Peter Hopkins previously worked at both HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
At HMRC he led the pension simplification project which resulted in the new pension rules that came into effect on A-day (6th April 2006) as well as major projects such as the tax regime for Stakeholder pensions and the introduction of real time reporting of PAYE (RTI).
At AJ Bell, Peter will oversee the firm’s technical resources team which supports advisers in understanding complex product cases and how changing industry regulation applies to their business and clients. He will also be instrumental in AJ Bell’s lobbying activity with both regulatory and Government bodies.
He joins AJ Bell with immediate effect and with report to chief executive Andy Bell, who comments:
“The fact that someone of Peter’s calibre and experience has joined the business is a great endorsement of what we are trying to achieve in supporting advisers and helping the industry evolve.
“Back during the days of pension simplification, I locked horns with Peter on many a technical issue as we moved from Green paper, to White paper, through draft legislation and into implementation stage. More often than not I came out on the wrong side of the technical argument – though Peter had the advantage that he was making up the rules!
“I first offered Peter a job at the time, but he decided to go off and change PAYE instead, but I was persistent and I am delighted that this has finally been rewarded.”
Peter Hopkins, technical director at AJ Bell, comments:
“I’m excited to be joining AJ Bell. It is one of the fastest organically growing platforms in the market and is often at the centre of industry debate and lobbying. I am looking forward to helping drive that as well as ensuring that the excellent technical help and support we provide to advisers continues to be relevant to their and their clients’ needs.”