Roddy Kohn knows what he’s talking about. What’s more, he talks about it with a passion, humour and clarity that will ensure you know what he’s talking about. Roddy Kohn is the country’s number one expert in money.
Born in London, but raised in Pontefract and Sheffield – you can take Roddy anywhere. It was a bizarre turn of events that took him from his life in the real world into the land of stocks and shares. When a local business man from Irish Life read about Roddy’s heroics tackling a bunch of supermarket thieves, he invited the intrepid youth into his investment firm. Staring long and hard at the magnolia ceiling of his hospital ward, Roddy had plenty of time to consider his future, and a career in mortgage and investment advice seemed like a good idea.
Many years later, Roddy Kohn is at the top of his tree. His professional credentials are second to none. As principal of Kohn Cougar (www.kohncougar.co.uk), Roddy is a nationally recognised figure within the Financial Services industry. He appears regularly as a speaker at a range of high profile national events for such major industry names as HSBC, Friends Provident and NPI. Roddy was quoted by the Teachers’ Group at this year’s IBC Conference as “the best speaker on the circuit we have ever heard”. He is often invited to be a host or panellist for high profile events, including the AITC Road show, Investment Week’s Awards Dinner and Financial Adviser’s IFA of the Year and he also lectures on financial services for university Business Studies and Law students.
With such high standing in the industry and with a style of presentation that is warm, open and easy to understand, it is not surprising that the media have been keen to use his talents.
Roddy writes frequently for the national and trade press and has a weekly column in Financial Adviser (Financial Times Professional Magazine of the Year). He also writes a monthly column for Personal Finance Magazine. His TV appearances include Working Lunch – BBC2, Dosh – C4, Fair’s Fair – HTV, BBC News 24, Sky News, Channel 5 News Early and Sky Business News. and a one-off special for the BBC, Fantasy Retirement and The Real Story for BBC1. He co-hosted C5′s Serious Money, a consumer series featuring, amongst other things, pensions, property, using the Internet and dealing with your bank manager. It achieved the highest request rate for its fact sheets from viewers hungry for accessible information. He is also a regular for Sky Active and many radio shows. Programmes include Today, Money Box Live for BBC Radio 4 and The Financial World Tonight, Moneycheck, Wake Up To Money for Radio 5 Live.
The Serious Stuff…
1997 – Appointed to the board of directors of the PIA, the board of the PIA Ombudsman Bureau and appointed as chair of the Small Business Practitioners Panel.
1996 – Finalist in the Independent Adviser of the Year Awards sponsored by Mirror Group Newspapers and Money Marketing.
1995 – First listed in “Who’s Who in the City”
1994 – The Personal Investment Authority (PIA) invited him to assist with the formation work on the first rule book and he was subsequently appointed to the PIA Admissions Group (responsible for the vetting all firms seeking to be regulated by the PIA.)
1993 – Roddy joined the board of LIBM – a professional indemnity insurance company. He also sits on the Audit Sub-Committee.
1992 – Saw his appointment to the board of FIMBRA by his fellow practitioners. He remains a director to the present day and has served on the Training & Competence, Rules and Legislation and Disciplinary Committees during that time.
1989 – Roddy became Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the National Federation of Independent Financial Advisers.
