Reflections on 2025 by our Business Manager

As I'm writing this, today I hit 10 years living abroad – 10 whole years. I remember telling my friends and family in the UK when I had decided I was going to see the world, they all said the same thing, 'you'll be back'. I don't think I will be..

10 years living abroad, 40 countries, 3 and a half years in Malaysia, 2 years at Melbourne Capital Group, 1 and a half years as the Expats Club founder and 6 months into marriage, getting on that flight, really changed my life into something I could have never imagined and I can honestly say it was the best decision I ever made.

New years is just around the corner and I've never been more excited to see what it brings. But as we enter a new year, I wanted to take time to reflect on what an incredible 2025 it has been, not just for me personally, but the team as a whole.

But here are my top 5 wins of 2025, and the things I am most proud of achieving:

Expanding my Expat Network to Penang, Malaysia

At the start of the year, Melbourne Capital Group opened its doors to a new office in Penang. I had lived in Kuala Lumpur years and had never stepped foot there, but luckily I had two of the most highly qualified advisers from the UK assisting us there, whilst also having the ability to represent the Expats Club to a whole new market, Adam Kinsey and Thomas Raynor. We were welcomed into this incredible community of Expats in Penang, with open arms. They saw what we were trying to achieve with Melbourne Capital Group and influenced the direction of the Expats Club, and we are so grateful to all of them. Trying to build a community and grow a business in a city that's 350km away wasn't easy, but with the help of Adam and Tom, and the assistance of the community themselves, whether it's Curry Clubs & Retirement Lunches, or Financial Planning and product introductions, we are really looking forward to working closer with this community in 2026.

Expats Club Malaysia Growing to 16,000 Members

This small community that started as a curry on a Friday night, has now turned into something incredible, something genuine and something people need. In total we have raised just over RM68,000 for various local charities such as The Lost Food Project, Pads and Paws KL, Penang Shan Childrens home, Furry Farm Friends and so much more.. Our Curry clubs have now branched into Retirement Lunches, ExpatriMates (Mens Mental health support), She Knows a Spot (Women's crafts groups), Pickleball, Padel, Golf, Hiking and even the newly introduced KL Expat Business Forum. We really have become a one stop shop for Expats relocating to Malaysia, working closely with some of the top Expat companies in the country and successfully helping 1,000s of Expats settling into their new home abroad. Next year we have set our sights on growing Johor and Kuching to truly expand this incredible community to all avenues of Malaysia.

Pulling Back the Curtain on Financial Planning – This is an event I created for Melbourne Capital Group that we have currently performed in two cities (Kuala Lumpur & Penang) with Pattaya, Bangkok, Johor and an online version to be introduced in Q1 of 2026. The idea of this event was to completely breakdown and explain each individual step of our process from initial conversation to becoming a long term client. Removing any financial jargon and truly pulling back the curtain on what it means to be a client of Melbourne Capital Group. Covering everything, such as:

• Who are we?
• The Holistics of Financial Planning
• Why we are so proud of achieving the Chartered Insurance Institute International Professional Partner Firm Recognition
• Our process
• Risk Profiling (Oxford Risk)
• Cash Flow Modelling
• Licensing
• Triple Layer Compliance
• And why you should trust us to handle yours and your families financial future.

The response we have had from this event has been nothing short of spectacular, as you know as well as I do when somebody is passionate about their career path they can often speak in a language that's difficult to follow, like a doctor explaining test results or a mechanic explaining what's wrong with your car, it's no different in financial services, often people can take for granted what other people know, so this jargon free simplified breakdown of everything you need to know, is a brainchild of mine that I put in my top 5 and I can't wait to meet you at one of these events next year.

Transitioning into a New Role at Melbourne Capital Group

Transitioning into a new role as Business Manager, was scary for me to hear at first, I had a set path that I wanted to take but with the community and business I'd built for myself and the company, I was asked whether I would like to take a promotion into a new role, that nobody had ever done before, bridging the creative side of the business with the business development side and helping to assist the growth in the company. I said yes, without doubt yes. Since being hired at Melbourne Capital Group, I have fallen in love with the company, the vision of where it's going, where it will be in the next ten years and being given the opportunity to have more of an input on that direction as we grow globally, to me was a no brainer. I get the opportunity to meet so many people, different cities, different countries, different goals and different walks of life, and being able to represent, what I believe is the best company in the world, just makes my life that little bit easier.

Tying the Knot

As a personal win, July 31st 2025 I got married! The best day of my life, having a few close friends around us and committing to spending the rest of our lives together, and with Rachel being Malaysian, more than likely those years being in Malaysia. What was really eye opening about arranging this, was the amount of people we had to invite, for stag/hen dos and see on the wedding itself. When we got engaged 3 years ago, I had been in Malaysia but knew nobody, and with the community we have built, we not only grew our network but we grew our friends and family in Malaysia, it truly solidified why Malaysia was now home and not another of the 40 countries I admired as I travelled through.

These are my top 5, there were many more things that came close such as getting the opportunity to work with Diary of a CEO's Steven Bartlett's team in assisting him grow his audience in Malaysia, being reached out to by both Business Insider and the Malaysian Reserve to compile articles about all we've achieved in Malaysia (I'll post the links below) and even more recently losing over 24 kilos in weight to try and get back in shape, through football, eating well and training in the gym daily.

Either way, 2025 has been such an incredible year and I am truly excited to enter 2026 as part of this incredible team.

So from me, Mrs. Webley, The team at Melbourne Capital Group and the whole community of the Expats Club, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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