About Me

roywalkerNow based in Dubai, I provide expert, personalised, wealth management services to private clients of all nationalities throughout the region.

I have an extensive background in international, multi-currency asset management, and work with expatriates and high net worth clients.  I am Senior Wealth Manager at Guardian Wealth Management.   

Originally an engineer, my first master’s degree was in telecommunications engineering. However I soon realised I enjoyed the financial and commercial side of business more, and I took my MBA with Finance specialism at Imperial College London in 1992. I’ve been involved in several corporate acquisitions plus two company listings (IPO’s) on European stock exchanges. For a while I was group commercial director for then the UK’s largest independent ISP. I have also been involved in software development and internet businesses including a leading-edge internet security developer.

Several years ago I made the decision to leave the corporate world and focus on working one-to-one with private clients. I’ve never looked back and find it tremendously rewarding - building financial security for my clients, and lifetime friendships.

I am British, 52 years old, married, and have six children. I’ve lived abroad for almost twenty-five years, mostly in SE Asia, but have recently relocated to Dubai, UAE.

New To Financial Planning?

People sometimes say to me, “Oh, I don’t have enough money to need a financial advisor”, and my reply is usually “What an excellent time to start!”.

Financial advisors are a bit like dentists - very often we’ll delay, and delay, a visit to the dentist, because we think nothing is wrong and we don’t need a check-up. But when we finally do go, perhaps with toothache, the dentist takes a look and says: “Why on earth didn’t you come see me earlier?”

If you are an expatriate, there can be enormous advantages to using offshore structures to handle your financial planning. Usually these benefits are maximised by starting early - certainly within your first year of working abroad.

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A good financial advisor will look beyond the obvious areas. For example, it’s important to review the level and validity of your life insurance cover when you are an expatriate. Many times I meet new clients who are still paying for life cover they started back home, unaware that they are no longer covered due to the change of country of residence. Specialist expat life insurance provides cost-effective cover that stays with you as you move from country to country.

Note that depending on your current country of residence, not all options will be available to you, depending on the regulatory and investment licencing regimes. 

Already Affluent Or High Net Worth?

Having financial resources creates options.  The difficulty is identify and then implement the best of those options.  If you are a busy executive, business owner, or independently wealthy, you may not have the time to commit to this analysis.  Working with me and my team will be a refreshing experience – building a long term working relationship with an expert who understands your situation, and brings you best ideas for management and growth of your wealth over the years ahead. 

My Personal Philosophy

In my early days as an engineer I learned the value of ‘taking things back to first principles’. The laws of gravity don’t change. Electrons will always behave the same way. Whatever neat stuff the technologists come up with in the future, if you know the fundamentals then you can always understand. In finance, it’s just the same.

By taking things back to first principles, and staying focused on the fundamentals, we can usually achieve our financial goals without losing sleep and without having to worry about today’s financial headlines. It’s my job to help make that happen for my clients.

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