Wealth Club team

Wealth Club was founded in 2016 by Alex Davies, a former Hargreaves Lansdown director and shareholder and current Chief Executive of Wealth Club. 

The senior management has years of investment and industry experience. 

Today Wealth Club has over 30 employees, from a range of backgrounds but with the common goal of helping experienced investors make better investment decisions. 

Alex Davies – CEO

Alex Davies

Chief Executive

Alex was a board director at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for 15 years. He was responsible for building Hargreaves Lansdown into the biggest direct-to-consumer SIPP provider in the UK with more than 150,000 clients and over £12 billion under management. He is a keen investor with a portfolio of shares, funds, student property, EIS and VCT investments.

Gayle Bowen FCCA – Finance Director

Gayle Bowen FCCA

Director - Direct Investments

Gayle is a qualified accountant with 25 years of experience in private equity with almost a decade specialising in venture capital. Before joining Wealth Club in 2016, Gayle spent her early career in London as a Corporate Finance Director at BDO LLP, where she led a range of mid-market MBOs, fundraisings, disposals, mergers and acquisitions, typically advising owner-managed businesses and entrepreneurs. She has an extensive network of private equity firms, corporates, family offices and ultra-high net worth investors. At Wealth Club, Gayle is responsible for our direct investments and portfolio management, aiming to drive shareholder value and exits for our clients.

Marta Caricato – Marketing Director

Marta Caricato

Marketing Director

Marta is a highly experienced marketer specialising in financial services. She worked 10 years for Hargreaves Lansdown, first with their marketing agency then as their Head of Pensions Marketing. Over the years she’s also worked with several other financial services firms, including Prudential, Rias, CommShare, Interactive Investor and LV=.

Ruth Richards – Compliance Director

Ruth Richards

Compliance Director

Ruth spent 18 years at Hargreaves Lansdown, 15 as Head of Retirement. She developed annuity and drawdown services and helped the firm take advantage of sweeping pension changes in 2015. Ruth holds the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and a First Class Honours degree in German and Russian from the University of Nottingham.

Sheridan Leech – Client Service Director

Sheridan Leech

Client Service Director

Sheridan holds a First Class Honours degree from King’s College London. His focus at university was on British economic history. His personal interest in finance and investments led him to work firstly at Hargreaves Lansdown during his holidays and latterly global fund group Legg Mason. After graduating he returned to Legg Mason on the Sales and Client Service desk before joining Wealth Club.

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Simon Power, FCCA

Finance Director

Simon joined Wealth Club in October 2023 after a 20-year career at Hargreaves Lansdown. There he initially worked in client administration before moving to Finance where he qualified as an accountant and became a financial controller, gaining a wealth of experience as the company transitioned from private ownership to being listed on the London Stock Exchange. He holds a BSc Hons in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham.

Charlie Huggins – Head of Equities

Charlie Huggins, CFA

Head of Equities

Charlie joined Wealth Club in April 2022 from Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for over a decade. He was a Fund Manager for the HL Select UK Growth and Income Funds, managing around £500 million of assets. Charlie is a CFA Charterholder, and also holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and a diploma in regulated financial planning. Charlie studied Biochemistry at Oxford University, gaining a First Class Master’s Degree.

Jonathan Moyes – Head of Investment Research

Jonathan Moyes, FCSI

Head of Investment Research

Prior to joining Wealth Club in 2019, Jonathan was Head of Research at Whitechurch Securities, a discretionary fund management business where he managed £400 million in discretionary model portfolios. Jonathan is responsible for the fund research at Wealth Club and is often quoted commenting on fund management issues in the press. He was named Citywire Top 30 under 30 for five years in a row. Jonathan is a Chartered Fellow of the CISI. 

Ellie Sawkins – Investment Analyst

Ellie Sawkins

Investment Analyst

Ellie joined Wealth Club in January 2018 after achieving a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from Bristol University. Since then, she has worked in various departments within Wealth Club, and now is part of the Investment Research team. Ellie holds the Certificate in Investment Management (IMC), and in November 2023 she passed Level II of the CFA Program.

Isaac Stell – Investment Analyst

Isaac Stell, MCSI

Investment Manager

Isaac joined Wealth Club in 2024 from Parmenion, where he oversaw investment fund research for its discretionary managed portfolio service with over £6bn in AUM. Isaac achieved the diploma in regulated financial planning as well as the Private Client Investment Advice and Management Diploma. He also holds the Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute.

Nick Hyett – Investment Analyst

Nicholas Hyett, CFA

Investment Manager

Nicholas joined Wealth Club in December 2021 after six years at Hargreaves Lansdown, most recently heading up the equity research team. In that role, he oversaw all execution-only equity research, with sector specialisms in financial services, pharmaceuticals, natural resources and global technology stocks. Nicholas holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from the University of Oxford, is a CFA Charterholder, holds the Investment Management Certificate and Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute.

Steve Cordiner – Adviser to Investment Committee

Steve Cordiner

Adviser to Investment Committee

Steve is a qualified Chartered Accountant and experienced private equity and venture capital investor. He most recently led the investment team of the Baronsmead VCT at Gresham House and previously at Livingbridge, where he was a member of the investment committee. Steve has worked with over 50 equity-backed businesses and was Deputy Chair of the Venture Capital Trust Association (VCTA). Steve acts as an Adviser to Wealth Club's Direct Company Investment Committee.

Tris Gibbons – Portfolio Analyst

Tris Gibbons, ACA

Direct Investments Manager

Tris is a qualified accountant with a background in audit and corporate valuations. Before joining Wealth Club in 2021, he spent eight years at mid-market accountancy firms RSM and BDO where he worked with a range of owner-managed, listed and Private Equity backed businesses. 

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Philippa Vassallo

Direct Investments Analyst

Philippa joined Wealth Club in 2023 as part of the Direct Investments Team. She has a strong commercial background having held Finance Manager positions in both SMEs and large corporates, with a developed focus on financial planning and analysis. She is studying to become a Chartered Accountant and is currently an ACCA finalist. She also holds a BA in English Literature from the University of the West of England.

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Omar Sayeed

Accounts Assistant

Omar joined Wealth Club shortly after finishing school in late 2023. He joined the finance department, where he assists in the maintenance of accounts. Alongside his work, Omar is pursuing his AAT qualification, demonstrating his commitment to advancing his career in finance.

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Rhys Davies

Accounts Assistant

Rhys joined Wealth Club in 2023 after graduating with a 2:1 BScHons in Accounting from Swansea University. He has also had previous experience working for Deloitte’s Auditing team during his placement year and is currently working towards achieving his ACCA qualifications.

Ben O'Sullivan – Client Relationship Manager

Ben O’Sullivan

Client Relationship Manager

Ben studied History at Cardiff University, focussing on socioeconomic issues and obtaining a BA (Hons). He joined Wealth Club in 2018, shortly after graduating, and has held a number of roles with the Client Service and Operations team since. He is now a Client Relationship Manager, assisting investors across the entire product range. He is especially passionate about helping investors access early-stage opportunities and has been the lead on a number of Wealth Club deals.

Dominic Weir – Client Services Associate

Dominic Weir, MCSI

Compliance Officer

Dominic joined Wealth Club in 2021, after graduating with an MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics and a double first class MA in Geography from the University of Cambridge. He holds a Level 6 Diploma in Investment Compliance from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) and an Investment Management Certificate (IMC) from CFA UK. Dominic is a full member of the CISI. 

Sam Stephens – Client Relationship Manager

Sam Stephens

Client Relationship Manager

Sam joined Hargreaves Lansdown after gaining a degree in business studies. He worked there for five years and was an integral part of the high net worth service. Latterly, he was responsible for some of their key corporate clients in the banking and legal sectors. Currently, Sam is studying for a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.

Tom Dimonaco, DipPFS – Client Relationship Manager

Tom Dimonaco, DipPFS

Client Relationship Manager

Tom holds a diploma in regulated financial planning and a degree in business studies. He was a Workplace Financial Education Manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, responsible for its largest corporate pension clients. Previously he worked for Rolls Royce Defence Aerospace and a large recruitment company.

Jo Thorne – Head of Public Relations

Jo Thorne

Head of Public Relations

Jo has 22 years of experience in financial services PR. She previously worked at Coutts for 12 years as an Associate Director, as well as Hargreaves Lansdown, Deloitte, HSBC and FirstDirect. She started her career with PR agency Lansons Communications. Jo is responsible for all press relations for Wealth Club and has a particular interest in broadcast PR. She works closely with our in-house team of investment analysts and experts, to share our views and comments with journalists and broadcasters.

Melissa Gardiner – Head of Product Development

Melissa Gardiner

Head of Product Development

Melissa joined Wealth Club after working at Hargreaves Lansdown for nearly 20 years. She was involved in the development of their SIPP since launch, including the implementation of several changes in pension rules. Her varied experience also includes ISAs and investment accounts, and she has wide-ranging knowledge of the regulatory framework which underpins them all. She has a degree in History from the University of Bristol and holds the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.  

Mark Churchill – Digital Marketing Manager

Mark Churchill

Digital Marketing Manager

Mark has been working in digital marketing since 2004, primarily in financial services focusing on property and investments. His specialities are search, analytics and website content. He joined Hargreaves Lansdown in 2011 heading up paid search. Prior to joining Wealth Club he worked for Moneyhub, a fintech startup later acquired by Momentum Global Investment Management.

Alyssa Francisco – Digital Marketing Executive

Alyssa Francisco

Online Marketing Manager

Alyssa has a strong background in Digital Marketing having worked for global companies such as Apple and LG Electronics — specialising in eCommerce, digital channels, and website management. She joined Wealth Club in 2022 and completed her Master’s degree in International Business Management from University of Bristol (UoB) with Distinction. While studying, Alyssa became a Leader of Tomorrow in the 51st St. Gallen Symposium, a Bristol PLUS Awardee, and a student ambassador for UoB.

Pat Bazzard Schirmer – Copywriter

Patricia Schirmer

Copywriter

Pat’s first copywriting role was at Ogilvy & Mather Direct Singapore. Amongst other direct marketing awards, she has won the international ADMA Diamond Echo (best of a year’s Gold Echo winners). Pat holds a BA in Literature and Philosophy, an MA in Literary Studies and an MA in Journalism. Her volunteer work includes summarising theses and research papers for Altiorem, the not-for-profit online library resource supporting advocates for sustainable finance.

Mike Henderson – Investment Content Writer

Mike Henderson

Investment Content Writer

Mike has over 15 years’ experience as a financial writer. He started out in Syndicated Loans and Commodity Derivatives Marketing at ABN Amro and RBS. Mike also served as Global Head of Economic Research at Verisk Maplecroft and an Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics. Before joining Wealth Club, he wrote for investment newsletters as well as trading and real estate firms.

Gábor Radócz – Head of IT

Gábor Radócz

Head of Technology

Gabor has gained expertise in various fields of computer technology, starting with developing embedded systems for telecom and security applications. In the bearings industry he developed advanced data-mining solutions for integrating flow control and resource management. Before joining Wealth Club Gabor worked in Hargreaves Lansdown's web development department for two years.

Elliott Weeks – Software Engineer

Elliott Weeks

Software Engineer

Before joining Wealth Club in 2022 Elliott was a consultant at Aviva for four years. His expertise covers a wide range of technologies including behaviour-driven development in Java/Groovy programming languages, custom-built testing frameworks in selenium, and infrastructure deployment using Terraform. During his time with Aviva, he has gained a deep understanding of corporate pension platforms in areas such as payment gateways, annual management charges, and client assets sourcebooks (CASS). Elliott was also the 2021 hackathon winner at Aviva and participated in the 2021 European Software testing competition where he was a finalist.

Luc Evans – Software Engineer

Luc Evans

Software Engineer

Before joining Wealth Club in 2024, Luc was a Software Engineer for consultancy firm, CACI, delivering software solutions for various government agencies using a variety of technologies and languages. Luc holds an MSc in Computing from Cardiff University (2020) where he achieved a Distinction.

Marousa Kolla – Systems Development Manager

Marousa Kolla

Systems Development Manager

Marousa joined Wealth Club in 2024 from MAPFRE, where she managed cross-functional development teams and transformed software operations. She has extensive experience in software development, team leadership, and technical consulting having previously worked across various industries, including telecoms, aviation, and insurance.

Mo Ben-Hamed – Software Engineer

Mo Ben-Hamed

Software Engineer

Prior to joining Wealth Club in 2024, Mohammed worked as a Web Developer at SmartStream, a leader in financial post-trade processing solutions and services. He developed components used by multiple solution teams and later moved to Java-based development.

Nick Weston – Software Developer

Nick Weston

Software Engineer

Nick joined Wealth Club in late 2022 having worked at Airbus over the previous five years. During this time, he led multiple projects across manufacturing and IT with the aim of building solutions and products for the shop floor, then transitioned to SAP development to work on the production of software solutions for various business areas.

Bayley Royle – Client Administration Associate

Bayley Royle

Client Administration Associate

Bayley joined Wealth Club straight after leaving school in 2018. Initially, he joined Client Services, before moving to Administration, where he has become an integral part of the team. Bayley maintains a keen interest in investments and financial services. 

Jack Ellison – Client Administration Manager

Jack Ellison

Client Administration Manager

Prior to joining Wealth Club in 2017, Jack worked at Hargreaves Lansdown in various departments, including investments and pensions and latterly as an Investment Portfolio Analyst. Jack is now responsible for managing Wealth Club’s administration team.