Sanlam’s Penny Lovell: everyone needs a ‘runaway fund’

Penny Lovell spoke to Nina Kelly about how her first investment in mice paid off, learning about shares as a seven-year-old, and advice from her ‘fund manager’ mother.

Penny Lovell is the CEO of the private client part of Sanlam UK’s wealth division.Prior to her current role, Penny was managing director at Rothschild and Fleming Family and Partners, and head of private client, marketing and distribution at Close Brothers Asset Management.

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Growing up, what did you learn about money?

I learned a lot about money through studying shares on Ceefax as a child. My mother was passionate about investing and self-taught. As the youngest child, my job was to sit in front of Ceefax, after school or during the holidays, and keep an eye on what was happening in the markets. I must have been seven or eight. My mother would often bellow from somewhere in the house: “What’s happening with BT or Shell?”, for example. I used to have to be on my game.

At one point, when my dad was struggling a little bit in his business world, Mum confessed that she had been squirrelling money away and investing in the stock market. She had saved quite a lot of money and it saw us through a very tough financial time.

My mother also taught me about the benefits of compounding, and we would regularly travel from our home in Leicester to London, as she wanted to educate and inspire me about the City and financial institutions. I remember visiting the stock exchange as a young girl and peering over the balcony to watch all the people in their coloured jackets, and Mum teaching me about trading. I was also taught about the importance of financial independence - she didn’t want me to be dependent on anybody.

Who takes care of the money in your house?

I’m a single parent with twins who are now 18. I take care of the financial decisions, but with apps such as Uber, Amazon Prime, and Deliveroo, I sometimes wonder whether I’m in control of the finances or the children are.

What was your first investment?

I learned about investing through buying clockwork animals and selling them. My father left the City to try his hand at entrepreneurship and his first business was a pet care and fishing tackle company. One day, I found clockwise toy mouse on a dusty shelf and I asked my Dad to sell me a box of them. I was able to make a huge mark-up selling them at school and they were great fun in the French lesson when all 23 of us set off the little mice on the classroom floor. I doubled my money and it was a happy experience. I later went back to the shelf and found clockwork frogs and hopping rabbits.

My first grown-up investment was a Friends Provident endowment policy, which was my first regular savings vehicle.

What was your best investment? 

My pension and seeing it build up thanks to the little bit saved every month. It’s done everything that those early childhood lessons from Mum told me would happen.

And your worst investment?

Lockdown has led me to question much of my spending when it comes to household goods. I have realised just how much I’ve bought and not used. The huge array of groceries on supermarket shelves and two hungry teenagers has definitely led me to overspend, and far too much has been wasted. Just think what I could have achieved if I had cut the spending by 50% over the last 20 years and invested that money in Johnson & Johnson!

What is the best thing about your job?

The people I work with, and talking to clients. I love reminding people of the simple things they can do to save money effectively and to take advantage of all the different allowances.

And the worst?

The journey to work. For the last 30-plus years, I have lived in Clapham, London, which has meant travelling on the Northern line of the Underground. However, I have just started cycling.

If you could change only one thing about the industry you work in, what would it be?

Moving to zero-carbon emissions.

If you had to save money, what could you do without?

Two sets of school fees! Thankfully, given their age (18), there’s not long left. I have three dogs (a German Shepherd, a Boston terrier, and a cross between a cockapoo and a Boston terrier), which could seem a bit excessive. However, the children threaten to leave if the dogs go.

What financial advice would you give your younger self?

Save regularly, have a plan, work with people you trust, spend time with people who will help you, listen to your Mum – mine gave me great advice – and keep reading and learning about investments and savings.

I trained as a financial planner and working with one is a powerful thing to do. We are all living so much longer, and life can have so much variety now. For example, you might be able to give up work for a few years and then return to it.

Another piece of advice is to have a nest egg, or a runaway fund. This is another lesson that I learned from my Mum. I speak to many women in my age group who were never taught that and wish they had been.

What do you do for fun?

Scotland is my favourite place and I love being in the Highlands. I’ve just got to learn to cycle better, so that I can master the hills. I also enjoy playing the piano, which I learned as a child, although I had two frightening teachers, so I’m amazed that I’m still playing.

I love art, including the Scottish colourists Peploe and Fergusson, contemporary artist Eileen Cooper, and the Impressionists, and I enjoy wandering around the Wallace, Dulwich, and Soane collections. History is a pleasure, too. I’ve always been interested in the Tudors, and I’ve been learning about the Stuarts. I recently visited Stirling Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was crowned. And, of course, as I’m from Leicester, we are all really passionate about Richard III, whose remains were found underneath a car park in the city.

I also enjoy my charity work forThe Human Trafficking Foundation, Pennies: The Digital Charity Box (not named after me!), and Prism: the Gift Fund.

In another life I would be…

Doing work in human rights. Modern-day slavery is a big issue. I do a lot of charity work in the area of human trafficking and have carried out some mentoring of victims. I found the latter very challenging, but hugely important work.