Who Cares?

Last Tuesday we had a Caroline’s Club members meeting; Nic Arnold head of the Family Office at PwC, Charlotte Thorne founder and director of Cap Gen, Jonathan Gain founder and director of Stellar Asset Management, Silvia Andreotto associate director with JTC in Monaco and I pre-recorded our client stories which we shared with our other members (is shared with you below, and uploaded on our How to Keep your Money webinar on You Tube) before breaking out in ‘matched’ network bubbles for more ‘Client Stories’.

The ethos behind Caroline’s Club as I say often is a Culture of Care; care for our clients, care for our colleagues and care for our contacts and I am delighted to say that this ethos is catching on.

As Private Client Professionals each of us is a specialist – and our clients expect us to know our area of expertise, but to be exceptional we also need to know our clients, what motivates, fears and drives them and to navigate them through tricky areas, guide them past tricky people and lead them away from tricky situations. In this way we build trust and long lasting relationships.

Filippo Noseda – private client partner with law firm Mishcon de Reya, member of Caroline’s Club and next month’s panellist said after the meeting, the Club is not about show casing our expertise, it is about sharing traps, tricks and how to build trust. This is totally correct.

Charlotte Thorne on our panel highlighted a trap when she spoke about a client who was expected to pay for a trade £52,000 for which Cap Gen would charge only a few hundred pounds. We all need to be aware of these discrepancies and guide our clients towards a finance audit from time to time

Of course, as private client professionals, we are expected to advice our clients on ‘clever moves’ like pieces on a jig saw; Silvia for example was able to move her clients from Ukraine to Switzerland and Nic Arnold is able to guide her clients through the maze of tax laws across borders to get the most tax efficient outcome for her clients and their luxury investments and assets

But also, we need to know which professionals have skills which are complementary to our own. As a succession and trust lawyer I am fully aware of the total exemption from Inheritance Tax for assets which qualify for Business Property Relief, but through Jonathan Gain founder of Stellar Asset Management I find an asset manager who can find investments for my clients which qualify to invest in – whether a chunk of forest, the development of a golf club or investments in AIM.

But what makes the difference between a good private client professional and an exceptional one – is not just how well they know their client – but also to be knowledgeable about the traps and tricks in other areas of expertise so that we can care for the wider interests of our clients, contacts and colleagues.

A decade or so ago, the popular phrase in the private client industry was ‘owning’ the clients. Of course, in practice no-one ‘owns’ a client. One professional or another at any one time may work  very closely with a client, such as Silvia with her Ukraine family, or me with the family for whom I was consolidating their business and investment assets into a good governance structure, but at no point is it sensible to say we ‘own’ a client.

In my case, as you can see, personal conflicts in my case study could not be resolved and the family moved towards litigation, an area in which I am not a specialist – but I know of plenty of litigators who are.

For me in recommending a litigator – I was looking for someone who knows the client and the strength of the argument and the opposition, so they know when to go to court, and when to mediate.

In all areas of dispute resolution, it is essential to know the strength and tactics of the other side as well as your own clients tolerance and determination – which leads me onto tax planning and tax advice.

Our podcast professional this week is Andrew McKenna a former tax inspector and joint head of the international department of HMRC and member of Caroline’s Club. On a number of occasions, we have discussed the current attitude of the tax inspectors he once worked with. From his experience he says that the mind set and attitude of an inspector is very different from that of an advisor and this needs to be factored into the advice.

A UK born individual who has lived 30 years abroad, may decide that he has adopted a domicile of choice in his new country and therefore not liable to inheritance tax on his world-wide assets – but if he retains a home in the UK and has family connections in the UK, HMRC may decide otherwise and will adopt a zero tolerance view of the situation.

If you would like to promote your services and skills to our network of private client professionals and join our Culture of Care click here to find out more and if you would like to join Caroline’s Club simply register here where you can see what we are up to and if you would like to join simply upgrade your membership.