the years and know him as someone who is always happy to help. Sam is a keen sportsman and plays football at a high level.
Sam Slator - Head of Communications
Sam Slator graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a BA (Hons) in International Business with French & Italian.
She joined Threadneedle Investments to set up their European client service centre in 1998 before joining their press office 3 years later. In 2004, Sam moved to Fidelity's corporate communications team where she spent 7 years, latterly as co-head of media relations. She joined Chelsea in January 2012.
Harry Driscoll - Senior Research Analyst
Harry graduated from Manchester University in 2007 with a BSc (Hons) degree in Chemistry. Before joining Chelsea he gained four years of financial services experience, including eighteen months as a stock broker where he advised private clients on UK equities. He holds the CFA Level 1 and the PCIAM qualifications. In his spare time, Harry enjoys keeping fit and hopes to run the marathon next year.
As Senior Research Analyst at Chelsea, Harry will mainly be responsible for the research of Venture Capital Trusts, Enterprise Investment Schemes, Structured Products and Bonds, as well as servicing the Chelsea SIPP.
Belinda Venning - Senior Research Analyst
Belinda joined Chelsea in 2001 after graduating from the University of Leeds with a BA (Joint Honours) degree in French and Italian. She took some time off in 2005 to train as a chef at Leiths before returning to Chelsea in 2010 where she joined the Research team. She regularly meets fund managers and helps to select the increasingly popular Chelsea Easy ISAs and the Chelsea Selection as well as contributing to the production of Viewpoint magazine. Belinda enjoys rowing, running and playing tennis in her free time.
Philip Rae - Research Analyst
Philip joined Chelsea from a global fund services bank where he worked as a performance analyst of institutional investment funds. Prior to this he spent some time working in Australia in equity trade settlements. Philip graduated from Loughborough University in 2009 with an honours degree in engineering.
Outside of work, Philip is a keen hockey player and has represented Scotland in the past.
Robert Doughty - Senior Operations Consultant
Having graduated in 2008 with a first class honours degree in Business Studies, Robert joined Chelsea in 2011 after working as an accountant, and completing a self-run politics project on behalf of a national charity. During this time he organised hustings events around the 2010 general election and taught politics in a number of East London secondary schools. Robert enjoys white collar boxing, snowboarding and watching Chelsea FC.