In this interview Heather Tibbo shares perspectives on leadership, culture and collaboration following the recent industry recognition.

Our service-driven culture is at the heart of what we do and is central to how we approach recruitment, training and develop our people. As a privately owned firm, our independence enables an exclusive focus on clients, allowing us to allocate resources, define processes, and refine our technical capabilities specifically to support their needs. This ensures the consistent delivery of service excellence.

A further key differentiator underpinning our high-performance culture is our commitment to resourcing our business based on clients’ specific needs, rather than headcount-to-client ratios. By prioritising client outcomes over financial performance, we are able to preserve and enhance our service-oriented ethos.

What role has collaboration – either internally or with external partners – played in your success?

Collaboration is fundamental to our ability to deliver value, given the relationship-driven nature of our services. Internally, we promote a non-hierarchical structure and cross-disciplinary teamwork, integrating expertise from different functions to provide seamless, holistic support.

Knowledge sharing is culturally embedded, and with open communication channels allow challenges to be addressed collectively and efficiently. Externally, we work with trusted specialists, technology partners, and industry networks to enhance our capabilities, access emerging insights and deliver innovative solutions. These collaborative relationships strengthen our service offering and accelerate problem solving, allowing us to stay ahead of industry developments and changing client expectations.

What are the key challenges you foresee in wealth management over the next five years, and how are you positioning your business to meet them?

Amid rapidly shifting geopolitics and a fast-evolving, AI-driven technology landscape, family office services are undergoing significant change. Our team continuously explores solutions that further improve operational efficiency, including automated reporting, research, and forecasting.

Families’ expectations are also changing. Sustainable and impact investing continues to grow, particularly among next-generation family members focused on long-term legacy. At the same time, family offices face increasing pressure to manage costs and drive efficiency, leading many to outsource functions to providers capable of delivering integrated, end-to-end services.

Cybersecurity also continues to emerge as a critical and increasingly sophisticated threat. Recent high-profile breaches have underscored the substantial disruption and financial consequences associated with cyberattacks, leading an increasing number of industry firms, ourselves included, to strengthen their security infrastructure.

How do you identify and develop future leaders within your organisation?

With ambitious growth plans, evidenced by our investment in strengthening our Executive Leadership Team throughout 2025, career development and succession planning are a critical element of our strategy.

We identify emerging leaders through systematic progress monitoring, collaborative career mapping, and, when appropriate, consolidated client feedback. This leads to a tailored appraisal process incorporating values-based criteria and resulting in a personalised development plan that reflects each colleague’s career aspirations.

Emerging leaders are increasingly given ownership of client relationships or other departmental initiatives, supported by senior mentors providing guidance and accountability. Regular talent reviews ensure transparency of process, while our culture of service and technical excellence empower individuals at all levels to grow, contribute, and prepare for leadership roles.

This article was published on 5 January 2026 in Acclaim magazine – The WealthBriefing CI Awards 2025.

Why do you specialise in this area?

I have dedicated my career to supporting Jersey’s financial services sector. I worked for a Jersey money broking organisation, dealing in the sterling money markets. However, I realised that I wanted to broaden my career and professional experience, so began exploring new opportunities within finance.

The trust/private client sector immediately intrigued me. Helping high net worth individuals and their families address their complex wealth planning needs seemed an attractive next step due to the diverse technical and interpersonal skills the role demanded.

It may sound cliched to say that no two days are ever the same, but that really is the case. Pursuing this path has allowed me to meet and build strong, trusted relationships with a fascinating breadth of individuals and families, and to travel widely. Helping families navigate the complex issues of inter-generational wealth planning and assist in providing the certainty and peace of mind that we all crave, has been extremely rewarding.

What are the key trends shaping family office services at the moment?

Between rapidly shifting geopolitics and an accelerating technology landscape which is increasingly AI-focused, family office services are certainly being impacted. We are constantly looking at solutions to further enhance operational efficiency such as automated reporting, research, forecasting, and data security.

Cybersecurity is a growing concern. Recent high-profile cyber events show the disruption and costs associated with a hack, and more family offices are investing in more robust security infrastructure.

Selection of favourable and multiple jurisdictions are important trends, to optimise for tax, reporting and regulation.

Sustainable and impact investing is becoming more important in investment strategies, in particular with younger, nextgen family members, and as families consider their lasting legacies.

Family offices are also looking at outsourcing to manage costs and drive efficiencies, seeking service providers who can deliver administration, governance, secretarial, reporting and investment support.

What most excites you about family office services at the moment? 

In such a swiftly evolving landscape, there are many opportunities for businesses such as ours to provide family offices with additional services and support. Some of the key areas are governance advisory, helping families professionalise
and plan for succession, secretarial and administration support, and cross border structuring.

Our clients rightly expect us to be forward thinking, creative and solutions-driven. Technology is a powerful enabler of this and harnessing it to continue delivering ever more useful and value-adding services is a very exciting prospect.

What are your favourite ways to relax/switch off from work? 

I have always loved running, completing my first half marathon in my mid-twenties. I find it very therapeutic and a good way to switch off after a long day in the office. Running promotes clarity of thinking, and there have been many occasions when, during a long run, an idea or solution has come to me.

A few years ago, I trained for the Jersey marathon, which required similar traits to those needed for professional success, such as resilience, commitment and determination. Completing my first marathon in 3 hours 23 minutes showed what’s possible when an ambitious goal is approached with a clear focus and drive. Ever in pursuit of a balanced lifestyle, I also find a glass of good Bordeaux helps me to unwind!

Do you have a pet?

I have always had a cat in the house and presently have a six-year-old Bengal called Benji. Bengals are a hybrid breed created by crossing the Asian Leopard cat with domestic short haired breeds. I had thought with my two sons having left home our house might seem quiet, but Benji has ensured that is most definitely not the case. Bengals are characteristically active, curious and dog-like, and will play for hours if you are willing, and even if you aren’t! They are also reputed to be very noisy, with a loud and strident cry when things aren’t going their way, or if they want attention or feeding. I can personally confirm all of the above to be true!

What’s one book you think everyone should read?

One novel that has stuck with me is the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It is of course a very well-known and read novel, but I think its relevance and themes continue to resonate in today’s world.

This was first published by ePrivateclient in November 2025

In this interview Heather Tibbo discusses her recent award win and gives insight into what it takes to build and sustain a high-performing team.

What was the way your colleagues made a difference?

Recruiting the right colleagues, from technical skillset and industry experience to attitude and cultural fit, has always been a foundational priority for our firm.

Independent and privately-owned, we are in the enviable position to ensure we take on new business only when we are fully and correctly resourced to deliver the high service levels our clients expect.

Leveraging our collective strengths and our shared service culture has helped us thrive in the Middle East. By providing considered, high-quality, flexible solutions to our clients across the region, our colleagues have consistently delivered against our commitment to service excellence.

Investing in our people has demonstrably paid dividends, both in the stability of our Middle East client base and our strong organic revenue growth.

How do you intend to remain on the front foot and continue to set a high standard?

Over the last year we have significantly strengthened our executive leadership team. We have also invested heavily in bespoke technology to support every stage of the client journey, as well as enhance our internal operations. These statements of purpose represent a commitment to our future, in which we believe certainty and peace of mind will be increasingly sought after by leading global families.

In a sector that grows ever more competitive and complex, our independence and privately-owned status, coupled with our cultural agility and flexibility, place us strongly in a position to meet clients’ emerging needs. In highly active and dynamic markets such as the Middle East, this differentiation will enable us to continue setting the industry benchmark.

In what ways were you able to deal with challenges and problems this time around? What lessons have you learned?

Our team have the experience to recognise that, whatever our commitment to preparation, process, and foresight, unforeseen challenges can occasionally emerge. However, when client relationships are built on authentic, long-standing trust, the process of openly and honestly addressing challenging situations becomes immeasurably easier.

Our growth has been driven by constantly nurturing these strong, long-term client relationships. In the Middle East, this approach reflects the region’s values, as families appreciate our understanding of local markets, their unique needs, and our international outlook.

An additional strategic priority that we believe has helped reinforce the strength of our client relationships is proactive investment in new systems, processes and platforms. This dynamic approach to delivering a well-executed and streamlined experience has further built client confidence.

Where do you see the wider wealth management sector going in the next five years?

Over the next five years, reputation and proven expertise will remain central as global uncertainty grows. The rise of intergenerational wealth transfer will shift decision-making to next-gen clients, whose global mobility and multi-jurisdictional outlook are reshaping expectations.

AI will further transform the sector through more intuitive, secure and digitised services, easing administrative demands but exceptional in-person service will continue to be the key differentiator.

This article was published on 9 December 2025 in Acclaim magazine – The WealthBriefing MENA Awards 2025.

Attended by Crestbridge Family Office Services (CFOS) CEO Heather Tibbo, the event, held last month (12 November) at the Address Sky View in Dubai, was entitled “Forging Strategic Alliances” and attracted an audience of senior professionals from across the region as well as global family office and private wealth leaders.

In particular, the Conference highlighted the importance that families of wealth attach to connectivity amongst across their professional service provider and advisory network. Speakers explored how families are increasingly looking to access specialist skills and knowledge to enable them to put in place future-proof strategies as they prepare for mass wealth transfer against a complex regulatory and geopolitical backdrop – something that frequently demands collaboration from their strategic partners.

The Conference formed part of a busy period for Crestbridge in the Middle East, with the team attending a number of flagship events in the region over the past month, including Jersey Finance’s ‘Perspectives: Women in Leadership’ series in October, and STEP Arabia in Abu Dhabi in early November, as well as the WealthBriefing MENA Awards last month – at which Crestbridge CEO Heather Tibbo was presented with the ‘Leading Chief Executive’ Award.

Commenting on the evolving Middle East family office landscape, Heather Tibbo said: “Throughout the events we have attended and actively participated in across the Middle East region recently, there has been a clear theme – this is a market where the family office landscape continues to evolve at pace. Trust professionals and the advisory community need to respond to this by understanding the complexity of the environment families operate in, adapting to ensure they have access to the right expertise and skill set, and being open to collaboration across their networks, so that they can instill resilience in their client strategies and enable them to navigate a safe course.

“I am pleased that Crestbridge has over a long period of time developed strong and lasting relationships with Middle East stakeholders and is fully engaged in these dynamics. We remain absolutely committed to enhancing our proposition for this strategically important market in the coming years.”

Speaking in a highly interactive session, Steve and Dean explored how the US trust sector has evolved from a primarily domestic focus to a global player over the last 25 years, within a framework that showed such development running largely in parallel to established offshore trust centres (using Jersey as a prime example), each shaped by similar and different evolutionary triggers. The discussion covered broader trends such as shifting wealth dynamics and macros, regulatory and compliance changes, global taxation trends, and the evolving nature and role of trustees. A prevailing view emerged indicating that these trust sectors have indeed shared many attributes in their journeys over the last 25 years. Today there is more competition, providing global UHNW families with not only more choice, but also with more aligned and complementary options to meet their bespoke, complex and multi-jurisdictional needs, particularly (but not only) those families with US connections.

Taking place between 13 and 15 November, the event – ‘The Erosion of Trust: the new normal?’ – was facilitated by Beatrice Puoti of Stephenson Harwood LLP in London and Jonathan Speck of Mourants in Jersey, and attended by other leading lawyers and trustees who came together to explore the key issues affecting and shaping the modern cross-border private wealth sector. Crestbridge Family Office Services’ Jersey Managing Director, Steve Le Seelleur also attended the conference and provided valuable contributions to the many discussions and debates within the ‘new normal’ theme of the conference.

Elsewhere at the Forum, other speakers and panellists focused on the impact of political instability when it comes to giving private client advice, effective protection of property assets in succession planning, and preparing the next generation for an imminent and unprecedented mass wealth transfer.

Commenting on the event, Steve Sokić said: “Once again, this event brought together a world class line-up of private client legal and other advisors from around the world to reflect on the key drivers shaping the cross-border wealth landscape. It was a pleasure to hear from top-level speakers throughout the Forum, whilst I was also delighted to contribute to a session with Dean looking specifically at how the trust sectors in the US and offshore, including Jersey, have evolved over the past 25 years to offer today a good blend of optionality when it comes to international planning.”

Framing the decision

Jurisdiction selection is clearly important, after all, it’s the place(s) that ‘house’ the wealth holding structure(s), so that house had better be in order, robust, flexible and able to withstand various risks in the future. It can play a key role in mitigating fundamental family risks – around taxation, for instance, but also around asset protection and the potential for unforeseen litigation, forced heirship, marital breakdowns, privacy and succession planning issues.

Trends in recent years have brought these issues increasingly to the fore – specifically the greater complexity of the makeup of families, greater complexity in family demographics, and greater complexity in geographical interests. Industry figures support this, with the majority (73%) of family offices expecting there to be an expansion in the number of family offices worldwide in the future and 55% anticipating that families will adopt greater asset class and geographic investment portfolio diversification (Deloitte Private Global Family Insights Series, September 2024).

This all means that achieving a family’s risk objectives has become more and more challenging – and jurisdictional selection is at the heart of that.

As a result, today, top of the wish-list for advisors when it comes to supporting families with jurisdictional decisions is ensuring that their jurisdictional partners are strong and robust but with an element of flexibility built in too, so that a family can be agile and ready to respond quickly to shifting future conditions.

The jurisdictional picture, though, is not straightforward either, at least at first glance or to the layperson. Many jurisdictions now promote themselves as “family office destinations” or “asset protection” jurisdictions citing local rules with regard to regulation exemptions or statutory limitation periods. These types of exemptions and statutes, though, are now fairly common as many jurisdictions tend to learn and indeed copy from one another, at least from a legislative and regulatory perspective.

The result is a landscape of onshore – normally a family’s home country; offshore – such as Jersey, Cayman etc; and increasingly ‘mid-shore’ jurisdictions, all of which offer a family something slightly different.

The emergence of the mid-shore option is particularly interesting – having recognisable technical and practical attributes of both onshore and offshore locations.  The USA, as well as perhaps Switzerland and Singapore, are common examples. There are technical legal or tax reasons for incorporating a mid-shore option into a family’s structure, as well as more subjective or perception-based criteria too.

Overall, it’s clear that greater family complexity alongside an evolving jurisdictional landscape has put jurisdictional selection front and centre of family structuring decisions. Considering a family’s context and bespoke needs will be key in coming to a sensible conclusion.

The balanced scorecard

Often families will make jurisdictional decisions based on familiarity, existing connections and their own perceptions – after all that’s human nature. But adopting a ‘balanced scorecard’ approach can be a helpful way to come to a rational and objective decision, free of human bias or inadvertent ignorance of the options open to them.

A balanced scorecard, by definition, normally includes a number of relevant criteria, which then are analysed and importantly prioritised for a particular family’s facts and circumstances.  Key criteria for a balanced scorecard framework would typically include:

• Regulatory framework: the main role of a jurisdiction’s regulator is the security of the family’s assets and data, so important, yet often overlooked – they ensure the licencing of local trust companies & other professionals and ensure they are fit and proper, along with ensuring money laundering and proceeds of crime etc are properly protected against. Local regulation may also provide for important exemptions and frameworks for various wealth vehicles like Private Trust Companies (PTCs) (or similar) and/or investment advice for a single-family group. So clearly it’s important to assess the jurisdiction’s regulations as to whether they satisfactorily provide security for a family’s assets and information, what are its anti-money laundering credentials, and does it meet high standards when it comes to licensing providers?
• Legal structuring tools & framework: legal or tax advice normally includes a specific type of vehicle to hold and administer that particular family’s wealth, and these range from trusts and holding companies (most common) to limited partnerships, to PTCs, to segregated cell companies and more. As mentioned above, many jurisdictions have essentially ‘borrowed’ wealth vehicles from one another into their local legislation. So, naturally the question arises as to which jurisdiction(s) offer the right sort of modern and flexible vehicles and related legal framework which best meet the need of the advice?  For example, local legislative and/or jurisprudence clarity as to perpetuity periods, firewall legislation, settlor/grantor reservation of powers, purpose trusts, fraudulent conveyance rules and limitation periods, settlor/grantor capacity guidance, and other.
• Quality of court/judiciary: the importance of the rule of law cannot be overstated, particularly with the challenges and uncertainty in this regard in many parts of the world. Local courts and its judiciary are of course fundamental and key in ensuring this happens in practice. The questions/criteria to ask about here include history of integrity, quality and fairness of the local judiciary, and also have the legal structuring tools referred to above been sufficiently tested and/or clarified? Also, what and where is the ultimate court (e.g. Privy Council or other)?
• Quality of local firms and people: whilst jurisdictions provide the legal framework and ‘home’ for the legal tools needed, jurisdictions themselves by definition do not ‘run’ those legal structures – that is done by local licenced trust companies and other professional firms, or put another way, by real people, systems and processes. The quality of those local firms and people is thus a major risk mitigating factor for any wealth holding structure. So, the question/criteria arises as to whether or not there is an abundance of high quality trust companies and local professional expertise in the jurisdictions? This in practice varies, often considerably, between jurisdictions.  It often says a lot about a particular jurisdiction as to what firms have decided to set up shop there.
• Proximity and connectivity: ease and frequency of communication, including in-person, is often a key ingredient in any wealth holding structure, regardless of its components. So it naturally follows as to whether the jurisdiction offers good physical and digital connectivity (for the particular family members and their advisors) and communication, and can it demonstrate good digital infrastructure resilience?
• Tax regime: taxation is of course important given it’s depleting effect on family wealth, but particularly punitive, confiscatory, draconian and/or double taxation, which often many occur and gets quite complex in cross-border family and asset situations. This is why most advisors will seek a tax-neutral (low or no tax) jurisdiction as a central base of the family’s wealth, to simplify matters for the family, and then focus on tax compliance and legitimate planning based on where individual family members are resident and/or where assets are located. In some cases, a jurisdiction’s tax treaties may also be relevant.
• Privacy and confidentiality laws: ensuring privacy of one’s personal information, including wealth, is paramount for the safety and security of many families worldwide, save for legitimate and secure sharing of information for tax, regulatory or other compliance requirements. Many argue this is a human right, which is supported by, for example, the right to privacy and private life that is enshrined in certain declarations and conventions in the European Union.  This criteria understandably remains often a top concern globally for wealthy and other families for a number of reasons, including political or social instability in home countries and the related fear of physical safety of family members as well as undesired and unnecessary general public attention to private matters, particularly (but not only) for high profile or celebrity UHNW persons.  So naturally it’s important to consider a jurisdiction’s privacy and confidentiality laws and its reporting rules.
• Family home country rules: in many cases, the family members’ home countries (where they live) ,and/or the places where family assets are located, often have tax regimes that dictate, restrict and/or otherwise discourage use of certain jurisdictions. So its important to know, from a tax compliance point of view, which jurisdictions are or may be ‘off the list’ so to speak and then focus on others that are ok to consider.
• Other Connected Jurisdictions: here’s one that many miss…what on the surface may appear like one jurisdiction under consideration, may in fact be more than one or even multiple. Its very important to understand the full jurisdictional picture and thus exposure.  This often, albeit inadvertent, multi-jurisdictional exposure has arisen in good part via many, mainly larger, trust companies that have in recent years outsourced a number of trustee duties and functions to related and/or unrelated companies in other, normally lower-cost, jurisdictions (e.g. bookkeeping, accounting, payments and other).  This normally requires local regulatory approval.  It would naturally follow that many, if not most of the criteria outlined here, ought to be also applied to such additional jurisdictions where applicable (e.g. is quality being compromised and/or is privacy risk exposure unnecessarily increased?).
• Political, social and economic stability: our world today, and indeed throughout history, has varying degrees of political, social and/or economic instability, which in turn is one of the risks families seek to mitigate to preserve their wealth. Accordingly, any jurisdiction in which wealth is structured must have a proven history of stability in this regard, but also ‘levers’ built in to allow for a change in jurisdiction where this stability erodes or otherwise comes into question.
• Cultural affinities: wealthy families are human after all, and like all humans they have natural tendencies and affinities, which for a jurisdiction to house wealth may include particularly strong personal cultural, societal, linguistic or other affinity with a specific location.
• Global ranking indexes: all of the criterial thus far are normally assessed by an advisor on a case by case basis, but there are certain independent rankings available that can evidence a jurisdiction’s particular qualities, like the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). That said, these are normally higher level finance rankings, i.e. beyond wealth structuring, so their limitations should also be noted.
• Intergovernmental agencies: jurisdictions globally are often, but to varying degrees, exposed and susceptible to implications arising from views of various intergovernmental agencies like the OECD or FATF (e.g. so-called “black” or “grey” lists), so it’s prudent to also consider what those organisations have to say (or how they categorise) the jurisdictions under consideration.
• Personal experience: finally, again, families and their advisors are only human and their own experiences, connections and knowledge, even where limited or lacking, often forms an important basis for considering jurisdictions, which can be either helpful or a detriment, but nonetheless should be considered.

Note that “cost” is not part of the criteria above.  There is of course a rationale and practical reason for its exclusion. Simply put, when applying the criteria above applies in a poor score or assessment, most often the average cost in that jurisdiction is low, and vice versa when the score is high.  That’s simply how supply and demand works.

This scorecard approach is very helpful in bringing together the multiple considerations at play to help a family to choose a jurisdiction that can enable it to meet its objectives.

It’s also important, however, to consider the holistic picture. Typically, a family structure will include a central head office and operational hub; it will include holding structures, such as trust and foundation vehicles; and it will include an investment analysis and allocation function. All of these are critical components of the family operation and may well require different jurisdictional qualities – but it is important to consider how the different jurisdictional elements come together, to ensure seamless integration and minimal disruption.

As families look to the future, jurisdictional selection will be critical in enabling them to achieve their objectives. Getting it wrong can be costly, disruptive, and leave a family open to future challenges and other risks. Adopting a balanced and objective approach, however, can help diversify and mitigate risks, and provide a good level of certainty and reassurance in meeting long-term estate and succession planning ambitions.

What is the issue for STEP Members?

It is still the case that, for many global wealthy families, jurisdiction selection for their trusts is not always based on a reasoned, balanced or logical analytical process.

What does it mean for STEP Members?

Against a backdrop of greater family mobility, geopolitical volatility and global diversification of family interests, jurisdiction selection is fast becoming one of the most pressing issues facing UHNW clients and their family offices today.

What can STEP Members take away?

Armed with a clear, balanced scorecard framework, members will be better enabled to help families arrive at reasoned and objective trust jurisdiction decisions and help reduce jurisdictional risk.

The fundamental purpose of structuring family wealth by using trusts, holding companies and/or other vehicles is to mitigate various risks pertaining to that wealth — and to the family.

The question of “where” to structure the wealth is one very important part of that risk mitigation exercise; one which is almost always considered but, regrettably, in practice, is not always based on a reasoned or balanced analytical process for many global wealthy families. In turn, this often gives rise to further (jurisdictional) risk exposure, something the planning process is intended to mitigate, not create more of. The case for a balanced scorecard framework is strong. It is a powerful tool in helping families to arrive at reasoned and objective jurisdictional decisions.

After all, the jurisdiction chosen is the ‘house’ where the family’s assets are held, often over generations, so that house had better be in order: robust, flexible and able to withstand various risks in the future.

The jurisdictional picture though, is not straightforward. Many jurisdictions now promote themselves as “family office destinations” or “asset protection trust” jurisdictions citing local rules regarding regulation exemptions or statutory limitation periods. A lot of that is ‘marketing fluff’ and lacks sufficient substance, at least across broader relevant considerations.

Scorecard

Whether looking at trusts onshore, offshore or ‘midshore’, often families and/or their advisors will make jurisdictional decisions based on familiarity, existing connections and their own perceptions – it’s human nature. But adopting a ‘balanced scorecard’ approach can be a helpful way to remove some of the often-unconscious bias and come to a more rational and objective decision.

A balanced scorecard, by definition, normally includes a number of relevant criteria, which are then are analysed and prioritized for a particular family’s circumstances, with the ability to ‘score’ each jurisdiction under consideration for a particular family. Key criteria would typically include:

Legal structuring tools & framework: legal or tax advice normally covers a specific type of vehicle(s) to be utilized to hold and administer a particular family’s wealth. These range from trusts and holding companies to limited partnerships, PTCs, segregated cell companies and more. Many jurisdictions have essentially ‘borrowed’ such vehicles from one another and factored them into their local legislation. For example, providing local legislative and/or jurisprudence clarity as to perpetuity periods, firewall legislation, settlor/grantor reservation of powers, purpose trusts, fraudulent conveyance rules and limitation periods, settlor/grantor capacity guidance, and other relevant matters.

Quality of court/judiciary: the importance of the rule of law cannot be overstated, particularly with the challenges and uncertainty in this regard in many parts of the world. Local courts and their judiciary are fundamental in ensuring this happens in practice. The questions to ask revolve around the history of integrity, quality and fairness of the local judiciary, and whether legal structuring tools have been sufficiently tested.

Regulatory framework adequacy: the main role of a regulator is to ensure the security of the family’s assets and data. They ensure the licencing of local trust companies and other professionals and ensure they are fit and proper, along with ensuring money laundering and proceeds of crime activities are properly protected against. Local regulation may also provide for important exemptions and frameworks for various wealth vehicles like Private Trust Companies (PTCs) and/or investment advice for a single-family group.

Quality of local firms and people: while jurisdictions provide the legal framework and ‘home’ for the tools required jurisdictions themselves do not ‘run’ those legal structures – that is done by local licenced trust companies and other professional firms – by real people, systems and processes. The quality of those local firms and people is thus a major risk mitigating factor for any wealth structure. A separate scorecard is normally advisable in this regard including criteria like ownership structure, strategic focus on private wealth, ‘bench strength’, regulatory history, client’s geographic affinity, systems, etc.

Proximity and connectivity: ease and frequency of communication, including in-person, is often a key ingredient in any wealth holding structure, regardless of its components. It naturally follows as to whether the jurisdiction offers good physical and digital connectivity and communication, and can demonstrate good digital infrastructure resilience?

Tax regime: taxation is important given its depleting effect on family wealth, but particularly important are the punitive, confiscatory, draconian and/or double taxation measures that could apply in complex cross-border family and asset circumstances. This is why most advisors will first seek a tax-neutral (low or no tax) jurisdiction to be utilised as a central base for the family’s wealth, to simplify matters for the family, and then focus on tax compliance and proper planning based on where individual family members are resident and/or where assets are located.

Privacy and confidentiality laws: ensuring privacy of one’s personal information is paramount for the security of many families worldwide, save for legitimate and secure sharing of information for tax, regulatory or other compliance requirements. Many argue that this is a human right, which is supported by, for example, the right to privacy and private life that is enshrined in certain declarations and conventions in the European Union. This criterion remains a top concern for families for a number of reasons, including political or social instability in their home countries.

Family home country rules: in many cases, the family members’ home countries (where they live) and/or the places where family assets are located, often have tax regimes that dictate, restrict and/or otherwise discourage use of certain jurisdictions (e.g. so-called ‘blacklists’).

Other connected jurisdictions: what on the surface may appear like one jurisdiction under consideration, may in fact be more than one. It’s important to understand the full jurisdictional picture. For example, inadvertent, multi-jurisdictional exposure has arisen often where larger trust companies have outsourced certain functions to related or unrelated companies in other normally lower-cost jurisdictions. (This normally requires local regulatory approval.) It follows then that most or all of the criteria outlined here ought also to be applied to such additional jurisdictions.

Political, social and economic stability: instability is one of the key risks families seek to mitigate to preserve their wealth. Accordingly, any jurisdiction in which wealth is structured must not only have a proven history of stability in this regard, but also ‘levers’ to allow for a change in jurisdiction where this stability comes into question.

Cultural affinities: wealthy families are human after all and have natural tendencies and affinities. These may include particularly strong personal cultural, societal, linguistic or other affinities with a specific location, and may well be a form of ‘tie-breaker’ between jurisdictions.

Global ranking indexes: there are certain independent rankings available that can evidence a jurisdiction’s particular qualities, like the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). These are, however, normally higher-level finance rankings, i.e. beyond wealth structuring, so their limitations should also be noted.

Intergovernmental agencies: jurisdictions globally are often, to varying degrees, exposed to implications arising from views of various intergovernmental agencies like the OECD or FATF, so it is prudent to also consider what those organisations have to say.

Personal experience: a family’s own experiences, connections and knowledge, even where limited or lacking, often form an important basis for considering jurisdictions. This can be either helpful or a detriment but should nonetheless be considered.

Notably, “cost” is not included among the criteria above, and this is by design. In practice, jurisdictions that perform poorly against these criteria typically have lower average costs, while those that perform well tend to be more expensive. This reflects fundamental principles of supply and demand, as well as the relationship between quality value and price.

As families look forward, jurisdictional selection will be critical in enabling them to achieve their objectives. Getting it wrong can be costly, disruptive, and leave a family open to future challenges and risks. Adopting a balanced and objective approach, however, can help diversify and mitigate risks, and provide a proper level of comfort and reassurance in meeting long-term estate and succession planning ambitions.

This article was first published in the July/August edition of the STEP Journal.

UBS’ Global Family Office Report highlights the extent to which family offices are broadening their investment horizons, moving beyond the more traditional public markets and assets like stocks and bonds to place a greater emphasis on alternative investments, such as private equity. At the same time, direct investing – bypassing traditional fund structures – are finding favour, whilst sustainability, a desire for evidenced impact and a more professional approach to philanthropy are influencing the approach too.

But changing course is often not as easy as families think. Multiple generations of diverse stakeholders, complex global structuring frameworks, cross-border regulatory complexity and an economic environment that is constantly shifting can pose serious questions.

Assessing the landscape

Any assessment of a structure should start by taking a deep dive into key family documentation – trust instruments, letters of wishes, investment principles and policy statements, a family constitution or charter together with any other existing or proposed governing documents., One should consider the ultimate aims of the family as they stand, undertaking a gap analysis that will inform new frameworks around the investment objectives, strategy and operational function and provide an ability to assess whether external skills are required to support the anticipated change.

Whilst the assessment would naturally include an evaluation of recent investment positioning and performance, it is an opportunity to conduct a rigorous review of existing structures within the context of the overall family framework, alongside an evaluation of the proposed direction of travel and how that aligns with the family’s values and vision.

It is only after undertaking an assessment of the overall landscape alongside new or existing advisors that a family can embark on a new investment direction on solid ground, equipped with the right tools – far better to do the groundwork properly than to run into difficult, and perhaps costly, issues further down the line.

At a practical level, such an assessment will also inform any new structuring that needs to be undertaken to achieve new aims – whether establishing certain ringfenced vehicles is necessary or whether existing structures can be used. A more holistic review considers which vehicles are best suited to achieve the investment aims, from traditional trust structures, private companies, or very private funds which, once agreed, can kickstart the setup of the bank and custody accounts required to operate and trade on the investments.

Whilst ensuring that the governance provisions of the structure align to the family, we must also consider the practical challenges represented by each engagement, including the appropriate services, reporting framework and costs, particularly where the latter is to be considered as part of broader investment performance. Guiding investment principles and investment policy statements then become a key part of these considerations and represent another opportunity to unite the family with their fiduciary and advisory teams.

Seamless

Ultimately, any change a family makes will carry a risk of disruption to ‘business as usual’, which is why a service provider partner should always look to make any transition as seamless as possible. That means providing an independent project management service, bringing in the right people to make that change happen – from custodians, investment advisors and bankers, to tax and legal advisors.

Speed of course is important – time out of the market represents an opportunity cost in losing out on potential returns. But it’s also a question of getting the right people and the best possible advice. That’s why it’s also so important to seek the support of an experienced trustee with a network of good, reliable contacts who can ensure all the right experience and expertise is brought to the table to facilitate a seamless change in direction.

That requires a deep understanding of the family as well as a positive working relationship and an appreciation of the need to have good, honest and open conversations.

Added benefits

It is often these questions which trigger a broader discussion around a family’s wider objectives and operational framework.

Is there flexibility baked into the overall framework to allow for future change? If you consider that 12% of family offices plan to establish another branch in due course (Deloitte Private), there is a real need to consider future flexibility in the context of the wider international market. Tied to that, there is also the opportunity to consider the rapidly changing demographic nature of families – geographical spread and family complexity for instance.

In all these instances, an assessment stemming from an investment strategy shift can help bring these issues in other areas of a family’s business to the fore.

As a result, whilst it may seem that undertaking a comprehensive review to support a change in investment strategy might be onerous, doing so can not only help realise those realigned investment ambitions, but support a far more efficient, better governed family operation overall too.