Who We Are
Financial planning is personal and choosing the right financial advisor is important, one that shares your financial vision, works in partnership with you and builds long term trust.
Karen Goodliffe
MSc, CFP®, BA (Hons), QFA FLIA, RPA
Managing Director
After graduating with an honours degree in Financial Services from Manchester Metropolitan University, Karen began her career in the financial planning sector in the UK over 23 years ago. After moving to Ireland in 2004 and joining New Ireland Assurance as a Broker Account Manager, she achieved the accreditations of Qualified Financial Adviser and Retirement Planning Advisor (RPA) as well as becoming a Fellow of the Life Insurance Association (QFA FLIA).
Wishing to be more at the forefront of the financial advice process and to use her knowledge to more directly help people with their finances, Karen joined a financial planning company in 2017. Here she gained invaluable experience working with clients and advising them on their financial needs. At the same time, she also returned to college part-time and studied for the Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning at University College Dublin (UCD), which led to her being accredited the internationally recognised qualification of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ or CFP® through the Financial Planning Standards Board.
Karen completed her studies by graduating with an MSc in financial services from UCD and soon afterwards, she set up SurePlan Financial.
Karen takes the stress out of finances by creating realistic plans for her clients and guiding them on their financial journey. She has also contributed to many national newspaper and magazine articles on the area of financial planning and has regularly been interviewed on both national and local radio stations.
Trish Russell
BA(Hons), PGDip(Hons), QFA
Client Services Manager
Trish graduated with an honours degree in Irish & Geography from University of Limerick and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business from University College Dublin. She began her career in the financial planning sector over 20 years ago when she started working within the Defined Benefit Administration Team in Irish Life.
In 2004, she joined New Ireland Assurance, first working in the Group Pensions Department, before relocating to Cork in 2007 and joining the Broker Sales Support Team. During this time Trish gained considerable experience in all areas of financial planning and provided assistance to financial brokers with the administration of many financial products including corporate & individual pensions, savings & investments and protection products. Trish achieved the accreditation of Qualified Financial Advisor (QFA) in 2009.
Wishing to further broaden her experience and skills, Trish joined a financial broker in 2021 where she built strong, professional relationships with personal & corporate clients by providing excellent service on all aspects of their financial portfolios and needs.
Trish joined SurePlan Financial in 2023 as Client Services Manager and offers our clients expert email and telephone-based support. She ensures our clients receive first-rate service and she oversees many aspects of client servicing from onboarding of new clients to the preparation of review reports for our existing clients.
Trish has built a wealth of client experience within the financial services industry, and she is passionate about ensuring our clients receive the highest levels of service.
Paula Downey
LLB, QFA, FCA, FCSI, LCI
Compliance Consultant
Paula graduated with a law degree from Trinity College Dublin. She established The Compliance Consultant in 2019 following a 25-year career in senior compliance roles within the financial services industry. These included roles as Head of Compliance in Davy, Pershing Securities International Limited, ABN Amro Stockbrokers (Ireland) Limited and HSBC Securities Services. She was also a Director in KPMG’s Regulatory Advisory practice.
Paula is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (FCA) and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (FCSI). She is a Registered Stockbroker, a Qualified Financial Advisor (QFA) and Licentiate of the Compliance Institute (LCI)
The Compliance Consultant is a boutique regulatory consultancy that specialises in working with Brokers / Retail Intermediaries. Paula has worked closely with SurePlan Financial since Karen established the business. She was there at the beginning to assist with its authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland, and is now an ongoing compliance support, assisting with ensuring its regulatory obligations are met.
