Toby Birch, who departed a role as an investment manager in a well known private bank, took up a position with the Rowland family office based in Guernsey on their breathtaking estate at Havilland Hall and also in their London office in Saville Row.
Following Toby’s book, Final Crash (written under name Hugo Boleau), he found many of his views aligned with the Rowlands, particularly Jonathan Rowland one of the five children of David Rowland, who runs the family investment management arm in London, managing the reported £700million fortune, so when a position arose Toby jumped at it. Although Jonathan Rowland does say gently that his outlook isn’t quite as “doom and gloom as the Final Crash book.”
Toby, who has been with the Rowland family office for several months (he joined autumn 2007), has become Executive Director of Blackfish Capital Exodus Fund which has been launched to capture flight money leaving dollar investments with a plan to invest in gold and commodities. “Gold is like an insurance policy that you don’t claim on.” Says Toby. He adds that some are calling the current swing to gold: ‘the gold bug.’
The Exodus Fund named after the land of milk and honey, which is run with co-manager Martyn Konig CEO of Blackfish Capital and who has a CV that includes NM Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and UBS, launched with $20million of Rowland money has a $5bn capacity (soft close at $3bn) with a modest entry level of US$250,000. Target returns are 15% per annum with 8% volatility with fees at 1.5% (management) and a performance fee of 20% (high watermark and equalisation). There is also a joint venture with Investec called the Blackfish Investec Capital Management fund which Toby explains, from the elegant boardroom at the family office is because, “the family have a lot of experience with gold and commodities with silver mines owned by the fund in South America.”
Toby, who also has an Islamic finance qualification, predicts strong flows of money from areas like the Middle East out of the USA and into Europe and sees three areas that will benefit . “They will be precious metals, oil, food and non base metals and non US assets.” He is devoting his time to Bloomberg with Goldman Sachs who are prime broker and custodian, stress testing all their investment strategy.
Jonathan Rowland, has been with the family office for fifteen years and works with his siblings, in different areas of the investment office where Toby is. “We are primarily investment and financiers looking for opportunities globally in equities, debt, direct investment and trading opportunities. And as a secondary area we also look at emerging markets.” He says.
Jonathan, who is down to earth and friendly, says they run a tight ship and keep costs in the family office low. “We bring in experience where we need it but generally keep our head count to around ten.” He says his golden rules for investment include: “If you don’t understand investments don’t do them.” And “moving and adapting quickly to how markets are moving.”
Having known Toby for five years , Jonathan confirms that the Rowlands family view is generally in line with his, so more pessimistic than optimistic which is why the Final Crash book resonated. “We’re always looking at the worse case scenarios and think Toby’s book has a significant place in the world.” He adds a surprising comment about their current policy. “We’ve liquidated everything we have and tightened our belts to take advantage of market opportunities that will arise with the economic instability.”
This is a trend that Jonathan says he is also seeing repeated with other “older and cleverer” families. “Core businesses are being kept, but we are all awaiting the right opportunities now, whether value, miss priced or distressed particularly with institutions running for the hills after credit crunch losses.”
Sovereign funds are something the Rowland family office has dealings with so I ask for his view of them . “I think we’d be in a lot more trouble with out them so on balance they are good. They support the market, move quickly and are a lot smarter than they were thirty years ago.”
The vision for the Blackfish fund Management business is to build a brand owned by the family which Jonathan plans to build into Fleming family office proportions. “With five to ten years we might do that.” He says. “We plan to support people, like Toby, who have interesting strategies to help us build a significant business.”
Of market conditions Jonathan shares the family view. “We are cautious but are starting to see close to the bottom of the market in some sectors. There are already some more interesting valuations for instance with British Land which we may look to buy as well as banking stocks. I think commercial property still has a long way to drop though and residential won’t see confidence back until well into 2009.”
David Rowland, his father, who is reported to have made his first million at twenty three, is still very active in the business and sits as Chairman although he has closed down all his former business operations.
The driver is to build the Rowland family brand rather that just focusing on individual successes.” He adds that as well as his father, he admires people who take risks like entrepreneurs.
Forward motion sees the family office looking at China, South America and the Middle East for investment opportunities but Jonathan says he isn’t jumping on planes all the time. “I need a reason to go somewhere these days and want my trip to pay for itself. I’m not interested in speculative trips.”
And with nearly all his dreams come true at thirty three, is retirement at thirty five an option? I have no plans to retire.” He says. “But I might take a bit of time out for a career break.”
Article re published from Citywealth from February 2008.
©
Wednesday 8 October 2008
Guernsey and London connection: Rowlands single family office and Blackfish Capital Holdings
Art insurance commentary
EG Buhrle art theft, Aon Artscope/Specie & Fine Art Division comment on the recent robbery.
Although the recent heist of a number of paintings from a Swiss gallery ended happily with the return of the paintings, the brash move by thieves to just walk into a gallery and remove pictures left a question mark over the security of many fine art works lodged by private individuals in public spaces. Charles Hamilton Stubber, director of Aon Private Risk Management. give us his view of the implications to ultra high net worths, in question and answer style.
What could happen to paintings in a robbery? Paintings will never be able to be sold or exhibited in the open market. Bearing this in mind, the thieves often realize that financial gain is not an option and the art may reappear in a couple of years’ time. Paintings could be used as collateral for loans, possibly for below market value. The FBI estimates that the stolen art market is USD6bn annually. We are not aware the insurance market has ever paid out any ransom demands in an ‘art-napping’ case. Meanwhile, global law enforcement has become increasingly sophisticated in investigating and recovering stolen artwork. The police have linked into organisations such as the Art Loss Register, Trace and other international databases which has stemmed the flow of stolen art. For example, 2007 saw a police sting operation in Paris recover two Picassos, Maya with Doll and Jacqueline.
What could have been done to prevent this theft? Not much because you wouldn’t want a tragedy. However museums have an obligation to create a happy medium by displaying their masterpieces, rather than keeping them locked in a vault, while constantly reviewing and checking the effectiveness of security measures. Smaller locations tend to be at greater risk because exits are more accessible than in a multi-floored large gallery. This is demonstrated by the fact that it has been reported that the EG Buhrle theft took place in just three minutes.
Lessons learnt for other collectors? If loaning a piece to a museum, the collector must extend their policy for when the art is in transit and in its new location, or negotiate for the museum to arrange adequate cover if transferring the liability. From a museum's perspective, it must regularly review the series of events leading up to a loss to reduce their susceptibility. For example, the series of events could include access, number of personnel, a device on the painting and potential exit routes.
www.aon.co.uk
Monday 6 October 2008
Simon Weil, Head of Individuals at UK law firm, Bircham Dyson Bell plans a Versailles musical event for 2010
Simon Weil, who was recently spotted bidding several thousand pounds for a holiday at an FF&P charitable event for Room to Read, is planning his own charitable extravaganza at Versailles in 2010 with the aim to give proceeds to a charity nominated by the overall sponsor of the event, who is yet to be secured. Simon says of his plan “It will be La Douceur de Vivre, Versailles on Monday 31 May 2010. The event will include a performance of Handel's Acis and Galatea in the Gabriel Theatre, which was built in 1770 for the marriage of Marie Antoinette to the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI. This will be followed by a promenade through the state rooms with dinner and dancing in the Orangerie.” The theatre will be open after a prolonged period of restoration enabling attendees to see it as Marie Antoinette herself saw it in 1770. Eighteenth century dress is encouraged so that everyone attending may experience the chateau as it was before the Revolution. For any information contact Simon on
SimonWeil AT bdb-law.co.uk
Merrill Lynch launch annual world wealth report with Cap Gemini
Number of HNWI’s in the UK up 2% to 495,000 individuals driven by strong GDP growth
The twelfth annual Merrill Lynch Wealth report revealed that green investing has become increasingly popular with total investments in green technology up 41% to US$117bn. Nick Tucker, Market Leader for UK & Ireland, Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch commented: “Green investing offers investors lucrative returns and an opportunity to become actively involved in social responsibility. An array of vehicles such as mutual funds, ETFs and other pooled products, or alternative investments are available with notable strength in wind and solar. The Middle East and Europe were the most environmentally attuned HNWI and Ultra-HNWI populations, with participation ranging from around 17 percent to 21 percent in 2007. In comparison, only 5 percent of HNWIs and 7 percent of Ultra-HNWIs in North America allocated part of their portfolio holdings to green investing. Among HNWIs worldwide, approximately half pointed to financial returns as the primary reason for their allocation to green investing.”
Emerging markets made significant contributions to record-level worldwide IPO activity in 2007. More than 1,300 IPOs raised about US$300 billion during the year—and emerging markets captured 7 of the top 10 issues. The BRIC nations exhibited particular strength in the area, accounting for 39 percent of global IPO volume in 2007, up from 32 percent in 2006. Net private capital flows to emerging markets also increased in 2007. China attracted the largest absolute amount of private capital in 2007 at a country level, drawing in about US$55 billion. Emerging Europe was the most popular regional destination, attracting US$276 billion.
Given 2007 performances and taking into consideration recent developments in world markets, the Report suggests that global HNWI wealth will grow to US$59.1 trillion by 2012, advancing at a rate of 7.7 percent per year.
Julius Baer launch new absolute funds
Julius Baer, is promoting its absolute return bond funds range to UK investors. Highlights within the range currently include the following fund:
Julius Baer Absolute Return Emerging Bond Fund. Launch date 31st December 2007. The fund had an absolute return of 2.13% since launch and has outperformed three month USD Libor by 1.01%. Fund size: USD 0.1bn. Target return: three month USD Libor +3-4% per annum. Historical annualised volatility: 1.0-1.5%. Available in USD and EUR hedges share classes.
Wealth party diary
It’s always busy in the London wealth space when it comes to entertaining and never more so than in 2008. The Family Investment Office of Unigestion started off the proper summer party season, as they always do, with their annual cocktail event, which attracted the usual industry bigwigs. Daniel Martineau of Close Summit Trust Company was spotted on a hop over from Geneva; Clive Nicholson, former Managing Partner at Saffery Champness graced the party with his presence and Mike Covell formerly of Goldman Sachs, but now about to launch as a consultant, also made a rare public visit. (Robert Suss has taken over the top job at Goldman Sachs).
FF&P, who count Ian Fleming, the James Bond author, as an early member of the now multi family office, celebrate their James Bond 50th anniversary year and have held a multitude of parties and events which are the brain child of Penny Lovell and aided by the charming Nicola Murphy there. On Wednesday 11th June FF&P held a “Miss Moneypenny event” with Joanna Lumley and Samantha Weinberg (who is also the author Kate Westbrook) reading from her book “The MoneyPenny Diaries”. Matthew Fleming, former cricketer, kicked off introductions with Louise Holmes of Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org) making the appeal for generosity from attendees for the charity auction held afterwards. Room to Read was founded by an ex Microsoft person, John Wood who has many social entrepreneur awards to his name. A Bonhams auctioneer cleverly upped bids and then appealed for just £130 per person to help build a school for children supported by Room to Read. Many put their hands up but Suzanne Reisman, to her credit, was one of the first. Suzanne specialises in US private client law and is based in the UK (www.suzannereisman.com).
Ascot was a fine affair with Baker & McKenzie’s Paul Stibbard and Ashley Crossley hosting two tables at the event. Top hat and tails were the order of the day and their guests included Anthony Valgimigli, Barclays Wealth on the board governing India and Middle Eastern clients; Rose Wong, SG Hambros Bank who delighted the male audience accidently with pictures of herself at a Coutts jewellery ball; Juliet Wedderburn at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth and new arrival Rupert Jacobs of Butterfield Private Office who is a fresh off the ’plane from Bermuda Rothschilds operation and working with Katie Booth Managing Director of the operation. Betting was in earnest led by Ian Grant at BNP Paribas, and although he racked up wins, big losses were the order of the day for the rest of us. The reason cited was bad feng shui with the positioning of our corner table s in the lunch room and a competitive field of Middle Eastern; Irish and Kentucky race horses. (Anthony Valgimigli tips off Kentucky as the place that will be yielding some serious race horses in future). Losses were quickly forgotten though as a full three course lunch was served followed by cream cake after cream cake and champagne, followed by superb white then red wine, desert wine, port, brandy and the launch of the Bollinger Rose new arrival. It was no wonder there were a few dizzy travellers on the way home courtesy of the Baker & McKenzie tour buses. (Whats on tour, stays on tour unless Citywealth Editor is there).
Fortis, sponsored the whole Hurlingham Club tournament providing their private wealth guests with Jo Malone goody bags, branded baseball style caps to protect from the sunshine, Evian mist spray and plenty of Pimms to ensure some dehydration occurred. Citywealth Editor was treated to lunch in the players room, followed by some veteran tennis and some up to date stars. Marat Safin, stole the show with graceful leaps and bounds and although he didn’t win his match, he stole a place in most of the ladies hearts.
Mark Rushton, London and Rick Denton of Guernsey Fortis were hosts and guests were mainly clients of the bank. A lovely day of cream cakes was had and champers and Ian Orton of the Wealthnet was spotted sticking very sensibly to soft drinks.
FF&P held a further party to launch their Suffolk Street offices, the new home of Penny Lovell and her multi family office team at FF&P. With a terrace outside, guests were able to relive an old tradition and smoke Cuban Cohiba cigars while quaffing champagne and eating tasty nibbles.
This week also included the Key Wealth forum which had around fifty guests at The Law Society and a superb full English breakfast on offer. Also last week was the LG Legal press party and Wimbledon with Stanford Eagle who had centre and No 1 court tickets for their guests with client entertaining all day. Goody bags included poncho’s and umbrellas but the weather mostly held. Send your party diary stories into Citywealth Editor. kjones AT citywealthmag.com
www.citywealthmag.com
Citywealth interview: Louise Stoten who ranked in the top twenty women in private wealth in 2008
Louise Stoten, a partner at Payne Hicks Beach, started life in the City in the late 80’s at the tender age of seventeen, working at a private client stock broking firm. Despite learning the business quickly and getting a good grounding in dealing with private client lawyers, she experienced some hard times at first hand. Landing in her job at the time of Black Monday, one of the worse times in the financial history of the City of London, the capital went into a dire recession and eventually her company, unable to sustain their business, closed down. At twenty one she found herself being made redundant.
Not one to miss an opportunity for fun though, she spent her redundancy time wisely, heading off to Italy for the World Cup and coming back only when her redundancy money ran out.
On her return she reviewed the jobs on offer, but the idea of 7am starts on dealing desks didn’t appeal, so she opted for a career change into the law. She had A levels in economics and law and although she says she didn’t realise the magnitude of her decision, she jumped headlong into finding a role to support herself while she studied for her law degree. She applied for paralegal jobs and got some interest but then heard that an assistant had resigned at Beachcroft Stanleys in their private client department working with partner, George Francis, who was previously at Farrers and is an old Etonian, which we both agree was ‘very private client’ in those days. Through a work connection she got an introduction for an interview and with her experience with investments and trusts she says, in her usual honest and open style, she “blagged her way in.” Her studies took a gruelling seven years to complete doing a part time degree and finals in the evenings.
During this time Beachcroft Stanleys were merging with another law firm Wansboroughs who, Louise says, seemed less interested in private client, so the team moved to Payne Hicks Beach in 1997 and they took their clients with them. Following twenty years in the industry, Louise says she now has a wide spectrum of clients that include agricultural and landed estates, onshore and offshore trusts and UHNWi’s and in the last five years, as deals have started to mature, a large influx of private equity and hedge fund money.
Multi generational issues particularly interest Louise. “Some clients preserve their wealth well.” She explains. “I have a couple of clients with big stately homes that are expensive to run, with no natural succession so we’ve looked at merging succession with others in the family. I think splitting family money up is a mistake. It means rather than having one super wealthy family, you suddenly have a handful of less wealthy individuals and what can be achieved with those families reduces. I prefer to keep family money solidly together.”
When dealing with private equity and hedge fund clients, Louise is glad she spent some time working with investments in her early career. “It definitely helps to understand better the areas in which your clients operate, the stresses they are under and to communicate with them on their level as sophisticated investors.”
She explains further. “A family constitution is fine but lawyers should also have an understanding of how to manager money to get a broader picture of clients’ assets and lifestyle.” Clients who have recently acquired wealth, generally have a short term outlook and something she likes to encourage is a thirty to fifty year approach. “Although trusts are a more difficult concept to use now we are looking very seriously at family partnerships, but these may not be flexible enough to work over successive generations.”
Of her client work and trends, private charities are ‘very fashionable’ now. “Everyone wants one.” She says laughing. “It’s a good way to educate young children , especially if they are involved as a charitable trustee. The can learn about investments, tax and meet advisers whilst doing it with money that isn’t theirs.” She mentions one client who has £250million to transfer to a child but will leave a significant proportion to a private charity.
“With the differential between income tax and capital gains tax rates, we are looking closely at OEICs and insurance bonds. Clients with cash from £5million upwards, want to look at solutions with tax wrappers and deferral products. Some may only work if you are planning at some stage; otherwise the deferred tax involved may be large.”
Louise sees a gap in the market for private client lawyers to work with private equity and hedge fund financiers. “The magic circle corporate law firms do the fund works for investors and directors but in many cases there isn’t any ongoing private client support and often the individuals don’t really appreciated their position in a structure and how to plan to extract their profits from it. Many corporate firms don’t have a department to look after day to day individual affairs one they have set up the fund.”
Louise agrees with many in the private wealth sector, that the term family office is vaguely frustrating. “Many private client lawyers acting for a wealthy family would do a lot of the work that a family office might do.” Louise says, “Our work has always revolved around individual clients, offering them a traditional, personal and tailored service. We aren’t transactional , we expect to deal with all of our clients affairs for a long time and hopefully for a number of generations.”
Investment manager selection for clients is also something Louise is involved with but she always advises clients to review their structures and planning first before leaping into investments, which she says sometimes means she locks horns with bankers and investment managers who are eager to sell products. “Most clients don’t really need much of their money, so I ten to plan what we will do with the bulk of their fortune for the next twenty years plus, then look at structures to minimise tax then decide on investment strategy.”
She laments the current trend to hire lawyers in banks. “If you are not very careful they can devalue the lawyer proposition and there may be a prevalent short term investment view which I disagree with. I always look at wealth management over a long time period because clients who have recently acquired wealth rarely appreciated that money, if managed well, has a habit of growing massively and can get out of control without good structuring. Some of the packaged banking products that work now, may not work in a few years time.”
Louise also agrees that clients are getting younger and has a number of thirty something private equity entrepreneurial clients with money coming online as their deals mature. However she likes both old and new money clients and thinks they compliment each other. “Lessons have been learned about how old money has survived and that best practice can now be applied to newer money.” She makes a keen observation. “Old money was once new money and new money usually wants to retain wealth long enough to be old money.”
www.phb.co.uk
Citywealth pearls of wisdom: David Rigg: protecting reputations
David Rigg is the founder of Project Associate, a leading UK consultancy specialising in reputation and crisis management for private individuals. He offers his pearls of wisdom for clients and banks.
“Many high net worth individuals have spent a lifetime far from the public eye, and sensibly so. The have frequently built an enviable reputation amongst their friends, family and business colleagues. Reputation is a precious asset requiring nurture and husbanding often over many years. But it is also a fragile creature and can be destroyed in a day. Profile and reputation do not always make good companions.
I am often asked “I think I need a higher public profile, can you help?” My default answer is - “What on earth for?”
In today’s frenetic media world with its twenty four hour rolling news, populist newspapers and explosive growth of the internet, a high public profile carries with it many hidden risks. Few of us would want every nook and cranny of our lives past and present put under the microscope.
Of course there can be sound reasons for having a higher profile – Richard Branson is a master of the art and has often said he does it because it is much cheaper than advertising and it has helped to build his businesses and create the powerful Virgin brand. Where there is a good business reason then a carefully planned approach is needed to avoid, so far as possible, the pitfalls that await the uninitiated. This is not an area where flying blind is to be advised.
And then there are those who have a profile thrust upon them whether they like it or not. I have acted over the years for some of the world’s richest people, often inheriting great wealth upon the death of a parent or other relative. If the benefactor was in the public eye, then so will be the beneficiary. Even if they were not, other events - family feuds, indiscretions by offspring or attacks by disgruntled ex employees for example – can conspire to bring the beam of the searchlight into play. And that can be an uncomfortable and even frightening experience.
So what to do? The point, as the military would say, is that time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted. In other words planning is key. Working closely with existing advisors, a careful review of the reputational risks needs to be undertaken and then a plan constructed. Every case is different, each person has their own individual requirements and it is certainly not a case of “one size fits all”.
If sufficiently well thought through there is in fact no need for the individual’s life to be ruined or turned into a constant game of cat and mouse with the media. There are strong privacy laws in this country and sensible, reasonable precautions can help clients to avoid many of the obstacles along the route. The secret is to plan, because the day the media calls for your comment it’s too late.
Thoughts for financial organisations dealing with the current economic turmoil
As far as hedge funds are concerned, I believe their past secretive behaviour will make them the fall guys, mainly because they‘ve actively pursued invisibility. You could draw the same parallels with private equity organisations but they have been much better at putting their houses in order and aren't in the same firing line. I believe, hedge fund people will have their secrecy come back to bite them now.
On the overall situation, it is a warning, when people in large numbers are not prudent with client money, it becomes very difficult to separate one private bank from all the other private banks. Every bank will have to live through the pain of majority mistakes now. I advise that private banks keep communication channels, at all levels wide open. Not just press coverage but keeping clients with substantial assets informed of changing situations and reassured: a lot of communication is important. And from a customers point of view with assets and money in a bank, it’s a good time to take some professional advice on the security of the institution holding capital.
Contact: Heidi Mallace for any further information
heidi.mallace AT projectassociatesltd.com
www.projectassociatesltd.com
Brian Clarke, Director of Key Trust Company offers some views on investment for family offices and families in business
Brian Clarke, Director of Key Trust Company and recent winner of the STEP independent trust company of the year, gives Citywealth his views during the current difficult times.
The events which lead to one outcome on Monday can lead to a different outcome on Tuesday. There is now simply too much information for any one individual or a computer to fully comprehend. There are just too many moving parts and our minds are trained to select only the information we need and to filter the rest.
Applying this concept to the market suggests that each investment manager or trader will tend to focus on what they personally consider important and ignore the rest. Two old (but none the worse for that) investment philosophies are: The random walk theory, which says that everything that can be known is already factored into the price, therefore the move in tomorrow’s price will be random.
The other theory is that while it pays to follow a trend, when following the herd, accept that you are walking in the droppings.
Because decision makers work with fundamentals, technical signals, and numerous financial variables to meet the supply and demand requirements of their firm, they have to select those elements that are relevant to them. They focus on those elements that are specific to their decision-making, filtering out other variables as either being too small or too fleeting. Result: they do not work with the real market but with a mental model of the market.
In a year when the filtered-out issues suddenly become dominant, this can have a disastrous effect on investment policy. Banks, commodities, oil all have significant valuation changes beyond any average trend line.
At our annual meetings with family clients, we are always talking about the entire global spread of investments and how important it is to ensure a balance.
The elements we strive to include are real estate, art collectables that can be enjoyed, land, cash, equities and holdings for long term income. As an independent company, we are perfectly placed to introduce the best managers for each asset sector.
In these volatile times, I believe, having a secure, broad and inclusive spread of assets gives a good foundation for stress-free living.
www.key-trust.com
Private bank Lombard Odier and the Institute of Family Business find the golden thread to integrate children into a family business
Generating emotional ownership is the golden thread identified by Lombard Odier, a seven generation family business, and The Institute of Family Business, to help children successfully join established businesses and promote more longevity. The report throws to the rocks perhaps, the idea that family businesses rarely survive past two or three generations of ownership.
In a forty eight page report, emotional ownership, which includes introducing children at six years old into various areas of the business, with activities around the dinner table, is cited as key.
The report goes on to explain that emotional ownership is defined as a sense of closeness and belonging to the family business: something that penetrates below the surface of the mind into the identity of the person.
And the more the business actively involves a family member to raise his or her EO, the more inclined they will be to give service and to be involved.
The survey included six hundred families in sixty seven countries and offers hands on advice for implementation of their findings. Steps include: Absence of suffocation from older family members and an understanding that joining the family business means it doesn’t have to be for life.
Merrill Lynch and Capgemini release third Asia Pacific Wealth report
The wealth of Asia-Pacific’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs ) increased 12.5 percent in 2007 to US$9.5 trillion.
The number of HNWIs in the region grew by 8.7 percent to 2.8 million and the number of ultra high net worth individuals (Ultra-HNWIs ) jumped 16.4 percent to 20,400.
Asia Pacific accounted for 27.8 percent of the world’s HNWI population in 2007 and Ultra-HNWIs accounted for 26.3 percent of the region’s HNWI wealth.
Boodle Hatfield strengthens private client team with appointment of Karen Marks from LG
Private client law firm Boodle Hatfield has hired Karen Marks, who was a partner in the tax and private capital team at LG. Karen, who joined Boodle Hatfield on 18 August as a partner, brings expertise in international tax and trust planning and acts for trustees and beneficiaries of offshore structures. She advises clients seeking to leave or take up residence in the UK.
Karen commented on her new role. “It is great to be at Boodle Hatfield working with Sue Laing and her department. I was offered a wonderful opportunity to build on my offshore tax and trust expertise and help develop the department further.”
http://www.boodlehatfield.com/
Pearls of wisdom from wealth advisory experts
Josh Rubenstein, Joint Managing Partner New York, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
"My one wise phrase? The ancient Greeks use to say, "Don't worry, you have your whole future behind you." Their view of time was physical, because you cannot see the future, and you cannot see behind you. The fundamentals have not changed much. If you stick with them, everything will work out all right. As my hiking instructor used to say, "Trust your boots."
UHNW New York former hedge fund analyst (anonymous quote)
“Despite the best efforts of the world’s central banks, there will be a big economic slowdown and real credit losses will be quite large, although I imagine less than what’s built into loan and bond prices today. Prices recently reflect forced liquidation of the assets and not their true actuarial value, or anything close to it. As to whether there will be more ‘runs’ on financial institutions: I don’t know, we shall have to wait and see. I don’t think the stock market has an awful lot of upside either, but I also don’t think it’s going to crash.”
Karen Marks, Partner, Boodle Hatfield
“Words of wisdom for the private wealth market - in the current climate? Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride!”
These snippets first appeared in newsletter published by www.citywealthmag.com
