Geoffrey Deller, Boca Raton-based seasoned executive and investment professional has over two decades of experience spanning investment banking, consumer products, entertainment, and technology industries. As president and chief investment officer of Boca Raton-based Orinoco Capital, LLC, since February 2020, Geoffrey Deller managed global investment assets for wealthy families worldwide, overseeing approximately $35 million in assets while leading a team across two states and two countries.
Mr. Deller acquired extensive expertise in business development when he created innovative luxury networking platforms that generated over 20 new clients and increased assets under management by $25 million, contributing to the more than $450 million in team assets under management. His strategic vision extends to the luxury automotive sector, where he coordinated teams to secure major dealership opportunities, including winning the newest Open Point for McLaren in North America. Under his guidance, this dealership grew from $56 million to $294 million in revenue by 2023, becoming the world’s number one McLaren dealership.
Mr. Deller’s transaction expertise includes structuring deals in transportation and logistics, facilitating acquisitions that resulted in combined revenues exceeding $525 million. He also orchestrated a $25 million luxury automobile investment alongside a $50 million floor plan credit line.
Geoffrey Deller holds a bachelor’s degree in business information systems from Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, complemented by professional certifications including FINRA Series 7, 3, 31 and 66, various European investment designations for the European Economic Area and is part way through the Chartered Market Technician designation.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
A typical day involves having meetings with the CEO, determining where we are on strategic initiatives. Coordinating the sales and support teams and working through country launches. Meetings with key stakeholders—from legal, to audit, to finance—to make sure any and all reporting requirements are in process and key financial market reports are underway. Liaise with PR on press releases.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Through internal discussion. Once the parameters have been determined, I help create a strategy for implementation. Due to years of experience in business and dealmaking, determining synergies, efficient structures, and innovation, I’m swiftly able to implement or structure effective ideas and execute with my respective teams.
What’s one trend that excites you?
How technology and innovation crafts our landscape and couple that with the efficiency and scale, aided by AI, the future is exciting.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Being extremely organized and in tune with my team.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Spend more time working on the things that generate the most positive impact, as opposed to busy work or items that you feel have the largest reward potential and swinging for the fences. Stay grounded, humble, honest, and always lend a hand when needed. Try and guide the younger generations and help them get a leg up.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
Star Wars are the best movies of all time!
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Start your day in the gym. It enables you to clear your mind, tune your body, and get you in a great mindset for the day. Additionally, never stop learning. One can never know everything, and it’s arrogant to think otherwise.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
It rarely happens to me. However, if it does, I step away. Go to the gym or sit down and watch a movie to clear my head and then get back to it. Or spend some time with my daughter; she makes everything better.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Always actively listening to what’s going on around me. This helps me seek out opportunities or make valuable suggestions in all situations. Being able to think fast on my feet and being able to make confident and reasoned decisions under pressure. Always thinking outside the box and not doing the same as what others have done to build business. I built my investment business by creating Luxury Experience Charlotte. This created an environment that was safe; no sales pitching and natural for my clients to be themselves. Business came from there.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Spending time trying to win one very large client and not focusing on winning a selection of smaller clients that in aggregate would have been just as lucrative. When I found that I had been used by the big prospect, I never provided so much intellectual capital for free ahead of formerly being engaged by a client again. I made sure to always keep working multiple people simultaneously and not keep all my eggs in one basket.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I am a power user of Dropbox. I find it very useful with whatever device I’m on at a given time to be able to quickly access information.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
My favorite books are The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Both stories speak to perseverance and creating one’s opportunity and capitalizing on it with patience and intelligence and the resolve of a person’s spirit.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I love to watch The Grand Tour. I’ve been watching it for years, since it’s Top Gear days. I find the trio of Clarkson, Hammond, and May to be informative, entertaining, humorous, and always doing something you wish you could do sometime in your life.
Key learnings
- Proactively listening enables the ability to take in everything being discussed and drive poignant decision-making and contributions in group settings.
- Being humble and conducting oneself without arrogance is endearing to others and garners respect.
- Always read and learn; you can never know everything and should always strive to gain knowledge.