The team has been named a finalist in both the ‘Multi-Family Office Team of the Year’ and the ‘Large Trust Company of the Year’ categories.

Perceived to be the hallmark of quality within the global private client industry, the Awards recognise excellence amongst lawyers, accountants, barristers, bankers, trust managers and financial advisers.

Winners are selected following a rigorous assessment process involving judges and a panel of independent experts from across the wealth management arena and will be announced at an Awards Ceremony on 14 September in London.

The shortlistings are the latest in a string of successes for the Crestbridge Family Office Services team this year, with Co-Group Head of Family Office Services Heather Tibbo being included in ePrivateClient’s 50 Most Influential list, Director Danielle Cottignies winning a Gold at the Citywealth Powerwomen Awards and the award for ‘Rising Star Under 40’ at this year’s Wealthbriefing European Awards, and Manager Daniel Cavey once again being included in ePrivateClient’s Channel Islands Top 35 Under 35 list.

As featured in the STEP Journal

What is the issue? The rise of purpose-driven investment, and ESG in particular, is coinciding with a rise in co-investment amongst family offices.

What does it mean for STEP Members? There are numerous benefits when it comes to co-investment, but family offices and their advisers need to be fully aware of what co-investment entails before making that leap.

What can STEP Members take away? There are structuring and organisational implications when it comes to co-investment that advisers should be able to communicate effectively to family office clients.

With Cop26 at the end of 2021 having further intensified the focus on climate change, the need for transformative investment has never been more apparent.

For ultra-high net worth families and family offices, environmental, social and/or governance (ESG) investment is not a new concept – but the urgency around Cop26 and the stark findings of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last year, combined with an elevated focus on purpose-driven investment amongst millennials and Gen Z, have certainly heightened the desire to focus on investments capable of making a meaningful difference to the current pace of environmental damage.

One of the interesting specific outcomes of COP26 for family offices has been the emphasis placed on collaboration when it comes to impact investment. The key message to emerge from all the commentary from Glasgow was that no one country, government, group or organisation can bring about change in isolation.

A co-investment trend

Around six months on and with an eye now on COP27 in Egypt later this year, more than ever there is an awareness that a joined-up approach and collaborative efforts are essential in order to drive positive change.

For families, this is manifesting itself through a rise in co-investment and establishing shared values and identifying areas of mutual interest to scale up impact investment opportunities. Families are increasingly joining forces to invest directly into opportunities capable of enacting such a change.

Again, this is not a new trend, but it certainly aligns itself comfortably with the rise in ESG investment we have seen over the past year or so.

Direct investing by family offices is something the industry has witnessed a rise in over recent years. Interestingly, current data from FINTRX found that 42.5% of family offices globally who do make the step to invest directly do so alongside other family offices, private equity, venture capital and real estate investors.

Further, while this trend is currently most prevalent in North America and within single family offices, there is evidence of a movement in this area globally and right across the family office spectrum.

There is good reason for this trend. Co-investment can have multiple benefits; pooling resources can be instrumental in accessing higher-value deals, entering restricted markets, or achieving broader diversification that might otherwise have been out of their reach. Bringing different but complementary expertise, experience and knowledge together can also be highly advantageous for family offices in navigating new or emerging areas together.

Although commercial and residential real estate investments have proved particularly attractive historically where co-investment and capital pooling are concerned, impact and ESG opportunities are now taking on a greater focus.

Structuring for success

To realise the benefits of co-investment, however, families must put the right frameworks and structures in place if their aspirations are to be achieved, starting with creating defined and clear strategic objectives, made possible by a commitment to robust and honest communication within the family office itself.

When it comes to structuring, choosing a jurisdiction with a clear and robust legal framework that works with the co-investment framework is paramount.

Advisers also need to consider the need for a scalable solution capable of delivering an efficient, seamless process that maximises economies of scale opportunities over time.

In addition, tax considerations are likely to be of critical importance and, depending on the evaluated risk, a structure that ring fences any liabilities or losses may need to be put in place.

Family offices are uniquely placed to drive innovation in the ESG space. By being able to make significant investments over multi-generational time horizons and without experiencing the same pressures when it comes to returns as other investor types, they can truly propel the change needed to be transformational.

By pooling resources this potential increases demonstrably. So, while we have already seen a considerable rise in family offices seeking co-investment opportunities, the expectation is that we will see further growth in this space as wealthy families look to make meaningful investments with a view to driving positive change in the future.

To find out more, please get in touch with Danielle Cottignies or Tony Hind.

The ePrivateClient Channel Islands Top 35 Under 35 lists the top 70 future industry leaders – 35 men and 35 women – working across the private client sector in Jersey and Guernsey. This is the third occasion on which Daniel has been included in this prestigious list.

Judges considered a number of factors in compiling the list, including individual achievements over the past 12 months and career progression. It is the fifth year the list has been published.

Daniel, who was promoted to Manager at the beginning of the year, has over fifteen years’ experience in the offshore trust business and joined Crestbridge in 2017 with a private wealth and family office background. Over the past four years, he has looked after a number of UHNWI relationships across multiple jurisdictions and with diverse assets and structures.

In particular, he has been heavily involved with the set up and administration of a particular family office structure based in Jersey and has led a number of technical transactions. An ICSA Affiliate, Daniel also holds the CISI Islamic Finance Qualification and oversees the professional development of other members of the team.

Recognition in this list marks a successful first half of the year for Crestbridge, with Co-Group Head of Family Office Services Heather Tibbo being included in ePrivateClient’s 50 Most Influential at the start of the year, and Director Danielle Cottignies winning a Gold at the Citywealth Powerwomen Awards and the award for ‘Rising Star Under 40’ at this year’s Wealthbriefing European Awards.

In February this year, the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) reported its highest ever annual revenue and operating profit.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is focused on morphing from an oil and gas powerhouse into a business, commerce and finance hub, with experts forecasting that Saudi Arabia will become the preeminent finance hub in the Middle East within the next three years.

On the ground

This is a strong indication that key hubs in the Middle East, such as the DIFC and Riyadh, are being successful in diversifying their proposition and setting out their stalls as global players in cross-border investment.

From an international service provider perspective, it’s long been the case that centres in the Middle East have been active in the private client and family office market – but this is now broadening with investors in the region looking for increasingly sophisticated support to enable them to achieve their global investment aspirations.

At the same time, investors and family offices elsewhere in the world are looking more and more at the cross-border structuring and professional support services available through Middle East hubs like the DIFC and Riyadh to support their international ambitions too.

As local, regional and global investors increasingly put their faith in these Middle East hubs, it is our responsibility as service providers with the experience and expertise in cross-border structuring to support that trend with the same quality service and knowledge that we have applied in other markets too.

It has certainly been the message from family offices that the Middle East market is incredibly busy. Our experience on the ground is that the DIFC and Riyadh are seen as a nexus for investment into key growth markets, specifically Africa and Asia – providing a route from North to South (the UK/Europe to Africa), and from West to East (the US to Asia).

As well as the geographical positioning that plays out well for this sort of structuring opportunity, it is the tax neutral environment they provide that also lends itself perfectly to straightforward collective investment structures – an area where we are seeing particular activity at the moment amongst family offices.

Private equity and venture capital type deals are areas of particular activity, with family offices globally still sitting on significant amounts of dry powder, waiting to be allocated to the right target and put to work. The message is clear, though – it has to be the right target.

Which is why having a tried and tested route to market that can enable them to react quickly when the right opportunity comes along is so important – and the hubs in the Middle East are rising to that challenge.

As well as providing good structuring, attractive tax environments and good mechanisms for upstream investment vehicles needing neutral ground, hubs in the region are significantly enhancing their governance and regulatory frameworks and investing heavily in their hard and soft infrastructures – bolstering their regional stock exchanges, for example, to support listed fund business.

This is where there is significant opportunity for offshore vehicles in supporting the evolution of these hubs. We frequently see, for example, Jersey structures being used to complement activity in the Middle East, whilst the experience in centres like Jersey have in governance and cross border regulation is hugely prized by families and complements the work being done by advisors in the Middle East too.

As hubs in the Middle East continue to evolve and transition at pace from domestic to international centres, IFCs like Jersey can play a positive and complementary role. The fact that Jersey has been visiting the Middle East region for many years, has had a presence in the UAE since 2011 and is ramping up its visibility in Saudi Arabia, puts it in a strong position to support this trend.

The future

Both the DIFC and Riyadh have hugely ambitious but highly achievable growth plans for the years ahead.

2021 saw the approval, for instance, of the DIFC’s Strategy 2030, a new strategy that reflects the DIFC’s role in supporting sustained economic growth. It embraces new legislation relating to the expanded duties and responsibilities of the DIFC and promotes the values of efficiency, transparency and integrity, whilst also placing a real emphasis on innovation.

In Saudi Arabia meanwhile, the Vision 2030 strategy sets out an equally ambitious growth plan, with an aim to rebalance its economy, diversify into new sectors, from financial services to high-end manufacturing, tourism, entertainment and culture.

It’s clear that the Middle East, in particular the UAE and Saudi Arabia, provides significant opportunities to support family office structuring and private market cross-border investment, and the pace of change over the coming years will undoubtedly accelerate.

As a result, there are collaborative opportunities for professionals in IFCs like Jersey who are familiar with the Middle East region and who have so much experience in cross border structuring, to support that growth and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes – for IFCs like Jersey, for those hubs in the Middle East, and of course clients.

What do you think gave you the competitive edge this year?
Our focus has always been on listening to clients and colleagues to develop bespoke, tailored and appropriate best-in class solutions, and that’s definitely shone through over the past two years of disruption as we’ve looked to adapt and respond to a rapidly changing environment.
We’ve also placed a focus on managing and motivating the team. That’s been really important, especially with remote working rapidly become the norm. We’ve been agile in our approach, ensuring that colleagues are supported and engaged, being flexible to their needs. Ultimately, our people are our key differentiator, and I’ve been fortunate to have played a part in delivering our learning and development program and our return to work and agile working policy in response to the pandemic.

Describe how your colleagues make a difference to your organisation?
Our combined success is really all about investment in our people and supporting each other – recognising and respecting our strengths, enabling career progression, offering training to open up new skills development opportunities and embedding new technologies to help us support clients. Again, remaining agile has been a fundamental part of our mutual success – it encourages us to work together and ensures we are ready to respond to the changing needs of clients.

Please describe the challenges you needed to surmount to reach your standard?
Keeping the team motivated and engaged was a significant challenge over the past year or so, given the shift to remote working. Finding creative ways to bring together the team remotely was critical. From a client perspective, face to face meetings were of course not possible either, and we adopted a flexible, creative approach to keep in touch with them. The key was to be proactive and we are actually now seeing an appetite for hybrid means of communication, both in person and virtually, to suit client needs.

How did your firm react to the pandemic and what lasting changes do you expect from this period. What might not last?
We were highly responsive to the pandemic – our technology infrastructure was already in place and able to accommodate agile working. A major and lasting outcome, though, has been the heightened focus on colleague support and staff wellbeing. Those are areas where I think we will definitely see a lasting legacy.

What do you see as the prospects for wealth management in general?
The world is definitely becoming more complex and the coming years will undoubtedly bring increased layers of complication, in a regulatory and legislative sense and in terms of geopolitical disruption. This greater complexity will mean that listening to client needs will become more important than ever, particularly as they
move into areas like crypto currencies and digital assets, and as families focus more on succession and legacy planning and the needs of the next generation.

Whom do you look to for inspiration and ideas?
Our belief in the value of mentoring is really important, and I’ve been very fortunate to have had a mentor who has vast amounts of industry experience and is extremely well respected. Getting that sort of advice and guidance has been inspirational and instrumental in terms of my own progress.

What do you hope will be the result of receiving this accolade?
Recognition through these awards is essentially recognition for the team as a whole. To know that we are doing the right thing collectively for clients is really pleasing.

Tell us about the impact of your training.

Firstly, my appetite. I’ve always enjoyed my food, but the amount I’m burning through at the moment is unbelievable. I’ve also noticed that the mood I bring to training and sparring is absolutely key to my performance. If I’m not 100% focused, or my confidence is a little lower, the effect is amplified in the ring. Proof, if it were needed, of the mind’s control over the body, and something I’ll need to be on top of on the night when that bell goes.

What has this experience taught you?

The importance of resilience and tenacity. I’ve always considered myself to be fairly resilient, but a punch in the face before I’ve even had my breakfast has put that to the test. It’s pretty unnatural to walk towards danger, and your instinct instead is to say “ouch” and hope it will stop. But in the ring that won’t happen. The punches just keep coming unless you respond, and you can’t afford to stop and inspect the damage.

What advice would you give someone thinking of doing a tough physical challenge for charity?

Easy. Just do it! You’re much more likely to regret not doing it than if you just jump in with both feet.

Describe your fighting technique in one line

This is tricky as in the ring I’m still very much a work in progress. Assuming everything goes to plan though, I am aiming to be agile and make good use of my reach. I am hoping my long arms will be a big bonus, and I can punch from outside my opponent’s range.

To sponsor this challenge and support Kidney Research UK, please click here.

A member of the Crestbridge executive team, Heather also manages the US joint venture, Crestbridge Fiduciary LLC.  One of the most awarded executives in Jersey’s financial sector, Heather is a consistent feature on ePrivateclient’s Top 50 Most Influential list and in 2021 topped the Women in Wealth Management category in the WealthBriefing European Awards.

Danielle won Gold in the ‘Woman of the Year – Rising Star’ category at the Awards. The results were announced at an event in London last week (3 March).

The Awards, now in their eleventh year, are designed to recognise individuals and companies leading the way in maximising the potential of women in wealth, champion women in the wealth sector, highlight the female leaders of today and tomorrow, and create a platform for best practice to have a positive social influence on the sector.

What inspired you to take on this challenge?

I have always kept active. My main sporting interest is Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) racing and over recent years that’s been my main focus for training. Although there are SUP races locally in Jersey, they are relatively small scale so attending larger races relies on being able to travel to places a bit further away – like France, Spain and the US.

With travel having been slightly more challenging due to the pandemic, though, I was looking for something else to work towards. This boxing event is being run by the gym I already train at, Transform Together, and the coaches were so encouraging when I said I was thinking of taking part.

Which charity are you supporting and why is it so significant to you?

I am fighting to raise money for Kidney Research UK. Paul (Pablo) Hunter, Group Co-Head of Family Office Services, suffers from kidney disease and has recently undergone kidney transplant surgery. Whilst Pablo has been incredibly stoic throughout, as his colleagues, we have all seen the huge impact this has had on Pablo’s life over the last few years as his treatment has escalated, attending regular dialysis appointments whilst on the waiting list for a suitable donor.

Knowing that this surgery was essential for Pablo’s life to return to some degree of normality and that some don’t get the transplant they so desperately need, I have chosen a charity that will provide benefit to others in Pablo’s situation. My hope is that through fundraising like this, treatments can be developed for those with kidney disease whilst research can also be undertaken with the aim of curing or ultimately preventing kidney disease.

How have you been training and preparing yourself for the event?

The training currently involves three boxing sessions per week, each an hour long, including a combination of technical and fitness training. The technical training is really starting from scratch – I’ve never boxed before – so I’ve been learning the  basics really, how to stand and move around and what the various punches are. Alongside that I am also continuing with three personal training sessions a week, which are predominantly strength based and part of my existing training plan, as well as a group training session which tends to be more cardio based.

As the weeks go on, I will also incorporate one-to-one pad work sessions and then we will eventually move on to sparring to start getting us used to hitting and – more importantly – being hit! We will all also be focussed on nutrition and how we are fuelling up for training and in the lead up to fight night, some will be wanting to achieve a goal weight whereas others will be more focussed on maintenance. It’s certainly a lot of preparation and disciplined hard work.

How important is having support on fight night?

A few family members and friends are understandably unsure whether they want to see me get punched in the face.  On the flipside, there may be a few who would willingly pay to see that! From my point of view, as this is an entirely new sport and challenge for me, having support will be important – I would hope that people will come along to see how much work goes into getting in the ring to fight, both physically and mentally.

In addition, there is also a wonderful spirit among the training group already and, having attended the last fight as a spectator, I know that everyone there watching, no matter who they are there to see, will be hugely supportive of all the fighters and the fighters of each other. I’m looking forward to it!