I’m Daniel Gerring. I have worked with Oculus for about three and a half years, and I’m looked after by Mark Daunter.
Mark was recommended to me by a friend who worked with him for some years. I had an established financial adviser whom I was, on a one-to-one basis, happy with, but he worked in a very big firm. Increasingly, I felt that some of the advice that was being given to me was driven more by what they wanted from me as a client than what I needed individually.
I wanted somebody who I felt would really work in partnership with me to understand what I needed and then implement it, somebody who would come at it with a fresh approach – and that’s exactly what Mark delivered.
He’s a very good listener. He listened, asked sensible questions, and I could see him putting together a picture of what I needed, and not just jumping in and saying, “I can do that” or “We can do this.” He really took the time to get to know me and understand what my objectives were.
I’d say Mark instils a great sense of confidence in me. He’s somebody who has got my back, who I feel is sensible. When there’s an issue or something happens, he’s proactive and he’ll contact me. Also, when I have a question or there’s something I need, he’s responsive. And all of that together creates a real sense of trust and confidence, which is what I value the most.
I feel much more confident about making plans. One of the things that Mark does really well is run bespoke scenarios. He’s done it for me and other members of my family as well, and I found that incredibly useful. And he doesn’t just run the scenario, he really takes time to feed in the relevant data, to feed in the relevant aspirations, and then once he’s run it, he gets under the skin of it to stress test it, and all of that together allows you to feel much more confident about making plans or perhaps changing plans. So, yeah, that’s been a real highlight.
I think the best thing about working Mark is that I feel like he’s really got my back, and he’s got my back in quite a sophisticated way. He knows me, and what’s important to me, and he knows if something arises, whether it is a problem or is much less likely to be a problem, and he will just pick up the phone to me, we’ll have a chat, and we’ll work through it.
I think the best advice that Mark has been able to give me is to take a big step back and to try and look at things slightly more holistically. So, for example, that might be looking at a financial decision and thinking, “Well, this might have the very best likely financial outcome, but is it going to be the very best thing for me as a person?” And there might be another decision which might have a slightly different outcome, but which might leave me feeling better about my future and having more confidence in the decisions I’m making.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Mark and Oculus. I think that he provides something quite special. Having had two long-term financial advisers before him, both of whom were very talented, he provides something a bit different, which is very much based on a personal service. It’s very much based on getting to know his clients and really getting invested in them as people. The other thing I’d mention is that he’s just a really good guy and someone who is a genuine pleasure to work with.
