Starting her financial career in 1987 when working in the Company Secretarial Department of Price Waterhouse, Diane moved to the PwC Wealth Advisory and SSAS teams, with a transition in 2015 to SSAS Solutions (UK) Ltd, which Mattioli Woods acquired in 2019.

Diane specialises in the preparation and submission of the annual HMRC registered pension scheme returns and reporting process for clients. She is passionate about providing excellent client service in a helpful and friendly manner.

Outside of work, Diane enjoys swimming, walking at the coast and spending time with her grandchildren and family.

Joanne’s early career was mainly focused in the customer services industry before she moved into insolvency, working specifically in personal insolvency for a large global accountancy firm. This position included being in control of financially-distressed accounts, specialising in dealing with individuals and third-party stakeholders in order to find solutions that all parties would consent to. She also provided vital knowledge and support to individuals in financial distress.

Following a further eight years within the industry, which included the undertaking of the annual reports, Joanne decided to move into another area of financial services and joined the wealth management department of one of Northern Ireland’s leading accountancy firms, where she began specialising in EPUTs.

Joanne now works as a Client Relationship Manager in the Exempt Property Unit Trust Department (EPUT) of Mattioli Woods based in Belfast. She particularly enjoys building relationships with both client and service providers alike. Her area of expertise is banking and she has forged good working relationships with several of the local banking providers within Belfast and mainland UK. Joanne is also in charge of the quarterly and annual VAT compliance of the trusts as well as assisting the teams with the annual reporting requirements. She is an integral part of the administrative support for the team and would say she is still learning – even after almost five years in the team.

In her spare time, Joanne enjoys spending time with her family, eating out, walking and yoga.

Judith has worked within financial services for over 30 years, starting her professional career in 1993 when she joined PwC (then Coopers & Lybrand). Judith initially worked in an administrative role in the tax department, supporting two senior tax partners, and progressed a year later to Personal Assistant for the Partner in charge of the Actuarial Benefits and Consultancy division.

In 2008, she took the opportunity to progress to the role of Pensions Administrator within the firm’s successful SSAS department and in 2010 ended her 17-year career with PwC when given the exciting opportunity to join Mattioli Woods (then SSAS Solutions) in the role of Administration Manager. Judith undertook this role for 13 years, which in the latter years included taking on the responsibility for the day-to-day finances of the company. Following a 12-month break working with Ocorian, Judith returned to Mattioli Woods in 2024 in her current role as Senior Client Relationship Manager.

Judith’s role involves building relationships with clients and service providers and providing excellent client service. She is involved in the day-to-day management and administration of her client’s pension funds, supported by her extensive knowledge around the operation and HMRC compliance requirements for small self-administered schemes (SSAS).

Outside of work, Judith enjoys spending time with her family and friends, holidays, long walks with her dog Lucy and gardening.

Leanne has worked in the financial services industry for more than 20 years, starting out processing mortgage applications for Alliance & Leicester. From there she moved to work with several IFA companies, developing knowledge in protection, investment and retirement products.

Following her move to Doherty PIC, where she spent seven years, Leanne attained her Certificate in Financial Planning, she then spent a further seven years as a paraplanner in a small IFA firm focusing on building excellent client relationships. Leanne joined Mattioli Woods in September 2023 and hopes to continue building knowledge and providing excellent client service.

In her spare time, Leanne enjoys spending time outdoors with her young family, reading and meeting up with friends.

Lynsey is a Senior Client Relationship Manager within the Exempt Property Unit Trust (EPUT) department of Mattioli Woods in Belfast. Following completion of her undergraduate degree in law, Lynsey went on to complete an MSc in Management and Corporate Governance before taking up a position in Dublin at a leading corporate law firm within their Company Secretarial Funds Department. Lynsey went on to join one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent accountancy firms where she began specialising in EPUTs.

Lynsey is proficient in all aspects of the EPUTs, from their creation to the purchase of new properties/sale of properties, obtaining lending and winding up. Her main focus is the annual compliance associated with each trust in order for them to maintain their exempt status. Lynsey is also an associate member of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland.

In her spare time, Lynsey enjoys spending time with her young family, eating out and travelling.

Having previously worked for BDO Northern Ireland for over 18 years, Niall now leads the Exempt Property Unit Trust (EPUT) team within Mattioli Woods, which operates and manages approximately 100 unit trust structures.

Niall acts as client liaison on establishing, managing and winding up EPUTs and deals with various banks and lending institutions, property managers, agents, solicitors and other professionals in the acquisition and management of commercial and residential property. He is also involved in the day-to-day management and administration of properties held within the EPUT and pension structures.

Niall is a keen sports fan, particularly football, golf, and Gaelic football and is a youth coach at Carryduff GAC. Niall has a young family that takes up much of his time, but in his spare time he loves travelling with his wife and meeting up with his family and friends.

Olivia's biography will be available here shortly.

Sharaz originally joined Mattioli Woods in 2012 before leaving to gain wider industry experience and returned in March 2022. Having been involved in financial services for well over a decade, predominantly in SIPP and SSAS, Sharaz has developed a well-rounded knowledge of money purchase/defined contribution schemes. Scheme members can expect a dedicated point of contact, readily available to be contacted by phone, email or face to face discussions.

Outside of work Sharaz enjoy holidays, travel and weekends away with or without the family in tow, alongside sports and cars.

Amy first began working in SSAS pensions in 2013 as a pensions administrator where she processed new business enquiries providing new business packs, bank applications, trust deeds, and invoices etc. She liaised with clients, giving regular updates and providing scheme valuations as well as speaking with introducers to ensure they were kept up to date with progress on any pending clients.

After seven years, Amy moved to Pension Works as an account manager and worked closely with financial advisers, maintaining relationships with key contacts. Here she would prepare and deliver case updates on clients to the introducing advisers and work with the business development managers to welcome new business introducers into their panel.

Amy joined Mattioli Woods in November 2022 and continues to support clients by looking after their SSASs. She is always happy to help and provide support and assistance at all times, nothing is to much trouble.

Amy has two teenagers who like to keep her on her toes! She goes to the gym four to five times a week and enjoy a few beers with friends at the weekend.