At work
Accreditations
Qualifications
At home
What one aim or life goal do you one day hope to achieve?
What three things are guaranteed to make your day better?
Is there something interesting or unusual that people might be surprised to learn about you?
Following in his father’s footsteps, James joined the practice in 2002. As a Chartered Financial Planner, James is one of the most highly qualified UK advisers by examination (source: Personal Finance Society and The Institute of Financial Planning).
“I am a Partner in the Practice and spend most of my time seeing clients. Growing up with a father who was equally passionate about advising clients in the business was my training ground. This was my first ‘proper’ job after university and it will be my last job too. I started in the business following my degree and a year travelling the globe and when I returned dad strongly suggested I join him and the rest is history.”
James has a particular interest in multi-generational financial planning. His favourite part of the job by far is spending time with his clients; something he has greatly enjoyed over the past 19 years.
Chartered
Chartered status is awarded by the Chartered Insurance Institute and is considered the gold standard financial planning accreditation. Chartered status is a symbol of technical competence and signifies a public commitment to upholding professional standards. I’m pleased to say that it places me amongst the top professionals in my field.
Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning (APFS)
AF1 (Taxes and Trusts)
AF3 (Pension Planning)
AF4 (Investment Planning)
AF5 (Financial Planning Process)
J10 (Discretionary Asset Management)
James’s hobbies include most forms of sport but especially football and golf. He has a busy home life with three children ten and under, five cats, two dogs and a hamster called Nibbles. His two sons are passionate about sport (something they got from their dad), so James is a helper with the local football team and sponsor of his eldest son’s football team.
He has also had the pleasure of supporting various charities including Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice. As a business, Hitchell Associates have been long term supporters of the Openwork Foundation.
James is an average golfer who is constantly striving to be less average - with mixed results.
I would love to spend more time abroad on holiday one day and ensure we have a business which serves more clients in the way we believe they should be served. I have also long admired those who attend Openwork’s Overseas Cycle Challenges which are physical challenges (for me for sure) in far flung places – I would like to one day attend and complete a cycle challenge rather than support the cyclists from home.
My children being happy, contributing to a positive work environment and good client outcomes.
After leaving university I went travelling, and ended up in Australia. I ran out of money, so found a telesales job (which I hated and wasn't very good at!). Taking a chance I bought a ticket on the Australian lottery and won enough to allow me to immediately quit telesales and continue my adventures for the next 5 months!
I’m featured on VouchedFor, the UK’s leading customer review site for financial advisers, mortgage advisers, solicitors and accountants. For 2022 I have also qualified as a 'Top Rated' adviser and will feature in The Times newspaper and as part of their digital guide.
Click here to read my VouchedFor page with client reviews and my current rating.