Video transcript

My name is Matt, and I’ve been a client of Ovation for at least 15 years. I had another adviser before working with Ovation, but it was a remote relationship which wasn’t working. I knew Chris Budd, and he put me in touch with one of his advisers.

I was starting a new business with a number of colleagues, and I wanted some security of having a financial plan alongside starting the business, knowing that this business journey I was starting wasn’t going to be forever.

Ovation had given me the confidence over the years to know that I could get in and out of my business that I was starting at the time, with the financial security that I needed. I like their ethics – the fact that they’re B-Corp and employee-owned. All of this matched my personal ideals for how a business should be run.

I’ve had a very good relationship with Tom, particularly, over the years. Our discussions are often obviously about finance and about reviews of where I am financially, but actually, so much more of it is about him understanding my whole life circumstance, and me understanding him as a person too. So, it’s evolved into more of a friendly discussion where we mutually understand each other.

I had some really sage advice in the early days of starting my business, which was: make your money as you go along, assuming that you’re not going to make anything from selling the business at the end or when you want to exit. That really stood me in good stead and led to, ultimately, me being in the financial situation, through good advice from Ovation, to retire a lot earlier than I imagined. Having said that, I’ve actually started other businesses since, but that’s something else.

They gave me security through the tools that they have, obviously, the advice they’ve given and the success of the investments I’ve made that have been managed by them. But more than that, it was the knowledge of our financial well-being – “What’s enough? What do I need? What’s really important to me, my wife, and my kids?” – and knowing that we’ve got enough to have the life that we want.

The best thing about working with them, or certainly one of the best things, is you feel like you’re working with a family. Certainly, for me, I got to know more than just Tom Morris, who is my direct adviser. Getting to know lots of different people and all the different roles makes me feel connected to something that matters to me and matters to them.

I’d highly recommend them, I think, for all the reasons I’ve previously said. Their honesty, friendliness, and their ability to fully understand who you are as an individual, and what that means in terms of your family and family’s security.