An adviser in the spotlight – Simon Tuck

At Foster Denovo, we have lots of great advisers with a wealth of knowledge and experience in financial services. To help you get to know them better, we are delving into their roles at Foster Denovo, their day to day lives, as well as finding out more about them personally.

In this month’s ‘Adviser in the spotlight’ we speak with Senior Partner and Strategic Adviser, Simon Tuck, about his role at Foster Denovo and what he enjoys doing in his spare time.

Hi Simon, tell us about your role at Foster Denovo?

My day-to-day role centres on looking after my client’s requirements and keeping an eye on their various arrangements through Foster Denovo. I stay in regular contact with my clients who I know prefer me to be proactive.

I meet with new clients and work with many existing clients who moved across to Foster Denovo with me when the company I used to work for was acquired by Foster Denovo in 2019.  I am very conscious that my role is based on trust with my clients.

Do you have an area you specialise in?

I’m a Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Planner and whilst I’ve been doing financial planning for many years, focus has tended to be on the investment side of clients’ requirements. I do, however, have a great interest in retirement planning and this is an area I am increasingly working within. Retirement is not just about money, it’s about lifestyle and what you’re going to do with your time when it’s the right time to retire, and how you’re going to manage your money for maybe 25 to 30 years after you retire. To me, that’s quite an onerous task so for a client, who does not work in this industry, it is an opportunity for me to be really helpful and to plan a way forward.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

Working with clients has always been very enjoyable. At Foster Denovo, there is a great support team which means I have more time to spend with my clients whilst the team deal with a lot of the administrative side. I am very fortunate to work with a very good team that allows me to focus on the right things.

What would you say is a career highlight you’re most proud of?

So, I spent several years at a family bank, C.Hoare & Co, which I believe is one of the oldest banks in the world. Whilst there, I built up their Wealth Planning division quite successfully which was very enjoyable. From there, another family bank, Weatherbys Private Bank, asked me to establish a wealth planning operation for them. Setting up something that was successful from scratch, over seven years, was very satisfying and it’s a legacy because it’s still there and it’s still going strong apparently. So that’s marvellous.

What is one thing you would want potential clients to know?

Above all, that they can trust me, which is a very important factor when you’re talking about people’s money. I always treat my clients as if I am advising a member of my family and consider if it is an investment or strategy that I would follow myself. Trust is the most important thing, and something I try to get across to new clients at outset, that is why it is always gratifying when a client refers a friend, colleague, or relation.

How do you prefer to start your working day?

With a strong cup of coffee! My working day has changed for the better since lockdown. Without a daily commute, I tend to start early, so a cup of coffee helps me tackle my admin work at about 7.00am, followed by another coffee and get on with the emails and organising my day.

How do you like to spend a day off?

I enjoy doing lots of outdoor activities.  I like fly fishing and country sports generally, I play golf, I like refurbing houses, and of course spending time with family. Golf is the summer sport and then country sports are for the winter, so I’m busy all year round.

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?

Tiger Woods in his prime playing golf, that would be excellent. Winning the Masters. That would be four days though!

What’s the worst job you had and what did you learn from it?

It was putting jelly into pork pies at a local factory! The factory would take on local teenagers for a holiday job, so I mixed up the jelly in a big vat and injected it into the pork pies that were fresh out of the oven. I did that for four weeks and found it to be an eye opener and very motivational to embark on my own career path.

Do you have anywhere on your must visit list?

I had my bucket list holiday a couple years ago when we flew to LA. We had dinner at a good restaurant with my best man who now lives out there and then we drove from LA to Salt Lake City, via Las Vegas, and went skiing with friends and relations before driving back. Everything worked really well and it was a lot of fun. I don’t know if I’ll top that one but, I guess if I were to go anywhere it would be India, that’s where we will hopefully go at some stage.

Thanks, Simon.

To arrange an initial meeting with Simon or any of our experienced financial advisers please contact us. Or, if you are an adviser looking grow your financial planning business and would like to find out more about Foster Denovo, get in touch here.

This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice or a personalised recommendation.

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