Decades before it was an affluent satellite of suburb, Camden was essentially a country town that offered its residents a fairly modest and straightforward existence. It was here a young Viola’s sole dream in life was to play cricket for Australia, until the devastating discovery that he wasn’t very good at it. That realisation left him all out of ideas about what he might become. Somehow, against all odds, where he wound up is as one of the top-rated money managers in the country, overseeing $2.5 billion worth of wealth for Australia’s elite. And if his plans come to fruition – and they always do, anyone who knows him will attest – that mammoth figure will be closer to $12 billion before the decade’s end. “That’s a really big number, but the reality is, when I’m with a client, I’m concentrating on them, we’re talking about their life and what drives them, and the return they need to achieve their goals,” Viola, the executive chair founding partner of Viola Private Wealth, told news.com.au. “Each client has their own story. But yes, when you add it all up, it turns out to be a big number.” The millionaire’s go-to man Who those clients are, Viola obviously won’t say. Discretion comes with the territory. But it’s probably safe to assume there are chief executives of top Australian companies, high-flying corporate executives, and self-made entrepreneurs among them. “I don’t really have many whose wealth is intergenerational,” Viola said. The overwhelming majority are people who’ve started with little, some with nothing, and wound up with a lot through a combination of hard work and luck. “There is a whole bunch of anxiety that comes with being in that position,” Viola said. “Money comes with lots of [positive] things, but it also comes with lots of anxiety. What we try and do is be the person that the client goes to when they’re anxious.” Viola often quips that his job is “counting other people’s money” but the reality is a bit more complex than that. It requires him to juggle two seemingly conflicting priorities – safeguarding someone’s nest egg while simultaneously growing it as much as possible. “We put the right money in the right buckets,” he said. “We only have four tax structures available to us – superannuation, company, trust and individual. We want to make sure the right money is in the right buckets so clients can achieve their goals.” For some people, that goal is about building wealth so their family is secure for many years to come, while for others it’s about self-funding a dream retirement. Many desire and receive the opportunity to ditch work completely and live off the passive income their investment produce. “Then the enduring service we provide is very much the investment management, so making good decisions about investments in the buckets. We’re their trusted adviser. “We understand that we manage people’s life savings for them, so we fundamentally understand that we have to produce good investment outcomes.” Staying humble – except for cars Viola’s closest mates are the same half a dozen blokes he grew up with, who are happy for all he’s achieved but don’t really care about it. “That’s kind of nice,” he said. “I think it keeps me grounded and normal. I do my best not to put my head up my own ass. “My real strength and one of the reasons I’ve done reasonably well in client-facing and client growth respects is that the same way I talk with my friends is the same way I talk to a listed company CEO. I don’t change my persona. “A big thing for me is I want to remain reasonably grounded because that makes me what I am, that makes me the adviser that I am, but it also makes me the mentor that I am to other people coming into our business.” Those mates quip that he’s a “glorified bank teller”. But not many bank tellers have a Porsche 911 GT3, let alone one that doesn’t have too many Ks on the odometer. “Growing up without much money, my dream was always to have that car. I’m fortunate enough to have one, and now that I have it, I’m too scared to even drive it. I’ve had it for two years and it’s done about 1800 kilometres or something.” There are other vehicles he isn’t afraid to drive – and drive fast. It’s one of his few guilty pleasures. “Most people know that my hobby is motor racing. It’s not the cheapest hobby in the world and I have some nice cars and I really enjoy that. “I think every time the race car breaks, it’s a guilty pleasure. The cheapest thing about race cars is buying the race car. Everything else is expensive. “My main car that I race not long ago caught on fire in a big blaze. They’re cool photos, especially the in-car footage of it combusting into flames.” Impossible to join them? For many Australians, particularly younger generations, there’s a perception that getting ahead is no longer possible. Is it a reality now that the only people who can get rich … are already rich? “I don’t think so,” Viola said. “I think hard work is really important. And there’s that old saying that good luck is hard work’s best friend.” There’s another more modern saying that Viola also subscribes to. “I’m a big believer that capital beats labour every day of the week. The earlier you can start to invest, the earlier you can make good decisions from a financial point of view, even with small amounts, the better off you will be.” When he gives interviews or appears on financial podcasts, Viola said he’s constantly asked the same question. When should someone start investing? “The answer is, immediately. You’ve got to get on with it. You’ve got to make investment decisions from an early age if you’re going to bootstrap yourself. “Also, the world tends to value and reward entrepreneurship. So, I’m a big one for people becoming their own boss and creating value in their own lives.” What he’d do with $20,000 Sometimes in life, people are presented with an unexpected windfall from a job promotion, a performance bonus, or maybe an inheritance. Viola said he would offer that lucky person some pretty simple but powerful advice about what to do with that cash – and the first bit is a little boring, he concedes. “Pay off your debts to start with,” he said. “I’m a big one for paying off your debts. “But then, there are now some really easy ways to invest and get good exposure to markets. You can buy simple ETFs, exchange traded funds, which give you a fantastic broad-based exposure to equity markets. “If someone gets a windfall for the first time, or has a bit of cash saved up, put half in Australia and half in global, or two-thirds global and one-third Australia. Whatever the mix. “Then, every month with the extra money you’re generating, and if you’re spending less than you earn, keep buying. Use what we call ‘dollar-cost averaging’ and continue to accumulate over a period of time.” In a nutshell, dollar-cost averaging is the idea that you should invest the same amount of money at regular periods over the long-term, regardless of what the trading price is. Using averaging, investors can both reduce the potential of volatility being an issue while lowering the cost per share. Indexed ETFs are highly curated and offer a good, diverse sampler of the market, and it tends to be a case of “all good stuff floating to the top”, he added. “Rather than trying to pick whether you invest in two or three or four companies, just invest in the whole index, especially in global markets. At least then you know you’re getting all of the good stuff and if something down [the ladder] performs better, it’ll end up floating up to [the top].” The real power of wealth Sure, building wealth can get you a nice home, an exceptional private school education for your kids, and a half-dozen or so race cars. But for Viola, it brings an even bigger benefit that isn’t quite as glamorous but is worthy more than anything else. “The thing is, when people say they don’t care about money, it’s because they’ve got lots of it. When people say they don’t care about money, it’s because when they turn up to the shop and they tap [to pay], it goes through every single time. “Not caring about money is only okay when you know that the mortgage has been paid or the rent’s been paid, and you can afford groceries and all those sorts of things. Not caring about money is having all the necessities in life. “I absolutely know now, at the age of 46, that I have all the necessities in life. I think I’ve gotten used to nicer things than what I was used to growing up. I still reckon I could do without them, though.”