David
Founder & Adviser
The founder and senior financial planner of the firm
Also makes the teas and coffees too
The Team
MeetthePeopleBehindthePractice
A focused, dedicated team bringing decades of combined experience to your financial planning.
20+ years in financial services
David founded his practice in 2018, after 12 years in financial planning, to combine institutional grade global expertise with a personable, client first approach.
“I built this practice because I do not believe in a revolving door of customers. My vision is to look after clients as though they were my own family and work with them for the rest of their lives. My only metric of success is how long people choose to work with me.”
— David Ruler, Founder
20+
Years experience
100%
Independent
2018
Independent since
David Ruler, Founder
Our Story
From Acting to Advising, Always Dedicated
Key milestones along the way
2004
First Ever Acting Role!
David's first time on stage in the original play Blue Suede Blues, at the Medway Theatre in Rochester, Kent, for the Duncan Rand One-Act Play Festival
2004
First Play at The Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone
2004 saw David's second acting role, this time his first appearance at the prestigious Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone, Kent, as Michael in They Don't Grow On Trees
2005
David's Acting Journey Continues
David is back on stage at The Hazlitt in Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea. Playing the role of Philip Welch in a dark thriller
2006
David's financial advice journey begins!
David starts his financial career with Edward Jones and at begins studying for his stockbroking and financial advice qualifications
2006
David's First Lead Role!
2006 saw David take on his first lead role as Lord Arthur Saville in Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Saville's Crime
2006
First TV Appearance!
A year of firsts continues with David's first TV appearance in Sky One's Dream Team, playing a footballer
2007
A Full Year of Study Later...
...and David has finally passed all of the financial exams with the Chartered Insurance Institute, qualifying as a Stockbroker and Financial Adviser for Edward Jones
2008
Global Financial Crisis!
Amidst the global financial crisis or "credit-crunch", David was headhunted by Barclays Wealth to work with several branches of Barclays across Kent and Surrey as a Financial Planning Manager
2010
Back on the Boards!
After four years of being unable to enjoy the spotlight, David made his return to theatre with arguably his most iconic role in 'Allo 'Allo, playing Hans Gruber. A role that is often still quoted by fellow actors to this day!
2011
Moving to China!
Barclays made the decision to close down their branch based financial planning arm, leaving David with several options of where to continue working. After a short spell at Santander, he decided to move to Shanghai, China, working as an Expat Wealth Manager for Asia's largest Expat Financial Planning firm, Austen Morris Associates
2013
The Return of The Ruler!
After thoroughly enjoying his time in China and learning lots of about the global economy, David decided to return home and was quickly offered a role as a Partner at the newly formed Prudential Financial Planning, becoming a "Man From the Pru"
2018
Back On The Boards, Again!
After another four year hiatus, David returns to the Hazlitt in Hi-De-Hi
2018
Financial Planning Comes Full Circle
2018 also saw David decide that his mission of giving the best advice possible could only be achieved by going solo and opening his own financial planning firm, dedicated to building long lasting relationships through complete financial planning. Despite his creativity, he couldn't think of a better name for his company than "who he is and what he does", and David Ruler Financial Planning Limited officially opened its doors in May 2018
2021
The Amazing Hat Mystery
With Covid-19 shutting down Theatres across the world, 2021 saw the first play in a couple of years with an adaptation of PG Woodhouse's The Amazing Hat Mystery, with David playing Bean. First performed for a small group of people as a private show before hitting the boards at the Medway Theatre
2022
Best Actor Award!
The Duncan Rand One-Act Play Festival saw David win his first acting award as best supporting actor in the play Socrates
2022
Adviser of the Year Award!
David received his second award in the same year, this time for financial planning. Awarded by VouchedFor, this award is a career highlight for David, as the VouchedFor Adviser of the Year award is based on a mixture of client reviews, qualifications, and consistency over many years as an Independent Financial Adviser
2023
First Feature Film Role
After securing an acting agent, David landed the role of Peter, a detective in a feature film called Ahuti
2024
New Network, Same Mission, Better Service
The business had grown to a point where, to provide a better service, a new back office network provider was required. ValidPath Ltd has won every award in the industry and was chosen as the regulatory back office to support David Ruler Financial Planning.
New services included: Cash management, home insurance, a better client portal and more efficient processes
2024
Back on TV!
This time playing a barman in Season 2 of Cheaters on the BBC
2025
Stranger's On A Train
David had been campaigning for Stranger's On A Train to be shown at the Hazlitt for many years, and in 2025, a dream came true as he got to act as the lead as the sinister Charles Bruno. Critics called his performance a "Tour De Force" for his darkest and most challenging role yet
2026
Who Doesn't Love a Whodunnit?
David takes on the lead role again as Neville Strange in Agatha Christie's Towards Zero
2026
Happy Anniversay!
2026 marks 20 years in financial services, and what better way to celebrate than a huge party and a new website! Here's to another 20 years of helping and entertaining as many people as possible
The Team
Meet the People Behind the Practice
Mike
Mortgage Adviser
Specialist Mortgage, Equity Release and lending adviser, including commercial and bridging loans
Mike is also a musician with his own band!
Rebecca
Operations Director
A Director at Morgan Stanley for most of her career, specialising in Risk Management and Operations. Now Managing Director of David Ruler Financial Planning Ltd, bringing that same rigour to the business
The Rest of the Team
To achieve the best service, you need a strong team.
We draw on specialist paraplanning and technical support as each case demands, not just whoever's on payroll
Teamwork makes the Dreamwork
Behind every case is more than what one office can hold. Our paraplanning team brings meticulous, experienced attention to every file. For the complex work such as trusts, inheritance tax, VCTs, and business relief, we draw on specialist paraplanning teams built for exactly that kind of complexity, alongside dedicated admin support to keep everything moving. Technical questions go straight to the source: in-house product specialists at the providers we use, whose full-time job is knowing their products better than anyone. And where a second opinion sharpens our thinking, we're not too proud to ask for one. The result: David, Mike and Rebecca aren't limited by what fits on one payroll. Every case gets the right expertise for it and not just whichever expertise happens to be in the building that day.
What We Stand For
Personalised Service
Everyone has different dreams and walks a different path. Your plans are unique, and so will be our advice.
Independence
True planning cannot be tailored if one is shackled to a few solutions. Independence is everything.
Long-Term Partner
We want to work with you and your family for the rest of your life. Let us be there for you up to and beyond the encore.
Creative Understanding
We speak the language of working artists. Let us look after the planning, so can focus on living.