Steve Conley, BSc FCII APFS RLP, is a highly accomplished financial services professional and visionary leader. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he is the CEO of the multi-award-winning, international, and market-first advice-only financial planning network, the Academy of Life Planning.

Steve is a Chartered Insurer and Chartered Financial Planner with the Chartered Insurance Institute, an Associate of the Personal Finance Society, and a Master Life Planner with the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. He is also an elite member of the Professional Speakers Academy and the author of the Amazon best-seller "Your Money or Your Life: Unmask the highway robbers – enjoy wealth in every area of your life".

Steve has held leadership positions throughout his career at some of the world's largest banks, including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Santander. He is also the former chair of the Bancassurance Steering Group of the British Bankers’ Association. He has led major ground-breaking projects that have resulted in six market firsts and six market leaders, including pioneering investment platforms and retail multi-asset funds. One of the investments he was responsible for was voted best in the world, and its first client was the Pope. According to the World Health Organisation, it contributed to saving the lives of 5 million children in the world’s poorest countries.

Since the turn of the century, Steve has been a finalist in the Yorkshire Business Masters Awards and was awarded the Transparency Trophy of the Transparency Taskforce for improving trust and confidence in the global financial services industry. He currently serves as a volunteer with the Transparency Taskforce as a Global Ambassador, and he is the founding lead of its Market Integrity Team. Additionally, he helps victims of scams and scandals recover assets through his work as the head of Asset Recovery Network (UK) Limited and formerly The Fraud Team (a not-for-profit organization).

The Academy of Life Planning, which he founded in 2012, has received numerous national and international awards in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Steve's passion for helping people achieve their financial goals and live their best lives is evident in the success of the Academy and his numerous accomplishments throughout his career.

An excellent financial planner requires extensive professional training, a great deal of life experience, and a continuous process of self-reflection. Here is a little summary of Steve's professional qualifications:

• A Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
• Trained and registered with the esteemed Kinder Institute of Life Planning (KI). Master Life Planner (MLP) through KI.
• Chartered Financial Planner (CFP) with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Fellow of the CII. Chartered Insurer with the CII. Associate of the Personal Finance Society.
• Twice winner (Associateship & Fellowship) of the British Insurance & Investment Brokers' Association Prize and twice winner of the Jubilee Prize of the Insurance Institute of Manchester for best performance in North West England and Manchester, respectively.
• An elite member of the Professional Speakers' Academy.
• Author of Amazon Best-seller "Your Money or Your Life: Unmask the highway robbers - enjoy wealth in every area of your life".

Experience is as follows:

• Best Financial Adviser Support Network 2022 & Award for Outstanding Contribution to Finance 2022 - UK, Global 100 consisting of only 100 of the World's leading firms and individuals, with votes received from our global readers of EMG Publishing in over 163 countries worldwide. 
• Most Pioneering Financial Planner Network Winner at the Acquisition International Worldwide Finance awards 2022.
• Financial Adviser Support Network of the Year Winner 2022, at Corporate Live Wire Innovation & Excellence, awards 2022.
• Twice winner of Best Financial Adviser Support Network in 2021 and 2020 at SME news Finance Awards.
• Twice winner of an Award For Outstanding Contribution To Finance in 2021 & 2020 at SME news Finance Awards.
• Yorkshire Business Masters Awards Finalist 2017.
• Winner of the Transparency Trophy 2017 & global Ambassador of the Transparency Taskforce. The founding lead of their Market Integrity Team.
• Founder of the Academy of Life Planning in 2012.
• Former Head of Investments at HSBC, RBS Group & Santander. Multi-award-winning, multi-market-leading Proposition Architect.
• Former Chair of the British Bankers' Association, Bancassurance Steering Group.

Aside from his professional competencies, he engaged in a continuous learning process, attended seminars, and studied all current professional developments relating to this specialisation.

Steve Conley is an Ambassador and Transparency Trophy Winner

The Academy founder, Steve Conley, received an award in September 2017 for contributing to a more transparent global financial services industry. The award was presented by the Transparency Task Force founder, Andy Agathangelou - at the offices of Morningstar in London. Steve is an Ambassador for the Transparency Task Force. He also leads one of its teams, the Market Integrity Team, which reviews professional codes of conduct across the financial services industry. He presented the resulting white paper to the British parliament in February 2018. This led to the establishment of the APPG on Financial Stability. For more details on the Transparency Task Force, why not check out: www.transparencytaskforce.org