(Commonwealth_Europe) Ortec Finance is focusing on the UK and has enlisted a specialist in the advice industry to spearhead its efforts. John O’Driscoll, a familiar name in financial services, has been appointed managing director of OPAL Financial & Wealth Planning. For him, the new role is less about spreadsheets and strategies and more about helping people feel confident in their financial future.
O’Driscoll has spent over two decades in the industry, most recently at St. James’s Place Wealth Management, where he was known for pushing technology that made advisers’ lives easier and gave them more time to focus on clients. He has consistently maintained a strong belief in the idea that technology should serve people, rather than the opposite. “Financial planning is at its most powerful when it helps people actually see their future, rather than just looking at numbers,” he says. That simple belief is at the heart of what OPAL aims to do.
OPAL isn’t just another planning tool. It takes complex data and turns it into something tangible. For a young couple saving for their first home, a family trying to balance school fees with retirement, or someone wondering if they can finally afford to slow down at work, OPAL shows them clear, personalized scenarios. It’s about making the future feel real, helping people picture what’s possible and the trade-offs involved. Advisers get to provide more engaging, tailored advice, while clients walk away feeling informed and in control.
That mix of high-tech and human touch is precisely why Ortec Finance sees such potential in the UK. Many of Europe’s biggest banks already use OPAL, but the company knows the UK presents both a challenge and an opportunity. As Tessa Kuijl, managing director of global wealth solutions at Ortec, puts it: “The UK is hugely important for us. Clients here want advice they can trust, advice that feels personal. John’s vision for using AI and automation to support advisers fits perfectly with what OPAL is all about.”
Mark Glover, who oversees Ortec’s UK and Ireland business, frames it in even more practical terms. “There’s a real advice gap here. Too many people who would benefit from planning never get it, either because it’s too expensive or too complex. OPAL changes that. It lets advisers show real-time forecasts and scenarios that clients can actually relate to. It makes planning simple and engaging.”
Ortec’s track record suggests it can deliver. With a 96 percent client retention rate and partnerships with over 50 banks worldwide, the company has already proven its technology works on a global stage. Now, with O’Driscoll’s experience and leadership, the aim is to adapt that success to the UK, one adviser and one client conversation at a time.
For O’Driscoll, the appeal of the role is clear. He has seen how technology can help, not replace, advisers. His goal now is to help UK advisers use OPAL to deliver advice that feels less like financial jargon and more like a roadmap for life. “This is about trust,” he says. “If we can help people feel confident about the choices they’re making, then we’re not just improving financial planning, we’re improving lives.”
Behind the figures, forecasts, and frameworks lies something deeply human: the universal need to feel secure about the future. Ortec Finance, under the leadership of O’Driscoll in the UK, is confident that technology can effectively bridge the gap between intricate financial systems and the everyday aspirations and decisions of families.
