MEET THE TEAM
Our Team
With over 30 years of experience working in the financial services industry in Ireland and America, John is a leading expert in company pension plans and independent investment advice.
His early career was with Irish Life in Dublin and America where he held several senior financial management and M&A positions. In 2003, John put his experience into a leadership role as a founding director of Acuvest. Since then, Acuvest has grown into a successful advisory business with a strong reputation in the corporate marketplace and in providing individual advice.
John is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Damian Cooper is Director and Head of Private Clients and Investments, having joined the firm in 2006. Prior to that, Damian held senior roles with Bank of Ireland and PricewaterhouseCoopers and was a director of Glassco Recycling.
Damian is a leading member of Acuvest’s Investment Analysis and Research function with over 20 years of experience in providing investment advice to institutional investors and individuals. His knowledge also extends to assessing the financial position of companies from the perspective of various stakeholders, including corporate investors, lenders, auditors and reporting accountants.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and is a CFA charter holder.
David Kingston is a maths major from Oxford University and a Fellow of both the Faculty of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. He joined Irish Life in 1968, having worked in pensions and investments with Scottish Widows.
David led a number of divisions in Irish Life including investment management, pensions and marketing before becoming CEO, a position he held for fourteen years until 1998. During this time David led the company’s move from Government ownership to Stock Exchange flotation.
Since he retired form Irish Life in 1998, David has acted as a non-executive director for a number of companies in the financial area. He was Chairman of the Irish Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2007 and is currently a director of four insurance companies and two fund management companies. He was instrumental in the founding of Acuvest as an investment and pensions consultancy and has been actively involved ever since. He is currently chair of both the Board and the Investment Committee.
David has been Chairman of the Financial Services Industry in Ireland and of the Irish Insurance Federation (now Insurance Ireland). He has been President of both the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland.
Jim is an experienced manager with over 25 years’ experience across many industries, including 18 years working in America. There, he worked for a Chicago-based law firm, as Financial Controller for the US division of a manufacturer of diabetes monitoring and healthcare worker safety solutions, and subsequently as Financial Controller for a San Francisco-based IT company.
Upon returning to Ireland in 2005, Jim spent several years working in finance and operations roles in the property sector. He joined Acuvest as Finance & Operations Manager in April 2010.
Edward who has over 10 years’ experience in the investment industry is our Head of Pensions and leads our Institutional Business. As head of Acuvest’s Institutional Business, his focus is on market innovations, market research and client management.
Edward works predominately with pension funds and is also a member of our Investment Analysis and Research Team. Before joining Acuvest, he worked with Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) and prior to that, Edward worked in retail banking in Ulster Bank.
He completed a MSc in Investment Treasury and Banking from Dublin City University in 2015.
Kieran joined Acuvest in January 2016 as an Investment Analyst.
Before joining he spent over three years working as a Management Consultant in Mazars – specialising in the areas of financial modelling and data analysis.
Kieran holds an honours degree in Financial Mathematics and Actuarial Science from University College Cork.
He has passed all three levels of the CFA examinations and holds the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice (QFA).
Aengus joined Acuvest in April 2020 and leads the expansion of Acuvest’s AdvisorPro service, in addition to providing financial planning and investment advisory services to clients. He is also a member of the Investment Analysis and Research Team.
Before joining Acuvest, he worked with Oxford Economics as a Business Development Manager, and prior to this was a Director at a Medtech start-up for over 5 years.
He has over 10 years’ experience in the financial services industry, specialising in pensions and retirement planning, and investment planning. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), and a Qualified Financial Advisor (QFA)
He holds a primary degree in Bsc. Finance from UCC, and a Grad Dip in Financial Planning from UCD.
Samantha is the Executive Assistant at Acuvest where her responsibilities include Office Management, Client Services and Marketing.
Willie Holmes spent 37 years working for Irish Life, the last 20 of which served as General Manager.
An actuary by profession, he worked across a range of areas in Irish Life including sales, investments, marketing and administration.
He is currently holds a number of non-executive directorships. He is a founding member of the Sales Institute of Ireland and has had many roles in LIMRA, the international trade association of some 800 Financial Services Companies, including Chairman of LIMRA Europe and Main Board member of LIMRA International. He is a recent Past President of the LIA, which provides training to the financial services industry.
He reviews all Pensions, Investment and Life Assurance textbooks produced by the LIA for their Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) course, and also the Professional Diploma in Retirement Planning Advice (RPA) course, which covers all technical issues involved with pensions in the private and public sector.
Agnieszka moved to Ireland in 2004 and worked in the Hospitality and Retail Sectors (Dunnes Stores) in management positions for over four years.
Having a strong aptitude for business and finance, she studied Business Studies and achieved a FETAC 6 Advanced Certificate in Administration and Finance.
Enjoying a career in accounts in the Financial Services and IT Industry, Agnieszka joined Acuvest in September 2014 as a temporary member of staff and became a permanent employee in January 2015 in the role of Accounting & Reporting Assistant.
Agnieszka holds a B.A. in Political Science from Melchior Wankowicz College of Journalism in Warsaw, Poland.
Fiona joins Acuvest with more than 20 years’ experience in Finance. She qualified as an accountant with Irish Life Assurance plc and has gone on to work in private practice and more recently in the facility services management sector in Ireland.
She comes to Acuvest with experience and qualifications in accountancy, project management and payroll.
Tel: 01 6344804
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-tuohy
Email: fionat@acuvest.ie
After completing a degree in Psychology and Economics, Candia joined Scottish Life in 1995 and qualified as an actuary in 1998.
She remained with the group until 2003, working in DC administration and latterly becoming responsible for developing and promoting Scottish Life’s pension fund range.
Candia is based in Edinburgh and now works both as an independent pension trustee for defined benefit and defined contribution clients, and as a consultant on pension and investment matters. She has also been an Examiner for the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries.
Investment Committee
David Kingston is a maths major from Oxford University and a Fellow of both the Faculty of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. He joined Irish Life in 1968, having worked in pensions and investments with Scottish Widows.
David led a number of divisions in Irish Life including investment management, pensions and marketing before becoming CEO, a position he held for fourteen years until 1998. During this time David led the company’s move from Government ownership to Stock Exchange flotation.
Since he retired form Irish Life in 1998, David has acted as a non-executive director for a number of companies in the financial area. He was Chairman of the Irish Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2007 and is currently a director of four insurance companies and two fund management companies. He was instrumental in the founding of Acuvest as an investment and pensions consultancy and has been actively involved ever since. He is currently chair of both the Board and the Investment Committee.
David has been Chairman of the Financial Services Industry in Ireland and of the Irish Insurance Federation (now Insurance Ireland). He has been President of both the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland.
With over 30 years of experience working in the financial services industry in Ireland and America, John is a leading expert in company pension plans and independent investment advice.
His early career was with Irish Life in Dublin and America where he held several senior financial management and M&A positions. In 2003, John put his experience into a leadership role as a founding director of Acuvest. Since then, Acuvest has grown into a successful advisory business with a strong reputation in the corporate marketplace and in providing individual advice.
John is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Damian Cooper is Director and Head of Private Clients and Investments, having joined the firm in 2006. Prior to that, Damian held senior roles with Bank of Ireland and PricewaterhouseCoopers and was a director of Glassco Recycling.
Damian is a leading member of Acuvest’s Investment Analysis and Research function with over 20 years of experience in providing investment advice to institutional investors and individuals. His knowledge also extends to assessing the financial position of companies from the perspective of various stakeholders, including corporate investors, lenders, auditors and reporting accountants.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and is a CFA charter holder.
Innovation Group
Ken has over 22 years’ experience with over 13 years in leadership positions in the digital sector. Since June 2013, Ken has been CEO of the Digital Marketing Institute. The Digital Marketing Institute is a global leader in the provision of certified and accredited education for digital marketing. From Nov 2010-May 2013, Ken was CEO of Simply Zesty, which is one of the largest full service digital marketing agencies in Ireland and the UK. From 2000-2008, Ken worked with Saongroup.com where his roles included Marketing Director with Irishjobs.ie, MD of their software business, Candidate Manager and finally Group Chief Executive of Saongroup.com. During his tenure, Ken oversaw the completion of 9 acquisitions, 5 start-ups, and 7 new market entries and staff numbers grew to over 800. Prior to this, he held various Marketing Manager Positions with Irish Life Assurance plc. Ken holds a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree (1st Class Hons) from Dublin City University.
Jim O’Hara is a veteran of the high tech industry having served Digital Equipment Corp for 17 years in a variety of senior management positions in Europe, US and Asia. Jim joined Intel Corp in 1991 to lead the companies first semiconductor investment in Europe. Prior to his retirement in 2010 Jim spent the previous 10 years as Vice President of Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group and General Manager for Intel Ireland. Jim recently chaired a government taskforce on research prioritisation and has taken up several board positions in publicly quoted companies. He is chairman of a number of high tech start-up companies. Jim was awarded ICT Ireland business person of the year in 2007 and in 2009 Business and Finance business person of the year. He is a fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineers and holds an honorary doctorate of science from National University of Ireland. Jim served a 9 year term on the Board of AIB from 2010 to 2019.
Willie Holmes spent 37 years working for Irish Life, the last 20 of which served as General Manager.
An actuary by profession, he worked across a range of areas in Irish Life including sales, investments, marketing and administration.
He is currently holds a number of non-executive directorships. He is a founding member of the Sales Institute of Ireland and has had many roles in LIMRA, the international trade association of some 800 Financial Services Companies, including Chairman of LIMRA Europe and Main Board member of LIMRA International. He is a recent Past President of the LIA, which provides training to the financial services industry.
He reviews all Pensions, Investment and Life Assurance textbooks produced by the LIA for their Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) course, and also the Professional Diploma in Retirement Planning Advice (RPA) course, which covers all technical issues involved with pensions in the private and public sector.
