David Sheppard

I believe that life is about following your passions. Whilst professionally I champion effective financial planning, personally it’s all about music, and I have learnt over the years that the two have a lot more in common than you might think. I have worked in the financial sector since the age of 21. For the first six years of my career, I worked for insurance companies where I built the trust and relationship of a longstanding client who gave me the courage to pursue an advisory career. I took this advice in 1997, gained the initial qualifications, and have enjoyed a remarkable career ever since with a wide variety of clients. At the same time as my financial career, I was playing bass guitar in a rock band. We gigged, toured, composed, recorded music, and experienced some fantastic opportunities. Although the bass guitar may be in the background of music, it is often relied on for the foundation, the beat, and the pace that allows others to improvise and add to it. When examined that way, there are distinct parallels between the two; Just as I wrote and still write music with long-term band members, I believe financial planning is a collaborative, interactive endeavour that helps people plan for the future. By providing the foundation for client plans and timelines from my investment and pension knowledge and experience, they can be adapted to any change in circumstances as life goes on. Some of my clients want to retire early, some want to provide for family and, others wish for peace of mind in knowing they can look after themselves in later life. So, whatever music you want to write for your life, you can rely on a good bass player to be there in the background with the support you can depend on. The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. An investment in equities does not provide the security of capital associated with a deposit account with a bank or building society. This Partner/Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group's wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Group's website at www.sjp.co.uk/products. The ‘St. James’s Place Partnership’ and titles ‘Partner’ and ‘Partner Practice’ are marketing terms used to describe St. James’s Place representatives. SJP Approved xx/xx/xxxx