How we work with clients

Working with an entrepreneur following a significant business sale

Eva is a wealthy European non-domiciled UK resident, living with her family in London. She recently sold a significant minority stake in a global family business, the proceeds of which exceeded GBP500m.

Although the family has a single family office in their home-country as well as a number of portfolio managers, Eva recognises the need for a more broadly-based family office with the breadth of technical competence to manage the complex issues surrounding their wealth.

Eva’s goals:

• Ensure that the wealth is held through structures and jurisdictions that maximise tax efficiency and meet the long-term needs of the family.
• Develop and agree a ‘holistic’ long-term wealth management strategy and risk management framework to encompass the entire asset base.
• Develop appropriate mandates for each of their underlying portfolio managers.

Our recommendations:

• Stonehage Fleming Law and our Expert Fiduciary team in the UK and Jersey helped the family devise appropriate structures. Although the family had a number of highly competent advisers, they did not have access to anyone with detailed and practical experience of all the interrelated issues. We helped them develop a structure to address this.
• Our Family Governance and Succession team ran two family workshops to resolve the differences of opinion that existed between family members.
• Our Investment Management team developed an investment strategy, implemented a currency risk management strategy framework and selected custodians to negotiate appropriate arrangements.

Outcomes (to date):

• Initial tax savings in excess of GBP3m were identified and significant fee reductions from various providers were negotiated.
• Our workshops have helped the family to clarify a long-term vision for their wealth. The result of this is improved communication which will help both to manage both the wealth and family relationships.
• We continue to monitor the high-level investment strategy and provide ongoing gatekeeper and reporting services to oversee and coordinate portfolio managers.

Disclaimer: Please note, all case studies have been carefully anonymised. Although scenarios are based on real life events they have been fictionalised and are an amalgamation of client experiences. All names, locations and occupations have been replaced with pseudonyms.