BL Magazine, Issue 76, February/March 2022 by BL Magazine

GLOBAL BUSINESS: A VIEW FROM THE CHANNEL ISLANDS

BUSINESSLIFE

the wealth edition FEBRUARY/ MARCH 2022

• 2022 trends • Pandora Papers • Are dynasties dead? • Financial education • Investing in collectibles • Data security

BUSINESSLIFE

ISSUE 76 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

The rights way forward

Human rights is the new purpose in investing

Welcome

The wealth sector’s perfect storm RECENT TURBULENCE IN the financial markets – not least in the crypto and technology spaces – has not only made a dent in the finances of the world’s biggest wealth holders (see our article on page 66), but also cast further light on the increasing complexities and shifts taking place across the wealth sector as a whole. In addition to the volatility currently on show across certain investments and markets, the sector is also in the midst of a now-well-documented ‘great wealth transfer’. Furthermore, it faces a challenging global economic environment as the world resets following Covid-19, and is under increasing pressure to meet investors’ ethical requirements. It is wealth managers’ and advisers’ perfect storm. In this issue we explore a number of the challenges and pivotal shifts facing those who advise on, manage and invest wealth. Our article starting on page 20, for example, offers an overview of the expected key trends and challenges in the sector in the coming year. It sets out how, as we hopefully emerge from the pandemic, Covid-19 is no longer considered to be the biggest investment risk – and has been replaced by worries around inflation, which is expected to be particularly choppy in the first half of 2022. The article also explores other issues likely to impact the sector this year – from whether we will see a continuation of the huge tech disruption we have seen in recent years, to pressing net-zero carbon ambitions, greater family office scrutiny and a tightening jobs market.

In asking whether human rights is the ‘next big purpose’, our article starting on page 30 sets out what wealth managers can do to deliver on their investors’ commitment in this space – and shares examples of some movements working to change attitudes to human rights.

OPENING PANDORA’S BOX On the subject of ethics, this issue we also explore the fall-out of the Pandora Papers leak by the International Consortium of Investigate Financial Journalists in October 2021 – which sought to identify beneficiaries that used the trust structure to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion. The incident drew considerable attention to the use of trusts. However, as our article (page 26) sets out, trusts are fighting back and repairing the damage to their reputations – not least in the Channel Islands, which have spent decades building a reputation as a safe, secure and legitimate offshore location. The islands’ early adoption of legislation to counter money-laundering, such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and Corporate Reporting Standards – to regulate their trust sectors and exchange information with tax authorities in other jurisdictions – has put them in good stead. But the reputation of the islands is further protected because those working there are “acutely aware of preserving the reputation of their employer, the industry and the island in which they work”, one expert tells us.

INVESTING WITH PURPOSE

HANDBAGS AND GLAD RAGS

Another big trend facing the wealth sector – and businesses overall – is that of purpose. The rise of ESG has put environmental issues at the forefront of investors’ minds, with many now seeking more than just returns, focusing also on the wider impact of their actions. But ESG is not just about the environmental and governance issues that form the ‘E’ and the ‘G’ – it is also about social responsibility. And, while issues such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have grabbed headlines in recent years, there is now also evidence that investors are taking into account the human rights records of the regions and businesses they are invested in.

Of course, wealth isn’t just about how you make, manage and preserve your money – it’s also about how you spend it. Therefore, this issue we also explore how wealth holders can start a collection (page 44). Whether it’s cars from your childhood, designer handbags or art from the masters, there are plenty of tips on how to achieve a collection that provides an investment return – and is something to distract you from the perfect storm of challenges facing your wealth right now. n

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Investors are taking into account the human rights records of the regions and businesses they are invested in

Jon Watkins is Editor-in-Chief of Businesslife

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Contents

INSIDE

BUSINESSLIFE

Businesslife is published quarterly by Chameleon Group, with special editions covering the City, Middle East and Asia +44 1534 615886 www.blglobal.co.uk

CEO, CHAMELEON GROUP Carl Methven carl.methven@blglobal.co.uk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jon Watkins ART DIRECTOR Angela Lyons

30 6 News Recent developments in Jersey and Guernsey

10 Appointments Who’s moving where in the Channel Islands

14 interview RBC Wealth Management COO David Bailey and Head of Banking and Specialised Solutions

SUB EDITOR Kate Wheal

Ann Marie Vibert on the findings of the firm’s first gender pay report and their vision for the sector

20 wealth outlook We explore the trends likely to have an impact on the wealth sector during 2022

26 pandora papers The Pandora Papers cast a shadow over offshore trusts – but wealth managers still see them as a safe bet

30 human rights

ADVERTISING sales@blglobal.co.uk

Businesses are committing to ESG, equality and the wider good, but human rights is also becoming a key priority for investors

NEWS AND EDITORIAL news@blglobal.co.uk GENERAL ENQUIRIES enquiries@blglobal.co.uk

34 dynasties Fans of Succession know all about the dramas of wealthy families – but beyond the intrigue, do dynasties still make financial sense?

40 education A fast-changing wealth demographic means advisers must rethink how they communicate

44 collectibles Grab your iconic handbags and sneakers – there’s serious money to be made

50 data protection In a complex digital world, managing client data has become more important than ever

55 The knowledge Protecting your IP, Warren Buffett in profile, gambling by numbers, focus on Netflix… and much more

contributors The BL Global Discussion Forum

ALEXA ROBERTSON

Follow us @blglobalnews Office: 7 Castle Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3BT © Chameleon Group Limited, all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Views expressed by our contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Chameleon Group. While every effort is made to achieve total accuracy, Chameleon Group cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

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Alexa takes a look at how investors’ growing focus on social responsibility is evolving to include concerns around human rights in the regions where their money is invested.

DAVID BURROWS

David walks us through the trends likely to have a big impact on the wealth sector in 2022 – from inflation to a tightening jobs market, ESG and increasing family office scrutiny.

SOPHIE McCARTHY

Sophie gets to grips with the collectibles market, exploring what’s hot from an investment point of view and setting out some tips for starting your own collection.

ALEXANDER GARRETT

Meanwhile, Alex looks at the growing threats wealth businesses face when it comes to protecting the increasing amounts of data they hold on their clients.

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in the NEWS Northern Trust remains in top position, as it has for several years, for all three rankings of fund administration, custody and transfer agency. Across domiciled and non-domiciled funds, Northern Trust is the largest administrator by total net assets, with $108.0bn, followed by Aztec Group ($76bn) and Apex Group ($69.4bn). Among custodians, the serviced funds ranking remains the same as last year – Northern Trust with $43.7bn, then BNP Paribas Securities Services {$10.8bn) and Butterfield Bank ($10.1bn). Among transfer agents, Northern Trust takes top spot with $99.5bn, with Apex Group second ($69.4bn) and Aztec Group third ($65.1bn). The top two auditors were unchanged this year, with PwC auditing 439 funds and subfunds, and KPMG 259. Third and fourth places swapped, with EY ahead of Deloitte. PwC also leads by assets ($174.1bn), followed by KPMG ($132.8bn) and Deloitte ($103.2bn). As for legal advisers, Carey Olsen remains the largest by number of funds advised (847), followed by Mourant with 165 funds and Ogier with 86.

TISE HITS LISTINGS RECORD The International Stock Exchange (TISE) listed 1,111 new securities during 2021, surpassing its previous record of of assets, of which $22.2bn were 865 in 2018. This was a 33.7% PE/VC products totalling 62 rise on 831 listed in 2020 and groups and sub-funds. takes the total number on TISE More than 90 serviced funds to 3,669 at the end of 2021. and sub-funds migrated to A key development was the the island, adding $10.2bn of Qualified Investor Bond Market assets, bringing the total of new (QIBM), a dedicated exchange business to $34.6bn in more for the listing of bonds marketed than 180 funds and sub-funds. solely to international qualified Among fund managers, Apax investors. A total of 2,397 Partners retains its top position new issuances listed on QIBM, with $53bn of funds, with comprising 1,071 entirely new Permira second with $43.5bn security classes, as well as 1,326 and Cinven with $29.9bn. further issues to existing listings.

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Done Deals Imperium Fund Services has assisted UK fund manager Leafy Tunnel with the launch of its regulated medicinal cannabis and psychedelics fund – the first fund of its kind in Guernsey. Leafy Tunnel is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in alternative medicine for mental health and pain disorders. Imperium, led by MD Barry McClay and Client Services Director Charlotte Parr, provided support for fund administration, application and compliance. Carey Olsen’s corporate team in Jersey has advised global payment solutions provider Checkout.com on its Series D funding round of $1bn, which now values the firm at $40bn. Primary investors in the latest funding round include Altimeter, Dragoneer, Franklin Templeton, GIC, Insight Partners, the Qatar Investment Authority, Tiger Global and the Oxford Endowment Fund. Working with lead UK counsel Allen & Overy and US counsel Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the Carey Olsen team advising on all Jersey law aspects of the fundraising comprised Corporate Partner James Willmott and Associate Steven Khan. Appleby has acted as Jersey counsel to LondonMetric Property in connection with the Jersey aspects of its acquisition of Savills UK income & Growth Fund. LondonMetric, a FTSE 250 listed REIT, completed the acquisition on 22 December. The fund owns 15 assets across 482,000 sq ft, mainly urban logistics and longincome assets in London and south-east England. The Appleby team consisted of Partner James Gaudin and Group Partner Iain Millar, assisted by Senior Associate Paul Worsnop. Walkers has advised investment and asset manager Eagle Street Partners on real estate acquisitions in the UK and Ireland. These include office buildings in Dublin and Glasgow, a business park site in Newcastle, a build-to-rent development at Castleforbes in Dublin, and offices in Uxbridge, west London. Lawyers from Walkers’ Jersey Investment Funds & Corporate and Banking & Finance Practice Groups (led by Partner Jonathan Heaney and Group Partner Jon Le Rossignol, respectively) advised on the acquisitions, particularly the Jersey law elements of financing, acquisition and corporate structuring. RBS International has helped pan-European investment firm Triton to secure its first ESG-linked financing, establishing a €1.455bn syndicated facility. Acting as lead arranger, facility agent and sustainability coordinator, RBS International committed €322.5m to the facility alongside four other lenders to support the Triton V fund. This latest investment will help Triton deliver its sustainability objectives and formalise its ESG programme. n

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GUERNSEY FUND REPORT The 27th annual Monterey Insight Guernsey Fund Report shows fund assets serviced in Guernsey increasing to $532.7bn at the end of June 2021, up 24.4% on 2020. The number of serviced schemes stood at 1,222 and the total number of sub-funds reached 1,443, an increase on last year (1,135 and 1,372 respectively in 2020). Private equity/venture capital funds remain the most popular product of serviced funds ($388.4bn), followed by alternative investment ($60.8bn). The same applies for Guernsey-domiciled funds. PE/ VC funds are most popular by AUM and account for $307.2bn, followed by alternative investment funds with $50.2bn. Of Guernsey-domiciled schemes, alternative investment funds saw the largest increase of assets of 54%, followed by PE/ VC funds with a 31% increase. More than 90 groups and sub-funds serviced in Guernsey were launched in the year. New business accounted for $24.4bn

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JERSEY

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Jersey for

Private Wealth We often hear that international finance centres, like Jersey, do not do enough to explain what it is they do, which is why over the last few years, Jersey Finance has made a commitment to investing in research to add clarity to Jersey’s proposition and the positive impact it makes in both local and global economies. For BL Global Wealth Edition magazine readers, we would like to highlight two particular reports from our library of evidence-based research and independent insights:

Virtuous Circles: Sustainable Family Governance Models in an Evolving Environment

Family Offices and Investment: The Generation Shift

Produced in partnership with WealthBriefing, this research report is essential reading for families and advisors who are seeking to know what current sentiment is in this space and what industry luminaries see emerging as best practices. It unites the findings of a global survey of practitioners and the views of a panel of experts drawn from leading firms, but perhaps most interestingly of all, the paper features a wealth of real-world examples illustrating what forward-thinking families are doing right now to create lasting legacies. Find the full report at jerseyfinance.je/research

In this timely report, advisors who work with ‘NextGen’ wealth owners will find clear insights into how the pandemic has affected the investment priorities of family offices and the leading role of ‘NextGen’ in the investment process. Produced by Family Capital in partnership with Jersey Finance, the report combines survey data from 50 family offices in Europe, the US and Asia who have portfolios ranging between US$200 million to US$1 billion, and references insights from one of the largest data sources on global family offices and their investment decisions. Find the full report at jerseyfinance.je/research

www.jerseyfinance.je

+44 (0)1534 836 000

robert.moore@jerseyfinance.je

£1.14tr

60+ years

Choice

1,200+

of capital administered by trusts and asset holding vehicles

of experience and expertise in private wealth management

of structures and flexible regimes

members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

Source: STEP Jersey Branch, September 2021

Annual average: 2017 - 2020 (Cebr, 2021)

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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Fund management group Carne is to acquire the Asset Management Exchange (AMX) from broker Willis Towers Watson – which as part of the transaction will take a minority stake in Carne. The deal, which is expected to close in Q2, will enable Carne to use AMX’s new investment ecosystem connecting investors, asset managers and service partners. Suntera Global has acquired fiduciary services provider Nedgroup Trust, extending Suntera’s reach into Guernsey. Nedgroup Trust, owned by Nedbank Private Wealth, provides fiduciary services to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices and owner-managed businesses. It has a team of 70 in the Channel Islands (50 in Guernsey) and has an international client base, especially in South Africa. The business will rebrand to Suntera and completion is expected in early Q2. Jersey firm Highvern has acquired Guernsey and Switzerlandbased Noble Trust Company. The deal, subject to approvals, will expand Highvern’s offering across the Channel Islands. The addition of a Swiss office will also complement Highvern’s family office services in this newly regulated jurisdiction. Noble will rebrand to Highvern in due course, but there will be no job losses. TMF Group has completed its acquisition of Brazilian fund administration platform Paraty Capital. TMF will now administer more than €160bn of assets on behalf of its fund manager clients in Brazil, the US, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Luxembourg, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, China and Australia. As well as offering coverage across South America, TMF can now provide administration services to regulated Brazilian funds. Zedra has acquired UK pension trustee and governance services provider PTL. Founded in 1994, PTL acts for defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes, group life trusts and healthcare trusts. The deal adds professional trustee services to Zedra’s pension offering in the UK. It is anticipated PTL will be rebranded to Zedra, with PTL MD Richard Butcher and the firm’s Directors remaining in post to run the business. JTC has acquired New York-based Essential Fund Services (EFS), which works in the alternative assets space, offering accounting, reporting and administrative services to investment partnerships and managers. EFS, co-founded in 2009 by Gerard M Federici, has $5.5bn of assets under administration. Federici will continue to lead the business and all EFS staff will join JTC’s ICS division. n

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Some 142 securitisation bonds newly listed in 2021, more than double that in 2020. TISE also boosted its position as a European venue for listing high-yield bonds, with 151 listing on TISE, taking the total to 386 at the end of December. In addition, there are bonds listed on QIBM from well over 100 bond programmes, with a 110% rise in the number of securities listed via final terms in 2021 compared with 2020. Within its equity market, TISE has built on its position as the second largest market for listed UK real estate investment trusts (REITs), with 15 new UK REITs listed in 2021. There are now 43 UK REITs listed on TISE – more than 40% of the listed UK REIT market. Overall, the UK remained the largest single source of new business for TISE, followed by the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. TISE’s membership base saw its biggest growth in years, with seven new Listing Agents. And TISE Sustainable launched, with more than £8bn of new listings backing ESG initiatives. INVEST EUROPE ESG LAUNCH Invest Europe is to develop a standard for how private equity and venture capital firms report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, meeting rising demand for openness over this issue. In November 2021, Invest Europe published its Climate Ambition, supporting the 2050 goals set out in the Paris Climate Accords. One of the workstreams is building tools for members and the industry and to develop standards that help the move towards net zero. The European Data Cooperative (EDC) – a database established in partnership with national

private equity associations by Invest Europe – will begin collecting ESG data from European private equity firms on key performance indicators. These include actions related to climate change, female representation in private equity-backed companies, and bribery and corruption policies. JPF PASSES 500 MARK The total number of registered Jersey Private Funds (JPFs) has passed 500, according to figures published by Jersey Finance. There were 502 JPFs at the end of September 2021, up 38% on the previous year. Launched in 2017, JPFs are aimed at sophisticated investors, offering flexibility, fast-track authorisation and lighter touch ongoing regulatory requirements. The structure suits the private placement route for marketing funds into Europe as well as within the ESG space. Jersey Finance CEO Joe Moynihan (pictured) said: “These figures show the enduring strength of the JPF, particularly when it comes to private capital co-investment and cross-border institutional alternative fund structuring. By being cost-effective, flexible and swift to market, the structure has become a go-to vehicle that has played a part in the sizeable growth we’ve seen in our funds sector as a whole.” n

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Will she always be this happy? Live a good life on a healthy planet? Can sustainable investing protect her future?

For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone. Together we can find the answer.

Michael Clarke, Head of Private Clients 01534 701148 michael.clarke@ubs.com www.ubs.com/jersey

The value of investments may fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount originally invested. UBS AG, Jersey Branch is authorised and regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission for the conduct of banking, funds and investment business. © UBS 2022. All rights reserved.

News

Appointments Guernsey-based captive insurance specialist Cutts-Watson Consulting (CWC) has appointed Dominic Wheatley (pictured) as Managing Director and Graham Powell as Head of Consulting. Dominic, who served as Chief Executive of We Are Guernsey between 2014 and 2020, has worked with CWC in a consultancy capacity since July 2020. He currently also serves as a NonExecutive Director for Grange Insurance and Infinity Risk PCC, and Executive Director for Falcon Insurance PCC. Graham too has acted as a consultant for CWC, joining in October 2016 following a 35-year career with Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey).

Financial services group Accuro has named Helen Hendy as Client Services Director, based in Jersey. Helen brings to the firm a career in the Jersey private client sector spanning more than 30 years. She specialises in structuring for ultra-highnet-worth UK-resident and non-UKdomiciled families, PTCs, family governance and family investment companies. Helen joins Accuro following 11 years with Ocorian (formerly Bedell Trust), where she has served as an Executive Director for the past four years. Prior to this, she spent three years with Sanne after more than 18 with AIBWorthyTrust.

TMF Group has named Tim Houghton (pictured) as Market Head for the Channel Islands and James Dolton as Managing Director for the Guernsey business. Tim joined TMF in March 2019 as part of its Private Clients team and became Global Head of Private Wealth and Family Office in December 2019. Prior to this, he spent 20 years with RBC Wealth Management. James joined the business in July 2019 as a Client Director, having spent six years with Aberdeen Standard Investments. Earlier in his career, James worked for Citigroup in Edinburgh, as well as HSBC, Rothschild and EY in Guernsey.

Apex Group has appointed Michelle Le Herissier to the position of Head of Private Clients and Family Office, Jersey. Michelle brings to the firm more than 25 years of experience across Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the US. She joins Apex from JTC Group, where she most recently served as Managing Director based in South Dakota, US. Michelle previously spent four years with Barclays as Managing Director of the Singapore and Hong Kong trust division and four years with Cititrust in a similar role. Prior to this, she worked with private clients in Switzerland for Citi and Credit Suisse.

Advocate Giles Emmanuel (pictured) has been promoted to Partner within Jersey law firm Viberts’ litigation team. Giles joined the firm in 2019 as an Associate and was promoted to Senior Associate in 2021. He has more than 20 years’ experience covering dispute resolution, civil litigation, bankruptcy and trusts law, and has previously worked for Benest & Syvret, Ogier and RBS International. In addition, Viberts has made several other promotions to Senior Associate – Karla SummersShaw, Corinne Holmes, Eleanor Colley and Oliver Hughes.

Ocorian has made three appointments to its Private Clients team in Jersey. Ian Rumens (pictured) joins as Head of Private Clients for Jersey from Intertrust, where he has been Head of Private Wealth – Jersey, for the past six years. Ian has extensive experience working with ultra-high-net-worth families across Asia, the UK, Europe and the Middle East. His earlier career included periods with Elian Global, Ogier and Appleby. In addition, Karl Bekusch joins Ocorian from Apex Group as Executive Director, while Karen O’Hanlon, former Senior Director, Private Wealth Services at JTC, joins as a Director.

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News

Collas Crill has appointed Of Counsel Danielle Brouard to lead and develop the law firm’s employment law practice in Guernsey. Acting for employers and employees, Danielle advises on all aspects of employment law, with a particular interest in discrimination issues. She also advises on data protection law matters relating to the workplace. Prior to joining Collas Crill, Danielle spent 14 years in London with Baker McKenzie, advising clients on UK employment law issues across financial services, technology and retail. She also spent six months on secondment with British Airways’ in-house legal team.

PraxisIFM has unveiled a number of senior promotions across the Channel Islands. In Jersey, Sarah Denoual (pictured) and Ruth O’Hara have been named Associate Director in the Private Wealth and Corporate team. Sarah joined PraxisIFM as a trainee in 2013 and now oversees a portfolio of private clients, companies and other fiduciary structures. Ruth joined the firm in 2019 and oversees a private client team. Meanwhile in Guernsey, Jason Le Page has been promoted to Associate Director, Business Systems, while Sandra Francis has been named Associate Director for Tax. Both joined PraxisIFM in 2017.

Ian Horswell has been named Global Head of Business Development at Suntera Global in Jersey. Having worked in the sector for more than 20 years, Ian joins the business from JTC, where he has served as a Director in the Funds and Corporate division for the past three and a half years, responsible for European business development initiatives. Prior to that, he worked in a consultancy role for Maitland to help build the firm’s presence across the Channel Islands. Ian’s earlier career included a number of senior roles with HSBC and RBSI, and he served as Head of Business Development at R&H Fund Services for almost 11 years.

Credit Suisse in Guernsey has made five promotions in its banking business. Rachel Bailey (pictured) has been promoted to Vice President, having served as Head of Client Services for the past three years. Nick Kearns and Laura Quertier in the Global External Asset Manager (EAM) department have been promoted to Director and Assistant Vice President, respectively. Alex Babbé, who co-leads the Investment Management business in Guernsey, has also been promoted to Director. And Martyn Renouf in Global Trading Solutions has been promoted to Vice President. He has been with the firm for 26 years.

Credit Suisse has appointed Edward Daughtrey as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for its Guernsey Branch and Country COO. Edward will also join the Guernsey Branch Management Committee, chair the Branch Operating Committee and join the Credit Suisse UK Operating Committee. Edward, who transferred from the Singapore office at the end of last year, was most recently Global Trading Solutions COO. He has more than 16 years’ experience in financial services, joining Credit Suisse in 2007 after working for Barclays Wealth Management and German commercial bank WestLB.

Following the merger of Vega Solutions and Fusion Acusoft in November last year, the board has appointed David Collings (pictured) to the position of Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of the new group. David founded Vega Solutions along with Neil Barrett in 1994 and has served as its Managing and Technical Director since then. Fusion Acusoft Managing Director Alan Rowe has stepped down. In addition, Sarah Rolph, who joined Fusion Acusoft as a Client Services Representative in April 2021, will now lead sales and operations in Guernsey.

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Interview

RBC Wealth Management in the Channel Islands recently released its first gender pay report. David Bailey, Chief Operating Officer, and Ann Marie Vibert, Head of Banking and Specialised Solutions, share the key findings of the report – while also setting out their vision for the business and the Channel Islands wealth management sector in general

Tell us about your backgrounds – where did you study and what brought you into the financial sector? Ann Marie Vibert: I was born here in Jersey and I entered the finance industry straight after college, working for Standard Chartered Bank in the islands for 30 years. During that time, I travelled a lot to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. And then the opportunity came to join RBC. At the time, it was a difficult decision to leave a tried and tested organisation where I’d been able to network and prove myself, and to move on to uncharted territory. But it was absolutely the best move I ever made. I started off by heading the private client wealth business in the Channel Islands and then moved on to become MD for the Channel Islands entity, as well as leading the banking and custody businesses. David Bailey: My journey was similar to Ann Marie’s. I too was born and educated in Jersey. I left school at 18 with no real

14 february/march 2022

idea of what I wanted to do, and started working at Barclays two weeks later, where emptying the money from the coffee machines on a Friday was literally part of my job. I really enjoyed working in a bank, though, and had found an environment that stimulated my natural curiosity. I graduated into a finance/accountingtype function, qualified as an accountant, spent eight years at Barclays and then went and had a two-year dalliance in the technology sector, right at the back end of the dotcom bubble, which of course turned into the dotcom bust. That was really good fun, and a huge learning experience. But after that I was looking for a bit more structure. I applied for a maternity cover job at RBC and 21 years later I’m still here. I spent 16 years in the finance function – I was Chief Financial Officer of this business – before taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer. So my role today is largely about strategy implementation across the British Isles.

Tell us a little about the RBC Wealth Management proposition and how you’re positioned in the market. DB: We are part of a global brand and we have a global network – and, essentially, we are a private client business. We work closely with high- and ultrahigh-net-worth individuals and families to help solve their critical needs. Our primary client base is made up of business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate executives. The common theme with that client base is that they are generally time-poor. So, our role is to use our expertise to remove time-consuming problems, allowing them to focus their time and energy on the things that directly matter to them. That might be taking some of the risk off the table and protecting their wealth – for them or future generations – or it might be enabling them to use some of their wealth for philanthropic purposes. We do a lot around intergenerational wealth transfer,

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Words: Jon Watkins Images: John Liot

Interview

The

interview David Bailey and Ann Marie Vibert

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february/march 2022 15

Interview too. Our product offering is fairly broad. We have a relatively traditional European private banking model, where we can offer everything ranging from bank accounts to credit cards and debit cards, right the way through to complex trust structuring for multigeneration asset transfer. And we provide investment management and custody through all of that. We’ve been in the Channel Islands for more than 60 years. We’re an organisation with 150 years’ worth of heritage, and our business is essentially an annuity business – so our average client tenure ranges, depending on the solution mix, from 11 to 17 years. We tend to deal with clients over the long term and we think of ourselves as a long-term investment business. We’re looking to maintain the scale we have in the Channel Islands, but also looking to accelerate growth. Wealth management is an increasingly crowded space. What differentiates you from the competition? AMV: The longevity that David just mentioned is one of our key differentiators. We’ve been around for a very long time. We have looked after our clients from one generation to the next, so we have that reputation. We’re seen as a conservative wealth manager in terms of protecting people’s assets but, actually, when they get to know us, we are also able to offer really fantastic solutions. So we have a very loyal customer base and a lot of our referrals come from existing clients. What’s the strategy for achieving the growth you mentioned? DB: We have a highly structured organic strategy, which is built around making sure we stay constantly relevant to our clients. That’s focused on understanding their

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strategy is to combine that human touch with technology to deliver the best possible solutions to clients.

We’re an organisation with 150 years of heritage. our business is essentially an annuity business – our average client tenure is 11 to 17 years

changing needs – whether from a service offering point of view, ESG, how our clients are thinking about their responsibility to use their wealth and how they want to invest it, or what their purpose is and how we can help enable that. But it’s also about looking at the technology – how we deliver our services as efficiently as possible. We’ve looked at lots of studies, and clients want technology solutions to help them run their day-to-day transactions but, when it comes to making important financial decisions that impact them and their families, they want to talk to someone who can validate their concerns. So our

You mentioned emerging wealth trends such as ESG. What other trends are you keeping a close eye on at the moment? DB: There are a few things that have had quite a fair bit of coverage in recent times, from ESG to the great wealth transfer, digitalisation and the rise of purpose. Wealth transfer is incredibly important in terms of who is going to be making investment and wealth management decisions in the future. Our average client demographic hasn’t really moved for a long time – generally speaking, it’s been 63-year-old men until now. But what we are seeing is that the gender mix is shifting. How that changing demographic interacts with financial services is going to change, and that will certainly mean technology will become a much more significant player. On the concept of purpose, the balance between purpose and return has shifted permanently. People are much more thoughtful about the types of investments they make. How they want to use the success that they’ve generated within the wider context of the world is more important than it’s ever been. AMV: It’s interesting how some of these trends join up, too. We have a theme around sustainable technology investment – how you can invest in technology that is driving sustainability in the world. That draws together the technology and the sustainability angles and, over time, that will just become a natural table stakes piece, where people put much more thought and effort into the technology they deliver and how that delivers sustainable outcomes for the planet. After all, climate change is probably the single most important factor for our generation.

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Interview You recently published your first report on gender pay at RBC Wealth Management in the Channel Islands. What led you to do that analysis now? AMV: We’re absolutely cognisant of the fact that a diverse workforce is what we will need in order to succeed. With the next generation of business owners and clients including more women, it’s important to have the right mix of people in the organisation to be able to represent our clients and our communities. So it felt like the right time for us. But also, we have a responsibility, as one of the largest employers in the Channel Islands, to hold ourselves accountable and track our progress.

AMV: On David’s pipeline point, the fact that we have a diverse mix of candidates suggests that at the recruitment stage, we’re doing all the right things to attract talent – and that’s important. Because we firmly believe in recruiting the best person for a role – and we don’t

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FACT FILE operate any quotas – attracting the right mix of candidates is essential to ensure more women reach more senior positions. So that’s encouraging for us. Who takes responsibility in the organisation for ensuring you progress and are able to close that pay gap? AMV: David and I co-chair the diversity and inclusion leadership team and I also represent the Channel Islands on the UK diversity and leadership team. Obviously, there’s some representation from HR as well, to make sure that we follow through in terms of the recruitment process. Our policies are very family-friendly but we’re continually reviewing them. So, we do have forums in place and we are continually reviewing the data, but we also have good support from our recruitment teams and HR teams to make sure that we hold ourselves accountable. DB: Building on that point, diversity and inclusion (D&I) is one of our core strategic objectives and one of our key values. Our operating committee essentially approves and ratifies all policies. We go through a quarterly report on our people, which includes the diversity and inclusion aspect. We’re all responsible for making sure that if we have a policy in place that says you need to have deep recruitment pools

Name: Ann Marie Vibert Role: Head of Banking and Specialised Solutions, RBC Wealth Management Born: Jersey Studied: Jersey Family: Married with two grown-up sons Hobbies: Pilates, walking, sea swimming all year round

with gender bias tested, then we’re all accountable for that as business leaders. We don’t want it to be a ‘side of desk’ checklist after the event. We want it to be intrinsically built in to everything we do. Will the report be a regular publication and analysis of your progress – and, if so, how important will it be for helping you attract the best talent in an increasingly challenging recruitment market? DB: Yes. We’re going to put it into the same cycle we have with the UK, which is published in March every year. AMV: Going back to the point around talent, reporting this kind of information can play a major role in helping us retain and attract senior talent – because we

february/march 2022 17

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What were the main findings from that pay report? DB: The key thing the report showed us is that, in Jersey, we have a 17% gender pay gap and, in Guernsey, a 22% gender pay gap. It’s important to note that this does not mean there is a difference in the way we pay men and women for doing the same job. What the gap really reflects is that we currently have more men in senior positions, reflecting in large part the hierarchies our societies have historically been built round. If you look at the senior positions across business and politics – in most areas – there is a challenge to get more women into the senior positions. So the key for us is dealing with those structural barriers that exist and not pretending that they don’t. That means making sure that we have equitable promotion panels; effective representation in the decision-making processes; that when we’re thinking about recruitment, we have recruitment ads that are using the right language and not language that is attracting certain people in a subconscious way. It’s about having gender-neutral recruitment panels – and driving all of those things consistently – to achieve different outcomes. We recognise that we’re not going to shift the dial instantly, but we’ve had those things in place for a couple of years now, and we can start moving to the outcomes that we need. It’s unlikely that you will ever be able to completely eliminate a gender pay gap. However, you must be able to stand in front of people and be comfortable that you don’t have any structural barriers preventing progress.

Interview

Diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do, everybody’s on board with that. The biggest challenge is how you do it

know that everybody’s competing for that talent. So, together with our familyfriendly policies and the flexibility we offer, publicly demonstrating our commitment to an inclusive workforce is key to attracting senior talent – and particularly senior female talent. You have also just signed up to the Jersey Institute of Directors (IoD) Diversity and Inclusion Charter. Why is that important to you? DB: We talk to the team at the IoD on a regular basis and have long been a major supporter of the concept of a charter, and the role it can play in helping us stay accountable. Societally we’re over that rubicon of whether D&I is the right thing to do within organisations. Everybody’s on board with that. Now, the biggest challenge is how you do it. There is no tried and tested mechanism that says, ‘if you do all of these things you get to the right outcome’. We’re all learning. So things like the charter give us a really good idea of what we need to help us along this journey – based on the best practice that we or the IoD have seen so far. We’ve also done some work with the Jersey Employer Group to create a diversity and inclusion toolkit of practical guidance and checklists – which firms can lift and white-label for their own use. We think that’s really important – helping to establish a baseline in the Channel Islands of what D&I really is and

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how we can then raise that baseline to benefit everybody. Tools such as the IoD charter and the Jersey Employer Group toolkit can really help with that. Outside of D&I, what else are you focused on at the moment and what do you expect RBC Wealth Management in the Channel Islands to be specifically focused on over the coming years? AMV: We are definitely focused on automation and simplifying processes for our clients – to improve customer experience. That’s been a focus within the teams I lead in the Channel Islands for the past couple of years, and it will continue to be a focus. It’s about providing the best client experience possible – and also attracting new clients through that ease of service. We’ve talked a lot about the trends facing wealth management firms and the need for them to adapt. How well equipped are the Channel Islands to meet those challenges – given their own longevity in the sector and their experience of meeting complex requirements? DB: The strength and depth in financial services in the Channels Islands are really key – from the private sector piece right through to how the governance infrastructure works, including the commitment of the government to be innovative and flexible. And at the heart of the Channel Islands’ strength is this core

FACT FILE Name: David Bailey Role: Chief Operating Officer, RBC Wealth Management Born: Jersey Studied: Jersey Family: Married Hobbies: Endurance sports, reading

focus on good governance – making sure that we are internationally compliant with best practice. Activities currently being carried out by the government are helping diversify the risk away from financial services, through investment in technology and innovation – and I think those activities, together with our existing sectors, create a very positive outlook. A lot has been learnt through the experience of financial services growth at the cost of tourism in the past, and I think the government is doing a really good job ensuring different parts of the economy are now also thriving. The future’s bright. If you look at the changes in the wider world, business is coming towards jurisdictions like Jersey and away from some of the less wellgoverned jurisdictions. That’s a great foundation to continue to build on. n

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Our Trusts and Private Wealth practice Carey Olsen has one of the largest offshore trusts and private wealth legal practices covering Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. Our offices in Hong Kong and Singapore also ensure we are able to advise clients on both contentious and non-contentious trusts and private wealth matters in the Asian time zone.

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Wealth trends

The wealth outlook

From interest rates and market volatility, to the cost of borrowing and the best-value equities, a tightening employment market, ESG and family office scrutiny… we explore the trends likely to have an impact on the wealth sector in 2022 Words: David Burrows

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EXPLORING TRENDS AND expectations for the 12

months ahead is a useful exercise at the beginning of any year. But after a period of huge disruption – first from Brexit and then by the pandemic – and at a time when talk of a global recession and rising interest rates continues unabated, it’s particularly useful to look ahead to what 2022 might hold. Uncertain times mean plenty of questions to be answered in terms of how the economic and financial picture will look. But there are some clear views on some of the big issues likely to impact the Channel Islands in particular. Matt Wintour, Head of Adviser Solutions at Brooks Macdonald International, believes the economic picture has already shifted – and that it will continue to do so in the coming year. “Covid-19 is no longer considered to be the biggest investment risk, having been unseated by inflation as the pivotal question for markets,” he says. “Inflation data will continue to be choppy over the first half of 2022 in particular – but, by the end of

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Wealth trends

MORE TECH DISRUPTION? One big theme in 2021 was technological disruption, but is this set to continue in 2022? Angela Morris, Director at Suntera Global, certainly thinks so. “Like last year, 2022 looks set to be another big year for digital innovation in both a positive and a negative sense,” she says. “The downside will be in terms of cyber security, as online and cyber fraud become increasingly widespread. IFCs with a robust infrastructure to tackle this will be well placed, and Jersey could win business in this area with its sophisticated approach.” She says fintech innovation will continue to march on, and the investment and joined-up thinking Jersey has put into fintech development, combined with the support for the sector from government and regulators, will put the jurisdiction in a strong position to nurture truly pioneering solutions.

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by the end of the year, we expect that price pressures will ease as economies more effectively respond to supply chain bottlenecks From an investor perspective, Caroline Simmons, UK Chief Investment Officer at UBS, focuses on three major technologies enabling disruption in the decade ahead: AI, big data and cyber security. “Investors should diversify portfolios beyond mega-cap technology stocks and include mid-caps, as well as considering private equity allocations to tap into otherwise hard-to-access growth opportunities,” she says. James Cooke, Director of Investment and Head of Global Equity at Ashburton Investments, agrees that disruptive tech has great momentum. But, like Simmons, he questions whether the mega stocks are the place to be now. “Companies make huge savings by shifting away from on-premise services, and as staff across businesses have learned to operate remotely, the benefits of this model are very apparent. “Cloud services providers such as Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft have seen continued huge growth – more than half Amazon’s profit is from its web services. The real question is whether this growth has been factored into the share prices of these companies already.”

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the year, we expect that price pressures will ease as economies more effectively respond to supply chain bottlenecks. Our central case remains that a large proportion of the current inflation spike will prove to be transitory.” Wintour believes that global economic growth will slow – but will not morph into stagnation. “While near-term economic growth expectations have been lowered in recent months, we believe we are still above more typical recent historical trend rates of growth. Growth is softer relative to heady predictions last year, but we are still some way from realising a stagnation reality.” He suggests that if 2021 was a year of transition, 2022 may be the year in which governments and central banks attempt to tighten policy to control debt levels and ease inflation concerns. “With shifts in policy and heightened risks, it’s important for international investors to be alive to the areas to watch out for, how they can position themselves for the upcoming challenges, and where the opportunities might be,” he adds.

Wealth trends

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Wealth trends

On the subject of stock pricing, how do equity valuations look for investors generally? Cooke explains that the biggest driver of the equity market in recent years has been incredibly easy money supply. Interest rates have been at millennial-low levels. And the four main central banks have printed more than five times as much new money in response to the pandemic as they did in the year after the financial crisis. “This has pushed up valuations across the board. Low discount rates associated with low interest rates mean that conventional valuation tools ascribe more value to growth in the future,” he explains. “This means companies with strong future growth prospects have seen their valuations extend further than more mundane sectors. “Additionally, the lack of things to spend money on during the pandemic – eating out, holidays, going to the shops – and people having time on their hands have led to record retail participation in the stock market, with ‘on trend’ flows made into the shares of thematic companies irrespective of company fundamentals.” Cooke believes this speculation has made some areas of the market frighteningly expensive. But with central banks beginning to raise rates and curtail asset purchases, these overvaluations are likely to decline. Simmons at UBS believes economic growth will remain strong in the first half of 2022, to the benefit of eurozone and Japanese equities, US mid-caps, global financials, commodities and energy equities.

in output and continued demand means high prices for oil and gas,” he says. “There is, meanwhile, huge and mounting pressure on oil majors to decarbonise and invest in non-carbonintensive projects. From a financial perspective, these projects tend not to have nearly as positive return profiles,” he says. “We actually have much larger portions of funds and portfolios invested in companies set to benefit from the shift to non-hydrocarbon-based energy,” he adds. He points to power management solutions provider Eaton as being key to energy transition, making much of the components required to electrify the US, and distributor Rexel, as another beneficiary of this electrification. While transitioning might not be happening at the pace everyone would like, Wintour argues that COP26

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there is huge and mounting pressure on oil majors to decarbonise and invest in noncarbon-intensive projects

NET-ZERO CARBON AMBITIONS The road to net-zero carbon will be one of the most consequential investment trends of the coming decade, according to Simmons. “We see opportunity across green-tech, clean air and carbon reduction solutions, and traditional commodities, as well as in carbon trading strategies and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) leaders,” she says. Cooke insists real change is coming – but that transitioning from hydrocarbons is tricky. “Reduction

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february/ march 2022 23

Wealth trends

businesses globally are going to be held to account by their clients on reaching carbon net zero – a key commitment of expo 2020

reminded investors of the opportunity to invest in companies helping to support a sustainable economic future – and he expects there to be a continued rollout and implementation of ESG-related rules and regulations in 2022. Kat Neal, Head of Employment Incentives at Ogier Private Wealth in Jersey, says the past few years have been marked by the redistribution of wealth to the next generation – be it within UHNW families or corporate solutions – and ownership is being passed on. With this younger, more entrepreneurial client base comes an increased focus on environmental action and supporting the move to net-zero carbon output, she explains.

Employment market post-Covid Ogier’s Kat Neil believes that the ‘great resignation’ trumpeted by many as a major fallout of the pandemic may well be slowing down – but it has inevitably changed the employment market, narrowed the field of talent and given more power to employees, particularly those at executive level. “Jurisdictions such as Dubai are already ahead – they have left Covid-19 behind and are focusing on a brighter future of growth and opportunity,” she says. “We are seeing businesses there, and in China, looking at how they can incentivise, attract and retain the biggest, brightest and best in a wide range of sectors. “Other jurisdictions are catching up with this now – and I cannot see this demand for incentivisation products slowing down in 2022.”

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“One of our key jurisdictions is the UAE and the delayed Expo 2020, currently being held in Dubai, has a strong sustainability and climate focus, centred around a state-of-the-art Sustainability Pavilion. “Expo was launched with a commitment to reaching carbon net zero – and we predict that in 2022 businesses globally are going to be held to account by their clients on this.”

FAMILY OFFICES UNDER SCRUTINY Looking at regulations in more general terms, Siobhan Riley, Partner at Carey Olsen in Jersey, says that while there is no legislation coming down the line that exclusively concerns the Channel Islands, there are broad, global issues that need to be addressed. One area she highlights is family offices. She points out: “Family offices are attracting scrutiny around the globe about the way they operate, where they are licensed or registered – how they can move quite quietly among the financial system without people noticing they are there.” Riley references the collapse of Archegos, a US family office founded by Bill Hwang, which led to huge losses – particularly for Credit Suisse. Following this high-profile case, there has been a greater focus on the balances and checks in place to monitor the activities of these family offices – some of which have almost institutional-like wealth. Riley says the status of some family offices is not always clear – in some instances, the investmentmanagement style is more like a private equity arm. She appreciates that it is challenging to be too prescriptive in terms of requirements, since family offices can be so different. “There needs to be continued dialogue and appropriate consultation,” she says. “In the Channel Islands generally, we will take a proportionate approach – it is important not to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. “We have a great understanding of family office services and the management of related risks. It is important not to disturb the quality and longstanding family office relationships that are in the Channel Islands already.” n

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Investing in 2022 Dr James Cooke, Director of Investments and Head of Global Equities at Ashburton Investments, sets out his thoughts on the year ahead use direct investment, as well as market exposure via passive or funded alternatives, including exchange traded funds (ETFs). They comprise medium-term and long-term positions, target diversification and risk protection, and are available in sterling, euro and US dollars.

SLEEP-AT-NIGHT INVESTMENTS

THE START OF a new year is a good time to review your current investments, to check that you’re on track to meet your goals. Inflation is widely acknowledged as a key concern during 2022, so protecting your wealth and finding good opportunities to generate higher returns without taking undue risk is key. In recent times, there has been a tremendous environment for risk assets, helped by a huge injection of global liquidity from central banks. Monetary policy will become less supportive in 2022. While inflation is particularly high at present, indications are that it will fall over the course of the year as we see supply chain bottlenecks unwind. Nonetheless, it will remain elevated, which means that those holding excess cash will find that they can buy less and less over time. Cash has throughout history been a poor store of value. Asset prices often move in advance of economic recoveries and, supported by the generous monetary policy, many markets are now trading at elevated levels. We could see some reduction in asset prices once central bank policies reverse. Our teams take a valuation-centric and risk-conscious approach in finding good opportunities without taking undue risk. There are several areas of the market well worth avoiding. With equities generally

trading on high multiples and many developed market bonds offering negative real yields, we have to look hard to find good opportunities for growth, and also to find alternative assets to traditional fixed income to provide our clients with the returns that they’ve come to expect.

SHIELDING WEALTH FROM INFLATION An investment portfolio could be the answer to achieving diversification and to generating higher yielding returns in 2022. At Ashburton Investments, we offer a range of high-quality investment portfolios that generate good risk-adjusted returns to private clients, advisers and financial institutions. Our portfolio solutions

we invest in what makes sense rather than a latest trend

One of the cornerstones of our strategy and philosophy is to give clients peace of mind when they invest with us. Our diversification strategy is driven by a top-down macro view of the world that influences the asset allocation, and we invest in what makes sense rather than a latest trend. While asset prices may be volatile at times, the underlying securities that portfolios are composed of tend to be much more steady growth compounders.

CHOOSE A HASSLE-FREE, PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SERVICE For those struggling for time and expertise, a hassle-free way to manage your investment is to allow our team to manage your portfolio on your behalf, using our experience to design an investment strategy within a risk-controlled framework. If you have a sum of money to invest and/or complex goals – such as saving for your child’s education – an investment professional can help balance your goals while creating financial wellness. Get in touch today to speak with a member of the Ashburton Investments team who have been trusted by clients and advisers for nearly 40 years. n

FURTHER INFORMATION

For more information on the range of investment portfolios and on the discretionary managed portfolio services from Ashburton Investments International visit: www.ashburtoninvestments.com/int/ services/portfolios For a consultation or assistance with reviewing your existing investment portfolio call: 01534 512000 or email: PortfolioManagement@ashburton.com

Ashburton Investments is a registered trading name of Ashburton (Jersey) Limited, a company incorporated in Jersey with its registered office at PO Box 239, IFC1, The Esplanade, St Helier, Jersey JE4 8SJ and is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Investment may not be suitable for everybody and potential investors should take their own independent advice. Not all products and services described in this document are available in all jurisdictions and some are available on a limited basis only due to local regulatory and legal requirements. The material contained herein is not intended for use by persons located in or resident in jurisdictions which restrict its distribution. Persons accessing this document are required to inform themselves about and observe any relevant restrictions. Find out more here: www.ashburtoninvestments.com/int

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february/ march 2022 25

Trusts

WHAT DO RINGO Starr, Luís Suarez, Tony Blair, Elton John, Claudia Schiffer and The Crown Estate have in common? Apart from holding extreme wealth, they all appeared in last October’s Pandora Papers; a collection of documents leaked by the International Consortium of Investigate Financial Journalists (ICIFJ) that, it said, revealed “the financial secrets of 35 current and former world leaders, more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories, and a global line-up of fugitives, con-artists and murderers”. The Pandora Papers followed similar leaks such as the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, which created widespread concern about the ability to hide ill-gotten gains in offshore locations round the world. Predominantly, the ICIFJ’s focus was on beneficiaries that used the trust structure to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion. Justifying the theft and publication of personal financial data, it states: “In an era of widening authoritarianism and inequality, the Pandora Papers investigation provides an unequalled perspective on how money and power operate in the 21st century – and how the rule of law has been bent and broken around the world by a system of financial secrecy enabled by the US and other wealthy nations.”

STORM IN A TEACUP? Despite that, and despite the millions of pieces of data raked through by journalists worldwide following the leak, Arabella Murphy, Founder Director of consultancy Propitious, says few documents actually revealed any wrongdoing. “Most of what came out in the Pandora Papers wasn’t very interesting at all. If you actually look at a breakdown of the leaked information, it covers loads of organisations and relatively small deals, which were, on the whole, entirely legitimate,” she says. Murphy argues that since the Panama Papers – which won a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, having highlighted the dearth of regulation in Panama that allowed it to become a haven of tax evasion and illegality – offshore jurisdictions have become the focus, much of it unfair.

26 february/march 2022

Nigel Green, Chief Executive of deVere Group, agrees that high-profile investigations have given trusts an unjustified bad name. He says: “The vast majority of the millions of people who use companies providing offshore financial products and services are not representative of those high-profile names that have been disclosed in the Pandora Papers. “In my four decades of working with cross-border investors, I can confirm that the number one reason that people keep money in an account offshore – which is simply an account in a jurisdiction different to the one in which the individual resides – is convenience.” However, as a result of the widespread publication of the ICIFJ’s investigation and the often incendiary terms used, Alan Binnington, Director, Fiduciary Management at RBC Wealth Management, says the Pandora Papers have served to undermine public confidence in saving and investing offshore, particularly through trust structures.

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Words: Gill Wadsworth

Most of what came out in the Pandora Papers wasn’t very interesting at all. it covers loads of organisations and relatively small deals that were entirely legitimate

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Trusts

Opening Pandora’s Box Last year’s Pandora Papers affair – which leaked information claiming that people were ‘hiding’ funds in offshore accounts – cast a shadow over the legitimacy of trusts. but Despite this hit to their reputation, trusts remain the ultimate ‘safe space’ for modern families

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february/march 2022 27

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Trusts

“While a small number of individuals may have been involved with illegitimate activities, reports failed to draw the distinction between activity that is perfectly legitimate and activity that is illegal,” Binnington says. “Trusts, which sound more mysterious than bank accounts to the average reader, were used to add colour to the stories. The reports encouraged the view that their principal use is to hide the origin of ill-gotten gains or to evade tax, rather than the perfectly legitimate use as vehicles to hold family wealth.”

CHANNEL ISLANDS RESPOND This provides a challenge for the Channel Islands, which has spent decades building a reputation as a safe, secure and legitimate offshore location. Last November, the Centre of Economics and Business Research reported that Jersey’s private wealth management sector – including trusts and asset holding vehicles – is a key contributor to the island’s financial industry, with £1.14tn in assets under management in 2020 and a noticeable rise in trust business attributable to clients in Asia and the Middle East. Joe Moynihan, Chief Executive Officer at Jersey Finance, defends the island’s standing as a centre for trusts, arguing it is a well-regulated international financial centre recognised by independent authorities, including the OECD, IMF, World Bank and MONEYVAL. “Jersey is committed to the global transparency agenda to fight financial crime and tackle corruption,” he says. “There is alignment among practitioners, regulators and politicians in Jersey, which recognises a commitment to the highest standards and transparency as a wellregulated international finance centre.” RBC’s Binnington echoes that position, adding that the Channel Islands “have for many years made it clear they have no wish

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to be used by those who seek to hide the proceeds of crime or to evade tax”. He points to the islands’ early adoption of legislation to counter money-laundering, such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and Corporate Reporting Standards – to regulate their trust sectors and exchange information with tax authorities in other jurisdictions. “In addition to the substantial penalties that can be imposed on institutions and individuals who become involved in illicit activity, those who work in the islands’ finance industries are acutely aware of preserving the reputation of their employer, the industry and the island in which they work,” he says. Guarding a hard-won reputation for financial legitimacy needs to extend beyond robust laws, however, amid major concerns over the security of individuals’ and organisations’ confidential data.

The trust, and the offshore trust in particular, is the perfect vehicle because you can’t hide your money and you have to abide by the rules

Binnington says: “Any theft of personal data will be of concern to clients, because few will want to see their private information printed in a newspaper or posted on a website. “It is therefore likely that they will choose to do business in jurisdictions with robust data protection legislation, and deal with institutions that take data protection seriously. “Those steps are important, whether one is dealing with a trust, a bank account or one’s medical records. The question is not the safety of the trust but the safety of private information.” It is important, de Vere’s Green says, to make the distinction between private and secret. The former is a prerequisite for all financial records but that does not preclude the need for transparency. “Financial privacy is needed to keep individuals and families safe,” he says. “That said, there is a difference between privacy and secrecy. Exchanging information between government authorities for relevant tax matters is legitimate. Sharing financial information with anyone else is not. Privacy can be crucial. Secrecy hardly ever is.”

SAFE AND SECURE Contrary to the overarching accusations that trusts are more secret than they are private, Murphy argues that they simply offer a secure, flexible way to protect money for future generations. “I will be contrarian and say the trust, and the offshore trust in particular, is the perfect vehicle because you can’t hide your money and you have to abide by the rules, assuming you are based in a sensible jurisdiction. “They are a brilliant vehicle for holding wealth in a way that can ensure it endures over many generations but also in a way that suits changing needs.” Murphy adds: “The next generation might feel differently about investing – particularly about sustainable investment – and a trust can be endlessly flexible to meet those changing needs.” Offshore trusts have long endured a bad rap, made all the worse by the publication of the Panama Papers five years ago and further exacerbated by the Pandora Papers last year. But, while the ICIFJ’s revelations are justified and critical to ensuring financial misconduct is uncovered and eradicated, Murphy argues it is important that not all trusts are cast in the same light. “Not all offshore jurisdictions are the same. The Channel Islands have an excellent reputation, with an enforced legal structure, and they are an example of where trusts should be viewed as a force for good.” n

february/march 2022 29

Purpose

Human rights: the next big purpose? As ‘purpose’ continues to gain momentum, with businesses across the world increasingly committing to ESG, equality and doing wider good, the issue of human rights is also being incorporated into far-reaching investment strategies Words: Alexa Robertson

“THERE IS A realisation now that ESG is not just about the E,’’ says Mirek Gruna, Chief Commercial Officer for IQ-EQ in Jersey. “The social and governance areas are hugely important too.” Gruna, like many others in the field, says environmental initiatives often take precedence when businesses are focusing on ESG. But while it’s difficult to argue against decisive action on climate change, awareness is growing across the finance sector that all areas of ESG can also be linked to human rights. “The key thing is understanding that human rights can be connected to sustainability, it can be connected to social issues around diversity, and it can also be clearly connected to governments,” says Gruna. “The chances are that, at a country level, governments that are facing issues with corruption or bribery will also be facing human rights issues with the people of their nation.” Matt Crossman, Stewardship Director at Rathbones, agrees that human rights is increasingly on clients’ agendas as they develop their investment strategies. “At Rathbones, we list human rights as one of the social issues that can affect

30 february/ march 2022

the long-term valuation of companies – whether it be in their own operations or in their supply chains,” he says. “Fundamental to this shift has been the establishment of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which the investment community helped to shape. “Lots of people understand human rights at a personal level, and nation states that have signed up to international treaties have a duty to protect the rights of their citizens,” Crossman adds. “But what about businesses that operate across many countries? Should they have similar duties to uphold that protection?” He cites the work of Professor John Ruggie, who developed the Protect, Respect, Remedy framework adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. “Essentially, it said that states have a duty to protect human rights – suggesting an active stance – whereas companies have a duty to ‘respect’ human rights in their operations, all within the context of both states and companies offering remedy for breaches of human rights.” With ‘purpose’ becoming something of a buzzword in recent years, companies must ensure they are authentic and

long-sighted in their approach to human rights issues, according to Philippa White, founder of The International Exchange (TIE), which connects businesses with ESGlinked causes and projects.

WALKING THE WALK “From our point of view, there’s a lot of interest from companies recognising the importance of enabling staff to realise their own purpose, and understanding that people are really yearning for these types of opportunities to support ESG projects, including those around human rights,” she says. “It’s about standing for something; walking the walk, not just talking to talk; being transparent; being authentic.

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Purpose

MAKING CONNECTIONS TIE works to support businesses in developing purpose by connecting them with projects that are making a difference on the ground. “We want seasoned professionals and companies to be able to unearth their purpose, break out of silos, be able to broaden their horizons,” White says. “The way we do that is by taking them

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out of their silos and partnering them with social initiatives in other parts of the world, and they use their knowledge to impact social challenges.” One of TIE’s most recent initiatives has been a partnership between BBH London and the Jiyan Foundation, an organisation that supports survivors of war, terror and human rights violations in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria. “The way they do that is through providing mental health centres,” says White. “There is no mental health support in that region. Hospitals don’t provide it, and there’s no training for psychoanalysts in the region. Treatment for mental health just doesn’t exist. The Jiyan Foundation is the only one providing this.”

More families – particularly younger generations – are focusing on impact rather than doing No harm ▼

“It’s good business, because employees will want to work for you, customers will want to buy your products, and the world is going in a direction whereby it needs to become more humane. It needs to be more purpose-driven, because the future of our planet and our existence relies on it.”

february/ march 2022 31

Purpose

THE IMPACT OPPORTUNITY While partnerships between business and social causes are growing in number, there has also been an increase in family offices focusing on impact philanthropy. “There are often situations where family wealth has been acquired through activities that could potentially infringe on sustainability or the environment, and these families might decide to give away assets to a philanthropic cause,” says Gruna. “This is quite counter-intuitive, but what we’re looking at now is a situation in which more families – particularly the younger generations – are focusing on impact rather than doing no harm. “Many investors are now asking: ‘Rather than giving away the money, why not invest the money but in a way that will have a positive impact within the area we’ve chosen?’”

Purpose, says Gruna – particularly among family firms – should be a clearly defined goal, including both what it should look like and how it can be targeted for the greater good. “It could be anything – social justice; preventing forced labour; the environment – but you have to be able to define what makes you get up in the morning and feel passionate,” he says. “You also have to dig deeper with families around issues such as human rights, because these kinds of issues can be highly nuanced. “People might have different views on what a human rights infringement looks like in different areas of life, different countries or different sectors of business. “It’s important for firms to have workshop-type sessions with clients to understand their past experiences better and consider how they can best make a difference.”

GLOBALISED WEALTH

People might have different views on what a human rights infringement looks like in different countries or sectors

32 february/ march 2022

In a world where wealth is increasingly global, where do firms – and wealth holders – stand on holding their wealth in and dealing with countries with human rights issues against them? The challenges, says Crossman, are multiple and complex. “The globalised world we live in creates additional complexities for investors trying to understand how their investments are exposed to human rights risks,” he says. “The human rights debate is not a simple one at an international level, and we shouldn’t expect the issue to suddenly become easier at a corporate level. “Companies are often hampered in their efforts to maintain high standards of human rights risk management

#FAOCEO: Message to the world In December 2021, the Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights launched #FAOCEO, a mobile billboard campaign aimed at the world’s top CEOs and the leaders of companies that provide health services. The campaign, created by BBH London, called for global businesses to invest in the mental wellbeing of survivors of terrorism, domestic violence, war and genocide living in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria. As part of the initiative, an interactive mobile billboard with QR codes sent direct messages to top business leaders – including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates. It also aimed to garner public support in asking the corporate leadership of these companies to expand their ESG programmes to include mental health support for people living in this part of the world.

by difficult localised circumstances. Conversely, companies and their processes can be problematic.” Crossman continues: “What’s important for the biggest brands with the best resources is to insist on high standards of human rights due diligence and ethical sourcing, avoiding a ‘race to the bottom’. “Each project and potential investment needs to be assessed on its own merits.” n

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Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up with repayments on your mortgage. To apply, you must be 18+ and resident in Guernsey or Jersey. All mortgages are subject to status and valuation. The maximum amount you can borrow will depend on your individual financial situation, your other circumstances, the property you wish to buy and the type of mortgage you choose. Butterfield Bank (Guernsey) Limited (“BBGL”) is licensed and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under The Banking Supervision (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020, each as amended from time to time, under registration number 85. BBGL is registered under the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2017, under registration number 11160 and with the Guernsey Registry under registration number 21061. BBGL’s registered office address is P.O. Box 25, Regency Court, Glategny Esplanade, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 3AP. Butterfield Bank (Jersey) Limited (“BBJL”) is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission to conduct deposit- taking business under the Banking Business (Jersey) Law 1991 (as amended), and investment business, fund service business and money service business pursuant to the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998, (as amended). BBJL is registered under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law, 2018 and is registered with the Jersey Registrar of Companies for the purpose of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 (as amended). Registered office address: St. Paul’s Gate, New Street, St Helier, Jersey JE4 5PU. Company registration number 124784. Terms and Conditions can be obtained from our website and copies of the latest audited accounts are available on request. BBGL and BBJL are wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited.

Dynasties

Family affairs Family wealth and power have always made good movies – and the popularity of House of Gucci and Succession proves that there’s just as much intrigue as ever in the way wealthy families live their lives and run their businesses. But are dynasties still a good strategy? 34 february/ march 2022

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Dynasties

Words: Sophie McCarthy

THOSE OF US who have watched the film House of Gucci, which is tipped to clean up at the Oscars this year, and the multi-award-winning HBO series Succession, will probably share one thought: thank goodness we don’t have a family business. Some may even be grateful for a lack of extreme familial wealth altogether, having seen through these shows the damage it can do. But how true are the narratives portrayed? Are dynasties outdated or do they remain a popular approach? What are the pros and the cons, and what happens when there’s a family feud that Logan Roy would be proud of? “Dynasties have been around since, I believe, the sixth century. They go right back to the Chinese emperors,” says Paul Buckle, a Director at Ocorian. “What we see nowadays within wealthy families is just a development of that. “My understanding is that they became a major force in the 19th century, particularly in Britain, when some families started to build up considerable financial reserves and wanted to find ways for the wealth to remain within the lineage.” Henry Kierulf, Head of Active Wealth, Jersey, at Zedra, agrees. “Historically, dynasties were very important, particularly for the aristocracy, because an important consideration for them was often their family line and descendants. “Enormous efforts were made to hold assets together and to preserve and enhance what had been received from an earlier generation. “It was partly through this that the earliest trusts arose, and it was the driving force behind their development.”

Alan Binnington, Director, Fiduciary Management at RBC Wealth Management, and Gilly Kennedy-Smith, a Partner at Mourant, believe that dynastic approaches are still popular today among high-net-worth families. “The fundamental reason for creating a dynasty is to build a collective identity and common values, and to agree the succession of, in this case, the family wealth – so the need will always be there,” says Kennedy-Smith. “Those with family businesses may still be motivated by the idea that family involvement is important to the success

february/ march 2022 35

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DYNASTIES’ ENDURING POPULARITY

Dynasties

Millennials are far more likely to challenge the thinking of their parents than accept principles laid down by generations

36 february/ march 2022

of the company,” says Binnington. “Where a business has been sold and the wealth comprises more liquid investments, the motivation for a dynastic approach tends to be in place to guard against a spendthrift second generation that leaves nothing for the benefit of the grandchildren. “For both groups, structures such as a family trust can be an important tool for achieving their goal. Although the English trust has been in existence for centuries, it is a concept that has since developed as a far more flexible vehicle, more suited to the needs of the modern family.” Binnington points out the benefits to the business. “Continued family ownership and involvement in its running may be seen by both employees and business partners as providing stability.” But what about the advantages they offer to family members themselves? “Dynasties can provide a wonderful platform for people to pursue their professional and personal ambitions and create an ongoing legacy for future generations to enjoy,” says Kierulf. “The profile, education and wealth of the family provide the opportunity not only for their personal fulfilment and the family succession, but also to make a contribution to wider society, which is increasingly becoming an aspiration of the younger generations.”

Binnington, too, points to the fact that each generation brings with it a change of attitudes. “For example, Millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000 – tend to be less interested in the creation and retention of wealth or a family business for its own sake, and are more interested in setting individual goals in relation to lifestyle and finding a purpose. “They are far more likely to challenge the thinking of their parents than accept the principles laid down by previous generations without question.”

FAMILY PRESSURES While dynasties and family wealth can of course present opportunities unimaginable to many, it would be remiss to ignore the pressures they can also bring. “A family dynasty is a heavy burden to carry and comes with many challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining them for the long term,” says Kierulf. “The vision of the patriarch, combined with an incompatible family skillset and mentality, has the potential to create a rupture, leading to considerable unrest and potentially dispute. “The historical reputation and decisionmaking of the family might also cause younger generations to reflect on a potential misalignment with their values.”

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Dynasties

The word ‘burden’ is one that crops up often when it comes to family businesses. “Being part of a dynasty comes with a huge amount of expectation and weight,” says Natasha Kapp, Partner at Carey Olsen. “I often talk about the burden of wealth and people laugh at me, but it’s a very real thing. There’s so much pressure on the people growing up in those families, and trying to find yourself amid that is so difficult. “There are many instances where children don’t in fact want to take on the business because they have their own interests – so it either has to be sold or non-family members have to be brought in. “But what we also see are children who want to branch out and do something completely outside the current sphere. So those families have to bring in external expertise and people with new and different views.”

BRINGING IN OUTSIDE INFLUENCE Whether dynasties can successfully bring in external talent depends on the family in question, and whether they are actively competitive or collaborative, says Kennedy-Smith. “Mechanisms to give everyone a voice are always possible if that is what’s needed – but how trusted that voice is often depends on the person who made the recommendation and their standing in the family.” “Those who are not directly involved with the family business may resent the benefits obtained by those who are,” says Binnington. “As such, some may not wish the family to retain ownership in perpetuity. “All of these factors may create tensions and be damaging to the business. These may not be insurmountable issues, but they do need to be addressed and managed.” According to Harvard Business Review, a lack of trust and communication is responsible for 60% of family business failures, and it would appear that discussions around the purpose and culture of the business are integral to success. “For dynasties, it is essential that families engage in an open and honest conversation that affirms values and goals, and also considers the various skillsets and desires,” says Kierulf. “When interests are not aligned, this opens up the prospect of altering the

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Mediation is very amenable to family disputes because it allows people to get things off their chests – you can’t do that in court

family’s model to adapt and carefully navigate a change in mindset – for example, moving in a philanthropic direction that sacrifices growth of wealth and enables a positive impact on the world.” “Communication of the family culture is key,” agrees Kennedy-Smith. “But it has to evolve and develop, or it stagnates.” But what about when things turn truly sour? “Keep out of court if you can – it’s really not the best place to resolve issues,” says Buckle. “Mediation, on the other hand, is very amenable to family disputes because it allows people to get things off their chests. Court is a far more formal process and you won’t be able to do that there.

“In mediation, you get a chance to have a grievance with a particular family member because of something they did 20 years ago. “And the mediator’s job is to listen and say, ‘Yes, I understand that, I get that that’s important to you. But, is there any way that we can move on?’. “A court doesn’t give you that sort of flexibility – it’s a far more rigid process. Court is also very distressing, very divisive, and not good for the family generally.” Buckle also strongly advises accepting that there will always be at least two sides to every argument. “Acknowledge that some things are more important to some people than they are to others,” he says. “And just because you don’t agree with something, don’t dismiss it. Very often, when it comes to family disputes, things are intensely personal. We may look at them and think, ‘That just doesn’t make sense’ – but that’s not the point. The point is that to that particular person, the issue is meaningful. “And often it’s not a commercial issue – it’s something historical that has stayed with someone. When they express such a thing, it’s crucial to appreciate that it’s significant to them. Unless you can do that, you won’t be able to resolve it.” n

february/ march 2022 37

Stand out from the crowd in Businesslife magazine Here’s our publishing schedule for 2022 – get your business noticed ISSUE

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GLOBAL BUSINESS: A VIEW FROM THE CHANNEL ISLANDS

BUSINESSLIFE

APRIL/MAY 2020

• chasing yield • green credibility • opportunity in india • superyachts

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Keeping control Retaining influence over your investment strategies

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• family wealth • fintech • esports • real estate • crowdfunding

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• Public/private partnerships • Virtual leadership • Future of work • Surveillance economy

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Seeing the light Business leaders turn their attention to the new world

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february/march 2022 39

Financial literacy

g n i t e Me of minds

A fast-changing investment and wealth demographic, powered by a wealth transfer to the next generation, means managers and advisers must adapt the way they educate and inform Words: Marco de Novellis

LAST YEAR’S GAMESTOP saga was a

lesson in the need for greater financial awareness and education. A buzzing thread on social news website Reddit led hundreds of thousands of amateur investors to buy shares in dwindling American video game retailer GameStop in January 2021. GameStop’s share price jumped by 1,700% in a month. But when mobile trading apps such as Robinhood restricted trading in GameStop, young retail investors lost more than $10bn in a day. By February, just a month later, GameStop shares had plummeted by nearly 90%. The new generation of tech-savvy investors, who gravitate to the web for financial advice, suffered the most significant losses – the median age of a Robinhood investor is 31. Put simply, disinformation online and social media ‘gurus’ offering unsubstantiated advice are causing young investors to take on risks without fully understanding the consequences. In this climate, traditional wealth managers must adapt their approach – to better appeal to and educate the next generation. By 2030, more than $18trn worth of assets held by high-net-worth individuals

40 february/ march 2022

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Financial literacy

THE PERFECT STORM “You have the perfect storm of more wealth being transferred, but fewer people having the financial literacy,” says Annabel Bosman, Managing Director and Head of Relationship Management at RBC Wealth Management. “Plus, many new media influences are now coming into play.” In a 2021 survey of more than 1,000 young Americans, 56% said they seek out financial advice online or on social media, with the majority turning to Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Yet US consumers reported losing more than $80m to

cryptocurrency investment scams last year, popularised by social media influencers. Meanwhile, in the UK, Barclays reports that it’s 21- to 30-year-olds, not the older generations, who are the most common victims of financial scams, with the majority targeted on Instagram. To educate the next generation, Lee Morris, Investment Director at Rathbones, says organisations need to act as early as possible. Rathbones, he says, goes into schools to speak to sixth-formers about careers in investment. It works with Highlands College in Jersey, delivering guest lectures to undergraduate students. Morris also cites Jersey #BuildBackBetter, a network of next-generation professionals selected from Jersey’s financial services industry, who benefit from a one-year education programme. The goal is to upskill and inspire a new generation of sustainable finance leaders. “But the basics need to be addressed even earlier,” Morris says. “If you’re embedded with good financial habits, that goes on to impact every aspect of your life and would help people be less susceptible to social media influences.” To fill education gaps for nextgen clients, Bosman says RBC Wealth Management takes a bespoke training approach, running tailored education sessions on wealth planning, structuring and investments. “We also use social media to share insights and show how we’re involved in the community,” she adds. Increasingly, Bosman explains, wealth managers are leaning on education as their USP. “The experience we bring, to hold someone’s hand through the investment process, challenge them and ask the awkward questions – that’s something wealth managers do that online platforms haven’t been able to replicate.”

TRANSFER OF WEALTH The next generation also brings changing attitudes to wealth and an increasing focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors. Bosman recalls how one client, who brought a younger family member into its investment discussions, ultimately made the entire family investment strategy more ESG-focused. “Younger investors want to use their wealth to drive positive change and not just make financial returns. They want to understand what they’re investing in and the impact that it is having in the world.” The intergenerational transfer of wealth is always a potential cause of conflict.

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it’s 21- to 30-yearolds, not the older generations, who are the most common victims of financial scams, with the majority targeted on Instagram

Barclays research reveals that more than half of wealth creators lack trust in the next generation’s ability to manage the family business, and most believe that differing outlooks on life create friction in succession planning. Ian Rumens, Head of Private Client in Jersey at Ocorian, says building in flexibility and involving the next generation in investment discussions early helps smooth the transition. And Covid-19 has made this easier to achieve, as families consider diversifying their investments. “Where we have the biggest impact is having a conversation with a head of a family about generational succession planning; keeping it on their agenda to open up communication,” Rumens says. “The earlier you engage the family in open and honest conversations, the better.” Morris agrees. “The level of openness has changed. We go on an educational journey with our clients. It’s a rich relationship where we facilitate their ambitions, dreams and what they’re trying to achieve beyond just financial returns.” Wealth managers are also introducing a new breed of younger, more ethnically and gender-diverse relationship managers who next-gen investors can better relate to. Bosman says RBC is focused on growing its own talent pool and challenges headhunters to look and think differently when recruiting new hires. “You need to build diverse talent throughout the organisation,” she says. “We have to evolve and be nimble like the

february/ march 2022 41

▼

are expected to be passed on to the next generation, from the Baby Boomers to Millennials and Generation Z. Yet there are clearly financial knowledge gaps. According to Barclays, 55% of that next generation feel ill-equipped to run their family businesses, although the vast majority expect to take them over.

Financial literacy

Global wealth at a glance Findings from the 2021 EY Global Wealth Research Report

28%

of clients globally expect to move wealth relationships by 2024

66%

of millennial clients believe robo-advice has benefits

78%

of millennial clients plan to make even greater use of digital tools in the future

48%

of clients will invest in alternatives such as crypto currency by 2024

fintech firms and challenger banks – hiring younger generations keeps us moving forward.” Despite these efforts, 28% of high-net-worth clients still plan to switch wealth managers, with many considering alternative fintech platforms. According to EY’s Global Wealth Report, these platforms will see a 74% increase in usage over the next three years. Robinhood alone grew its funded accounts by 151% in 2021, increasing the assets under its custody from $19.2bn to $80bn in a year.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS Wealth managers have adopted the kinds of technologies that the next generation expects – virtual meetings, online portals and mobile apps. To adapt to the challenge from fintech platforms, Rumens expects the wealth managers of the future to become more tech-savvy, introducing virtual reality meetings and more AI-enabled automation. All of these technological advancements, he predicts, will be accompanied by an increasing acceptance of crypto currency. Some 2.3 million UK adults now hold crypto assets and demand for professionally managed portfolios of bitcoin and other digital currencies is growing. Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan opened up bitcoin funds to US clients in 2021. Meanwhile, crypto firm Gemini has acquired a digital asset platform for financial advisers, as crypto and wealth management become more intertwined. “Digital assets will become mainstream,” says Rumens. “At Ocorian, a number of clients are investing heavily into crypto currencies, crypto securities and digital assets, and we are continuing to develop our strategy to cater for this need.” For Morris, the blockchain technology that underpins crypto currencies will be the most powerful tool for future wealth managers, increasing efficiency

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53%

of fintech and robo-adviser clients want to engage more directly with sustainable investing

as well as transparency. But even for the next generation, he says, combining the use of tech with an in-person element is key. “Robo-advisers – automated services you can manage from your phone – are generic solutions. Our clients want to speak with an individual who cares about what they’re trying to achieve and who can advise and reassure them when markets struggle.” Ultimately, the future of wealth management and the goals of the next generation go hand in hand. Wealth managers, Morris says, will deploy capital in a more responsible way and support and educate the next generation as they unite to combat social issues and the climate crisis. “Where your capital is deployed creates power that gives the investor a say. Young people are realising that, by working together and pooling capital, they can change things. “What we’re investing in; how we’re investing; how we’re engaging with clients, stakeholders and natural resources; it’s all going to change.” n

How wealth managers are adapting to meet the needs of next-gen investors ● Education – providing more webinars, training programmes, community outreach ● Technology – making use of online portals, virtual meetings, social media ● ESG – increased focus on sustainable investment ● Alternative investments – exploring digital assets and crypto currencies ● Multigenerational approach – recruiting and developing a new generation of investment managers ● Wealth transfer – involving the next generation in the conversation

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Advertising feature

Dividing your estate David Benest, Managing Partner of BCR Law, asks whether you should treat your children equally when it comes to the division of your estate PARENTS LIKE TO be fair to their children and, in the main, as they are growing up, try to treat them the same – giving them the same opportunities, trying to equalise presents at birthdays and Christmas, and so on. But families are complicated things and, inevitably, children, as they get older, form different relationships with their parents, making life choices that mean they are to a greater or lesser extent closer to or more distant from them. Equally and inevitably, some children are more successful than others in their own lives, and so less in need of inheritance. A recent UK survey suggested that only 53% of parents planned to divide their wealth evenly between their children.

Reasons included leaving money to the children they trusted not to waste it. Others (though a relatively small number) said they did not wish to support their child’s partner. Another reason, and more common, was that they wished to balance what one child might have received earlier by way of lifetime gifts. The division of your estate – particularly if it is of any significance – is an important decision. In the UK, there are very direct inheritance tax considerations but there is also, subject to claims for dependency under the Inheritance Act, a largely free rein when it comes to what an individual can do with their estate. Therefore, if you wish to treat your children unequally, you can do so even to the extent of disinheriting them entirely, if that is what you want to do.

THE SITUATION IN JERSEY

When it comes to safeguarding your personal wealth, it is essential to turn to experienced professionals

However, things are not so simple in Jersey. Here, we have the concept of légitime, a forced heirship regime, which means that a person’s movable estate is not freely alienable. The law requires that certain proportions of an individual’s movable estate (money, shares, chattels) is left to a spouse and/or children; only one third is freely disposable. This means that while you can treat children unequally to an extent, there are limits to that and you cannot exclude them entirely from inheriting. We also have the additional concept of rapport à la masse, which can require lifetime gifts to be brought back into account if a child wishes to take what they have received in the will. A will that does not comply with forced heirship provisions can be open to challenge and, if this possibility is not considered when it is drafted, it can cause disputes afterwards. I should note that immovable estate (real estate) in Jersey is freely disposable. So, if all of your assets are in real-estate property, they can be left to whomever you choose and légitime can be avoided.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A WILL We do not like talking about death, even though it is inevitable (death and taxes being the only certainties in life) and we like talking about money even less. But we should. Disputes may be avoided if a person talks about their will before they die. It is also sensible to leave a letter of wishes or explanation, which details more fully why the individual has done certain things. This may also help children understand their family members’ decisions so that, although they may not like them, they may respect them. Most importantly, individuals must understand what the law sees as their obligations and how those can be balanced with their intentions. Wealth is hard-earned, and with appropriate advice you can structure things during your life, including in your will, so you can ensure your wishes are followed.

HOW WE CAN HELP When it comes to safeguarding your personal wealth, it is absolutely essential to turn to experienced professionals to protect your assets and your family’s best interests. Our team at BCR Law has extensive experience in advising individuals across all aspects of estate planning, including drafting wills of movable and immovable property for Jersey residents, as well as assisting on international matters. We also have expertise in dealing with cross-border probate as well as international and offshore wills, and will trusts for Jersey residents. If you wish to discuss your personal wealth and planning efficiently for yours and your family’s futures, please do not hesitate to get in touch. n

FIND OUT MORE

Contact David Benest, Managing Partner of BCR Law. Email: david.benest@bcrlawllp.com Tel: 01534 760850

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022 43

Passion investing

Building a luxury collection From handbags to sneakers, hot sauce to celebrity hair, the world of collectibles is weird and wonderful. But it’s also highly valuable – with the market set to be worth $522bn by 2028

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it comes to car collection: provenance, rarity, usability, desirability and originality. “What I mean by usability is that you can take it to the pub, drive it to work or pick up the kids from school in it. It won’t be an everyday car, but you can keep it in your garage at home – which you couldn’t do with a Formula One car. You can’t maintain those yourself; they require a whole team of mechanics.” Provenance is also essential when it comes to art, says Maria de Peverelli, Partner and Executive Chairman of Stonehage Fleming Art Management. “The greatest risk is buying a work from someone who doesn’t have the right to sell it – a piece that has been looted or exported illegally, for example,” she says. “On the other hand, if the previous owner was extremely famous, the item could acquire value. When Princess Margaret sold her jewels, the prices were up to 200 times the value of the items themselves because they had belonged to her. All of this is why it’s vital to know where items have come from.”

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IN 2010, A one-of-a-kind doll created by Australian fine jewellery designer Stefano Canturi was sold at Christie’s in New York for $302,500 (the money raised was donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation). It was the world’s most expensive Barbie. Meanwhile, a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for a whopping $6.606m in August 2021. This notion of adults paying a not-sosmall fortune for items usually lusted after by children is a curious but very real one. Harry Rinker, Head of the Institute for Antiques and Collectibles, believes that entering into this world tends to link people back to childhood memories and a desire for “bygone days when life was simpler and happier”. James Haithwaite, Luxury Car and Asset Specialist at IQ-EQ, agrees. “People often collect cars that they would have aspired to own as children,” he says. “They remember them driving past in the street and thinking: ‘Wow, isn’t that nice’.” Haithwaite says there are five key aspects people are on the lookout for when

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Words: Sophie McCarthy

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Passion investing

The best person to buy a car from is someone who’s a real anorak – they’ll be selling for good reason

1972 BMW3 0CSL

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Passion investing

CAR SMART Automobiles are a slightly different story. “What’s beneficial about cars,” says Haithwaite, “is that there’s an awful lot you

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can find out on the internet. If I’m given a chassis number or even a registration number, I could discover that, for example, a car was sold at an auction 10 years ago and then also sold at an auction nine and half years ago. “Why would that have been? It could be because someone has discovered they have bought something that wasn’t what they had been promised, so they’ve decided to get rid of it quickly.” As for Haithwaite’s view on auctions in general, he says: “There are two reasons a car would be in an auction: it’s impossible to value, such as the best example of a particular make and model, meaning there will be a frenzy of buyers for it; or the car is only going to be driven for 10 miles before going ‘bang’. “With dealers,” he continues, “you’ll pay more than you would from a private seller, but you might get offered a warranty, and

If you are passionate, you can create an extraordinary collection from nothing

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The art of building a luxury collection is sometimes known as passion investing – and for good reason. “Buy what you love” is advice that comes up time again from the experts, even for those starting out. “If someone is brand new to collecting cars, they should go with what excites them,” says Haithwaite. “Once they’ve decided on the direction they want to go in, they need to do a great deal of research. What model do they want? Do they go with an early one or a later one?” Haithwaite recommends getting cars inspected by an independent specialist or working with an owners club before finally negotiating a price with the seller. De Peverelli says the first thing people should do when looking to start an art collection is to train their eye and get to know their own tastes. “Look, look, look – and look some more,” she says. “Try to understand what you find interesting. Then read about it, talk to people, visit galleries, museums and studios. Train your eye and then study. “And remember, it’s not all about price. If you are passionate and something interests you, you can create an extraordinary collection from nothing.” When it comes to art, however, de Peverelli doesn’t believe potential buyers should seek the help of advisers at the start. “People should try to work by themselves to begin with,” she explains. “Otherwise where is the fun? “That said, it depends why you’re purchasing. If you’re doing so for investment purposes, you might do well to work with someone to make sure you don’t end up throwing your money away.” So, how do potential buyers ensure what they are purchasing is authentic? “When it comes to contemporary works, it’s easy,” says de Peverelli. “If you’re buying directly from the artist, you shouldn’t have a problem. The same goes for buying from a gallery that represents the artist – although you should request a certificate of authenticity. “But with the masters, it gets much more complicated. Attribution is often a question of opinion. It’s very difficult to find documents that confirm the complete history of a painting from the 14th century to today. In a few cases, you can do this, but in many you cannot. You also have to understand if it’s a work by the master or the studio of the master.”

Raffaella Galvani / Shutterstock.com

FEELING THE PASSION

february/ march 2022 47

Passion investing

Where to invest WINE The value of fine wine increased by 13% during 2020, and 127% over a decade. In July last year, a rare bottle of 1951 Penfolds Grange sold at auction for a record-breaking $122,001 – making it the most expensive bottle of Australian wine to sell under the hammer.

WHISKY Although it suffered a slight dip in 2020, rare whisky has seen a 478% growth in value over the past decade. Christie’s sold a bottle for £1.2m, setting a new world record for a single spirit.

HANDBAGS In 2020, handbags knocked whisky off the number-one spot of luxury collectible investment items, with prices increasing by 17%. This was said to be the result of an increased appetite for affordable luxury pick-meups during the pandemic. Hermes bags are often said to be better investments than stocks and gold, with the Birkin dominating the high end of the market.

CHANGING TRENDS The same applies to art. “In the 1980s, all the big collectors of Impressionists and post-Impressionists were buying French 18th century furniture,” says de Peverelli. “It was considered the best of the best, the chicest thing you could buy. But now, the value of it has dropped dramatically. “The same happens with artists – they can all of a sudden become a lot less fashionable than they were, say, 10 or 15 years ago.” “Something that we’re currently finding,” adds Haithwaite, “is that more and more collectors are taking their time to purchase a car. They won’t just go and buy the first Ferrari F40 they come across, they want the one that Michael Schumacher or another celebrity owned, because that’s going to be more collectible further down the line.” Whether you’re looking to build a collection of classic cars, old masters or even the toys you hankered after in your youth, the advice seems to be the same – follow your heart, trust your gut and keep an eye on the future. n

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TRAINERS The past five years has seen an explosion in the rare shoes market, which is said to already be worth $10bn and is predicted to climb to nearly $30bn by 2030. A pair that Kanye West wore to the Grammys in 2008 fetched an incredible $1.8m in April last year.

@carlo_vstek Twenty20

you’ll have more return ability. So, if you find out it’s stolen, you can just hand it back. And that does happen occasionally.” “When you’re buying cars, you’re literally dealing with a secondhand car salesperson,” Haithwaite continues. “A lot of it comes down to how you feel about the individual selling – do you get on with them? Do you think they are trustworthy? “The best person to buy a car from is someone who’s a real ‘anorak’. In those instances, the car you’re looking at means everything to them and there’s a good chance they will be selling for good reason. “It can also be extremely beneficial to have someone to act as a professional sounding board. “I’ve got a client with 150 cars in his collection, and he messaged me this morning to say he’s seen a $6.5m Ferrari and wanted to know which of his existing cars he should sell so he can buy it.” Haithwaite adds: “Collecting cars tends to be passion-led. But if people can make some money at the same time, then that’s a win-win. That means collectors need to keep an eye on what they think is going to be the next big thing and where the market is going as a whole. “Pre-war cars are starting to slow down a bit in popularity now, because the people who saw those go past when they were children are no longer with us. “But cars of the 1980s and 90s – like Ferrari F40s, 1,300 of which were built between 1992 and 1997 – are very much en vogue.”

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BUSINESS LIFE

City edition PUBLISHING IN june 2022 FOR EDITORIAL QUERIES, CONTACT jon.watkins@blglobal.co.uk FOR ADVERTISING, EMAIL CARL.METHVEN@BLGLOBAL.CO.UK

Data protection

In an increasingly complex digital world, managing and protecting client data is more important than ever – with huge fines and irreparable reputational damage facing those who fail

SOME OF THE FIGURES are startling. In July last year, for example, British Airways shelled out a record £20m fine over a data breach that affected some 420,000 of its customers and staff. Cyber criminals hacked BA’s systems in 2018 and managed to steal customers’ details as they were input – including their names, addresses, payment card details and login information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that BA was processing a significant amount of personal data without adequate security measures in place. The airline “should have identified weaknesses in its security and resolved them with measures that were available at the time”, it concluded. Initially, the ICO had stated its intention was to fine BA an even bigger number – £183m – but the reduction was made partly due to the financial state of the airline following Covid-19. In any case, it starkly demonstrated the drastic financial sanctions that organisations face if they fail to protect customer data adequately from the risk of cyber crime. In the Channel Islands, both Jersey and Guernsey have data protection legislation that broadly mirrors the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation – or, as it’s better known, GDPR. The islands are regulated in turn by the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC) and in Guernsey by the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA), which registers organisations that hold data, implement the law and investigate any potential breaches that take place. For companies, protecting their client or customer data in a digital environment

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is inextricably linked with cyber security, says Richard Field, Partner in the dispute resolution team at law firm Appleby in Guernsey, who specialises in regulatory, tech and innovation matters. “In many ways, it is a much harder thing to protect against than in the days when you had to physically break into a company’s offices to steal their information,” he points out.

EVER-EVOLVING THREAT Vulnerability to cyber crime grows in tandem with the range of digital services that an organisation offers, he explains. However, data breaches can also be caused by accident – as was the case with the recent breach whereby UK Ministry of Defence officials copied the email addresses

Cyber attacks can be extremely damaging in a world where confidentiality is regarded as non-negotiable

of dozens of vulnerable Afghan nationals into an email. “It’s something businesses have to get a grip of,” says Field. “Clients increasingly want access to information quickly. Everybody’s used to clicking on apps and websites and getting what they need at speed, whether it’s a product via Amazon or exchanging money through a Revolut account, and that translates into a business environment.” John Doublard, Chief Technology Officer at financial services provider Oak Group, adds: “To some extent, this is a generational thing. People want to have an app on their phone, they want to have a portal where they can get access to services, and every time you create one of these platforms you have to put security controls in place.” So, what exactly is at stake here? Where the data held is consumer data, the big risk is that it will be used to steal someone’s identity, perhaps with a view to accessing bank accounts and ultimately stealing money from the individual. However, in the Channel Islands, much of the data that is held by professional companies such as law firms, private wealth managers and fund managers doesn’t quite fit into this category. So the threats are slightly different. “One risk would be that by accessing your system, someone gains access to client data that they then use, for example, to tamper with your payment processes in order to send in a fake payment request, or use contact details for further phishing or other attacks,” Field explains. A ‘bad actor’ could also obtain sensitive information about the assets a client holds, or a deal that’s about to be done – either of

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Words: Alexander Garrett

Data protection

Data dangers www.blglobal.co.uk

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Data protection

which could be extremely damaging in a world where confidentiality is regarded as non-negotiable. Perhaps the greater risk overall is to the reputation of the firm that holds the data. The regulator may cut you some slack in the face of a sophisticated cyber attack, and you may have insurance to cover some of the financial consequences. But once bad news gets out and your company is associated with a security failure, the onus is on you to show that you did everything possible to prevent it, adds Field. “And that’s when your customers can quickly start to vote with their feet – or clicks of their mouse. You won’t even necessarily be aware; you just won’t get repeat orders or instructions to open accounts,” he says.

PROTECTION BETTER THAN CURE At the heart of any strategy to protect client data from cyber attack is the DPIA – or Data Protection Impact Assessment. The UK’s ICO describes it as “a process to help you identify and minimise the data protection risks of a project”. “Every time we introduce any significant change, we would want to review the scope of the change and how it would impact our customers’ data and our employees’ data,” says Doublard. “The DPIA is the primary tool for doing that,” he adds. “The DPIA has to be done early in the process – for example, before you purchase the software you’re going to use – so that the data protection expert can get involved and guide the data privacy elements of the change.” A DPIA, he says, will take account of any change around where data resides, who has access and how it is used. It should inform everyone involved of the new rules they must follow, and should also be used to evaluate third parties to whom you are outsourcing services, as well as vendors who are supplying products used in storing and processing data. Doublard says that extra levels of security, such as encryption, may be added where more sensitive data is at stake. One approach increasingly being taken is ‘pessimistic security’. “That’s basically taking a starting point whereby you will only grant access to information or files to those who absolutely need to have it,” explains Field. With the issue of protecting data intrinsically related to cyber security, it’s essential for firms that hold data to follow all rules and guidance issued by the relevant authorities, such as the Cyber Security Rules published by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in 2021.

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With a security failure, the onus is on you to show that you did everything possible to prevent it

These cover detection, response and recovery, and a large part of the responsibility in each case is to show that you have taken the necessary measures to mitigate any loss of data wherever possible. That certainly means following up security alerts that point to viruses or cyber attacks. But it also means taking more proactive measures, such as penetration testing – whereby you pay cyber security experts to attempt to break into your system. “If you have someone develop an app for you, I recommend that you have those platforms or apps independently audited by a cyber security auditor, to have a third party verify that the product really has the security they are claiming,” adds Doublard.

PROACTIVE RESPONSE Just as important is how you respond to any loss of data – and to cultivate the mindset that “it’s not if it will happen, but

when it will happen”, Doublard adds. When it does, you must inform not just the regulator, but any customer whose data has been lost. So having an incident response plan in place, and paying for an MDR (monitoring, detection and response) service are vital steps in preparedness. Working from home has also undoubtedly heightened the risks for a number of reasons: home networks may be less secure, the ability to monitor employees has been hampered, and there has been a blurring between use of devices for work and domestic purposes. In fact, when it comes to data protection, just as with cyber security, the human factor is one of the biggest dangers. According to one estimate, around 80% of all data protection breaches are caused by an employee sending an email to the wrong person. Individual employees clicking on phishing emails often represent the most vulnerable part of the system. If there’s one important message, concludes Doublard, it’s that companies must maintain their investment in cyber security, even when budgets are under pressure for economic reasons. “To do otherwise is a false economy,” he says. “You face massive fines, huge reputational damage, and many businesses simply never recover from such incidents.” n

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MORE PEOPLE H AV E B E E N I N TO S PAC E THAN H AV E PA S S E D THE MASTER OF WINE EXAM

Meet Pierpaolo, he’s one of three Masters of Wine here at Waitrose & Partners. He and his team spend their lives searching the planet to find the best wines for our customers. Think of them as your very own sommeliers. Because every single wine we sell has been hand-picked by them.

FOR US, IT’S PERSONAL

Pierpaolo, Partner & Head of Wine Buying

The

Knowledge Brain food for the busy business professional

The Knowledge is compiled by Alexander Garrett Life on Mars

Talking

points

A four-billionyear-old piece of meteorite from Mars that was found in Antarctica in 1996 doesn’t contain evidence of ancient life on the planet after all, a new study by the Carnegie Institution for Science has concluded. The scientists who analysed the rock a quarter of a century ago speculated that organic compounds it contained appeared to have been left by living creatures, creating great excitement. Now the Carnegie team, led by Andrew Steele and reported in the journal Science has reached a different conclusion: that the carbon traces are the result of water flowing over the rock for many years.

Taking the high road

More people drive intoxicated in places that have legalised cannabis, new research from Canada has shown. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, has been detected in twice as many injured Canadian drivers since 2018, when cannabis was first legalised. The same effect is being seen in the US, according to lead researcher Dr Jeffrey Brubacher, an Associate Professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Other studies have shown an increase in the number of fatal accidents in states where cannabis was made legal. Cannabis causes “cognitive deficits and psychomotor impairment”, said Brubacher, but added that the risk of a crash remains higher among drink drivers.

Scientists’ headache

Financial blues

More than half (53%) of workers in the financial sector are “dreading going back to the workplace”, according to a report by Culture Shift. It says a similar proportion (48%) think working from home has had a positive effect on their company culture. Employees in banking/financial services said they feel more likely to experience bullying or harassment while in the workplace, compared with working from home. But on the other side of the coin, 33% said they are more likely to experience self-doubt, imposter syndrome and isolation working from home.

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A review of previous scientific research has concluded that there’s very little evidence that any of the mixtures and cocktails claimed to cure a hangover actually work. Researchers from King’s College London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust conducted the review in order to provide practitioners and the public with evidencebased information on which to make their decisions. Their study, published by the scientific journal Addiction, assessed 21 placebo-controlled randomised trials of clove extract, red ginseng, Korean pear juice, and other hangover cures. Although some showed improvements in hangover symptoms, the evidence was of very low quality, and no two studies reported on the same hangover remedy or provided replication of results.

Healthy returns

Offering staff generous paid sick leave reaps dividends in terms of company productivity and profitability, according to new research by the Bayes Business School in London. Organisations offering generous sick pay grow productivity by 7% and profitability by 2% on average, according to the research. The study looked at the performance of 37,930 publicly-traded US firms from 2004 to 2019 – prior to the beginning of the pandemic. Firms that introduced paid sick leave into their company policies during this time saw productivity growth, on average, of between 6% and 8% based on regression results, as well as a 2% increase in profits margins.

February/March 2022 55

THE KNOWLEDGE

New in… BOOKS

disaster central

office politics

When the Dust Settles: Stories of Love, Loss and Hope from an Expert in Disaster by Lucy Easthope (Hodder & Stoughton, £20, hardback) While most of us watch disasters unfold on TV, Lucy Easthope is likely to be packing her bags and dashing to the airport. An expert in recovering from disasters, in recent years her CV has chalked up the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the 7/7 attacks in London, the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, and the Grenfell fire, among a long list of global catastrophes. This is a memoir of those and other events, recounting what happened behind the police tape, who the victims and their families were, and what was said in the government briefing rooms. The over-arching message is about how to pick up lives and rebuild with strength and perseverance.

The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future by Julia Hobsbawm (Basic Books, £17.99, hardback) New year, new book about the future of the workplace. In this case, the topic could hardly be more timely, coming at the fag-end of the pandemic, when employers and employees alike are thinking hard about how they want to operate going forward after a couple of years mainly working from home. This book considers the big issues, such as productivity and employee stress, and then considers how offices could be repurposed to provide an environment far more conducive to good health – for both worker and employer. Now is the time, says Julia Hobsbawm, to make a decisive break with how things have been done in the past.

social fabric

stop the press

Worn: A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser (Allen Lane, £20, hardback) This book is as much about social history as it is about the textile industry, and it tells its story through five fabrics: linen, cotton, silk, synthetics and wool. Jumping around the world, from the linen mills of New England to the cottonspinning factories of modern India, from the court of Louis 14th to labour camps in 21st century Xinjiang, Thanhauser’s account explains many of the social and ethical issues that surround the fashion business today. She tells how the clothing industry has become one of the planet’s worst polluters, relying on chronically underpaid and exploited labourers. But she also shows us how micro-communities, textile companies, and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear.

Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein (Henry Holt & Co, £22, hardback) Newspaper bylines don’t come any bigger than that of Bernstein, the former Washington Post reporter who with Bob Woodward unwrapped the Watergate scandal, penned All the President’s Men and bagged a Pulitzer Prize along the way. This is an account of his formative days in newspapers, starting as a 16-year-old copyboy at the Evening Star in Washington, and becoming a cub reporter three years later. It’s set in the era of JFK in the White House, with the civil rights movement growing, and against a backdrop of a string of gruesome crimes in the nation’s capital.

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The Knowledge

In numbers: Gambling RESOURCES

$516bn The estimated size of the global gambling market in 2021 Source: Gambling Global Market Report 2021

LinkedIn Audio Events LinkedIn’s new events platform lets creators host live interactive events on a wide range of topics. Building on the success of LinkedIn Live broadcasts, it will allow members to participate more directly by joining speakers ‘on stage’ to add to the discussion. It will help LinkedIn members make new connections, bolster their professional brand and inspire their peers. shorturl.at/grvyN

Conversations in European Credit This podcast series from KBRA UK, hosted by Head of European Research Gordon Kerr, brings together KBRA analysts from across the company to discuss issues in European capital markets. The first two episodes, on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts, examine the outlook for European securitisation markets and for European sovereigns. www.kbra.com

Forecast compound annual percentage rate growth of global gambling, 2021-2025 Source: Gambling Global Market Report 2021

$25bn Amount lost by Australians – among the world’s biggest gamblers – each year Source: Australian Institute of Health & Welfare

BCC Trade Manifesto This British Chambers of Commerce manifesto aims to get more UK companies involved in exports. With just 10% of UK businesses involved in international trade, the manifesto sets out steps to boost this. It follows BCC research showing very slow growth. In Q4 2021, 29% of firms’ overseas sales increased, while 47% saw no change, and 24% saw a fall. It calls on government to streamline customs and trade processes and develop business-friendly rules on cross-border VAT in Europe. www.britishchambers.org.uk/page/bcc-trade-hub

Percentage of Brits who have gambled in the past four weeks Source: Gambling Commission

DeepDive with Saxo Fintech specialist Saxo Bank has partnered with audio streaming service Deezer to launch this weekly podcast series, aimed at empowering and educating Arabic-speaking audiences about the benefits of personal finance and the changing landscape opening up to private investors. The Arabic-language show is co-hosted by Emirati entrepreneur and YouTube star Anas Bukhash and Asharq News Financial Analyst Marie Salem. DeepDive with Saxo will cover a range of topics in its 20-week run. Listen on the usual podcast platforms

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2,107 The number of licensed casinos in the US – the highest in the world

Source: World Casino Directory

February/March 2022 57

THE KNOWLEDGE

How to…

...protect your intellectual property One of your top performing people has just disappeared to a competitor. And now you’re worried that they’ve taken all your best systems and ideas with them. What can you do to stop your company’s key assets being ripped off in the marketplace? How, in other words, can you protect your intellectual property?

Law firm Denton Wilde Sapte suggests carrying out an IP audit, which involves assessing the processes and procedures you have to generate their worth. “IP audits should be performed regularly and periodically,” says the firm. “An annual audit is reasonable but there are other circumstances where a supplementary audit should be performed.” That includes mergers and acquisitions activity, IPOs and other financing events.

For some types of information that don’t have a specific register, the best approach is to require anyone you share information with to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). That could include freelancers you employ or other organisations you partner with on a pitch, for example. Helen Scott-Lawler, a Partner at law firm Burges Salmon, says: “Trade secrets can protect business information such as recipes and customer lists. “In the UK, these can be protected under the common law of confidence, through keeping the information secret and through only disclosing to those that have signed nondisclosure agreements.”

Get it registered

One of the best ways you can protect your IP is to record your ownership and assert your rights on a public register. The main categories of intellectual property that can be registered in this way are trade marks, patents, copyrights and designs. All such protection is usually protected in a specific territory, so you may need to make repeat filings in all the territories where you want protection.

Every company should have a confidentiality policy, which employees must sign up to as a matter of course. That means observing confidentiality about the company’s valuable information when they are working there and – just as important – after they leave. “That policy should specifically deal with the position when employees leave the business,” says law firm Pinsent Masons. “An employee should be reminded of these leaver protocols, in writing, on resignation to minimise the

Know what you’ve got

“One of the best ways to protect your IP is to record your ownership and assert your rights on a public register”

Demand confidentiality

Keep a record You should document new IP development as it takes place. Keep a log of evidence – for example, make a file of dated and signed copies of drawings and drafts.

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The Knowledge

Business leaders on making it to the top

Getting ahead Nina Gomes, Group Head of Learning and Development, Crestbridge How did you get to where you are today, and was it planned?

risk of employee theft of trade secrets, and this should be appropriately reinforced during any exit interview.”

Assert your rights Your last line of defence for protecting your IP is to take legal action against those who you think are infringing it. You can file legal proceedings, either through the Intellectual Property Office in the UK or through the courts; in the case of copyright infringement, claims can only be made through the courts. There are different tracks you can follow, according to the size of the claim. There’s a small claims track for claims below £10,000, which can be heard in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. And at the other end of the scale, claims for more than £500,000 must be heard in the High Court Chancery Division in England and Wales. Alternatively, you could be prepared to sit down with whoever has breached your rights and negotiate a licence. That has the advantage that you avoid court proceedings and could be paid some royalties.

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As much as I love a plan, it wasn’t my plan 10 years ago to be involved in learning and development. I started my career in finance in 1997 working as a client administrator, in private client and real estate. By chance, in 2014 I was asked to teach a Chartered Governance Institute Certificate module. Never one to say no to a challenge, I jumped at it and soon realised I loved teaching. In 2015 I took a full-time role with BPP Professional Education. Then in 2018, I decided to combine my knowledge from my client-facing roles with teaching and moved to Crestbridge to build their in-house learning and development offering.

What do you find the most fulfilling aspects of your job? I love seeing colleagues have ‘lightbulb’ moments in the classroom. Equally, it’s so rewarding to see people advance through their career or through a professional qualification.

Is training and development more important than working hard and having the right values? Businesses continually evolve, and as individuals we should never stop learning. We need to be skilled and equipped to support the business we work for, regardless of how senior or how long we’ve worked there. I believe there’s always an opportunity to learn, adapt and grow, not just professionally but also through our personal or soft skills. I think learning, having the right values and working hard go hand in hand; and are equally important to a fulfilling and successful career.

What are employers looking for, and can they be learned? Fundamentally, what employers look for hasn’t changed. They want staff who are motivated, have a desire to learn and are adaptable to the constant change businesses go through to grow and progress. Some of these attributes are intrinsic to individuals but many can certainly be learnt – for example, managing change in a positive way and building resilience when faced with barriers.

What would you like to achieve over your career? Continuing to support the growth of Crestbridge and the quality of its people is very important to me. It’s an incredibly exciting time for our business, and people are very much at the heart of everything we do.

How do you balance your work and home life? I have a teenage daughter who keeps me busy being a taxi driver! That said, spending quality time outdoors with the family is really important too.

February/March 2022 59

THE KNOWLEDGE

GURU

WATCH

Warren Buffett

o he’s back in the news. As the stock market took a serious to generate long-term profits, which sounds obvious, but others pivot from growth to declining value at the start of 2022, struggle to achieve. He coined the term ‘moat’ to define companies whose name should pop up but Warren Buffett’s, a guru to that have a competitive advantage they can defend against others. his followers who appears to have proved critics wrong again. He likes to buy companies with low leverage. Another thing that The 91-year-old, widely known as the Oracle (or Sage) of marks him out from other investors is that once he’s decided to buy, Omaha, grabbed the headlines after his firm Berkshire Hathaway he will typically take a substantial position (sometimes the whole inched closer to overtaking Ark Invest ETF, run by Cathie company) and hold for a long time. Perhaps his biggest success Wood, a torchbearer of tech-driven growth investing. was the acquisition of 11% of Gillette for $600m in 1989 After suffering in 2020 and being seen as out of step, – when Procter & Gamble bought Gillette in 2005, that Ranked ninth Berkshire Hathaway shares have risen more than 30% investment was worth more than $5bn. since the beginning of 2021, as growth funds have Uniquely among investors, Buffett has celebrity richest person on gone into reverse. For Buffett it’s a question of plus status with tens of thousands of fans who descend the planet, Buffett ça change for one who has been investing since his on Omaha for the annual meeting of Berkshire is one of its biggest Hathaway each year (including thousands in China). teenage years and seen economic cycles come and go philanthropists ever since, and whose key trick has been to outperform The meetings themselves have become legendary for the market over time. the prolonged Q&As with shareholders that offer a rare His investment philosophy boils down to simple insight into the Oracle’s thinking. principles. One is to not invest in things you don’t understand, Buffett, who’s picked Greg Abel as his successor, is currently which stood Berkshire Hathaway in good stead when it held ranked as the ninth-richest person on the planet, and is also one of back from the dotcom boom. His decision to invest in companies its biggest philanthropists, having pledged most of his $100bn-plus relies on a calculation of intrinsic value based on their potential wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

brown spinning

Major public companies are under rising pressure to show improvement in environmental performance. One way to do that is to re-engineer your operations so they produce fewer emissions and reduce your carbon footprint. Another, growing in popularity among the worst polluters, is brown spinning. Instead of making things better, you just make things look better by selling off your most toxic assets to those subject to less public scrutiny, typically private equity and hedge funds. The result is that companies claim environmental improvement when none has been achieved. The transactions often take place at a discount, to expedite getting the bad assets off the public company’s books, and private buyers squeeze a few more years of profit from high-emitting assets outside the spotlight of public markets. Among the obvious perpetrators are energy companies; it’s been estimated that during 2021, oil and gas companies sold off high-emitting assets totalling $100bn. This is set to become a bigger issue as these companies face the dilemma of what to do with so-called ‘stranded assets’ – oil or gas reserves that are still in the ground, and which they cannot exploit themselves because of environmental commitments.

60 February/March 2022

Pandemials The generation that has grown up during the pandemic

Hyperautomation Using multiple technologies to automate work processes quickly

BUZZWORDS…

JARGON BUSTER

ALSO NEW IN THE WORLD OF

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The Knowledge

Top tech WHAT’S

HOT

Netflix downrating ITS CONTENT STREAMING SERVICE HAS MADE NETFLIX A HOUSEHOLD NAME – BUT THE GO-TO ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM IS UP AGAINST INCREASINGLY STIFF COMPETITION IN A MARKET THAT’S STILL FINDING ITS FEET

Streaming has become the dominant way a large proportion of the population in most countries watches TV and movies. But it has also become intensely competitive, and some believe it will be increasingly hard for anyone to make serious money out of the streaming model. On 21 January, the day Netflix announced its latest subscriber numbers, the company’s share price dropped 25% before making a small recovery. Netflix said it had taken on 8.3 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter, which would sound pretty impressive to most companies in most markets. But that was its lowest sign-up rate since 2017, and its forecast for the first quarter was just 2.5 million – way below the four million notched up in 2021 and well below the average first quarter performance in the last five years. Squid Game may have been the viewing sensation of 2021 – the series was watched for 1.6 billion hours worldwide in its first month – as well as Netflix’s highest performing show of all time, but in the world of streaming you are only as good as your last series. And it seems even the Korean mega-hit wasn’t enough to attract new subscribers in sufficient numbers. The basic problem is that Netflix now has huge competition that it didn’t have a few years ago. The main rivals include Disney+, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime and HBO Plus, as well as a host of smaller services such as Hulu (not to mention those in China such as TenCent and Baidu). And together they are investing vast amounts in content in what many see as a golden age for TV. According to one estimate, the top five streaming companies invested $100bn in content last year, with Disney+ leading the pack with a total $30bn outlay, compared with Netflix at $17.4bn.

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And if you don’t keep investing, or you don’t have enough hits, then you risk your subscribers defecting to the competition, since most households can’t afford to pay for all the different services. Netflix is profitable – according to analysts MoffettNathanson it will make around $5bn in 2022 from $33bn of revenue – but its profitability is beginning to falter, and the streaming giant has huge debts that it has accrued over the past decade. All of which has led some commentators and investors to revise their view of the streaming business, which was previously seen as a media game-changer. Michael Nathanson, co-founder of researcher MoffettNathanson, said in a note: “We question whether or not streaming is a good business.” He added that “streamers have to continuously spend on new content to grab and hold new members”. So far the platform has held out against advertising, building its revenues entirely on a subscription model, but there are some who still believe that will have to change eventually – even if it’s a question of offering an ad-funded version as an alternative to subscription, to attract more viewers. In any case, for now investors seem to have largely turned their back. The Netflix share price was $384 at the end of January, down from $690 at the end of October – a fall of almost 45%, and far higher than the overall drop in tech stocks. One person who doesn’t think the glory days are over is hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who snapped up $1.1bn of stock after the latest fall, and said: “Many of our best investments have emerged when other investors, whose time horizons are short term, discard great companies at prices that look extraordinarily attractive when one has a long-term horizon.” To find out if he’s right, tune in for the next series.

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February/March 2022 61

Directory To advertise in the directory in print or online contact Carl Methven on carl.methven@blglobal.co.uk

Unleash the Power of Automations with Agile Automations Agile Automations specialise in developing bespoke Robotic Process Automations (RPA) and Robotic Desktop Automations (RDA), putting automation at the very heart of your organisation’s infrastructure. An organisation – where employees perform predictable, rule lead, highvolume, transactional processes and data manipulation – will boost their capabilities, increase accuracy, save money and time with RPA. Our robotics act with outstanding efficiency and accuracy, 24 hours a day, while offering enhanced Risk & Governance controls, sometimes eliminating the need for human engagement altogether. At Agile Automations, we do not use any robotics platforms, which allows us to offer a complete, yet flexible solution, for our clients; each automation is bespoke, designed to their unique individual requirements, without any need to compromise. This results in an enhanced Return on Investment. Just as we have seen robots revolutionise manufacturing – by increasing production rates, improving quality and cost savings – RPA is revolutionising the way we think about business processes. To find out how Agile Automations could automate your business, please do not hesitate to contact our CEO Martin Keelagher Email: rpa@agileautomations.co.uk Website: www.agileautomations.co.uk Twitter: twitter.com/AAutomations LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ agile-automations/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ AgileAutomations/

62 february/march 2022

Deloitte is the leading provider of Audit & Assurance, Tax & Legal, Consulting, Financial Advisory and Risk Advisory services. More than 345,000 professionals across 150+ countries and territories at Deloitte deliver measurable, lasting results. We reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way towards a stronger economy, a more equitable society and a sustainable world. Deloitte employs over 200 professionals in our combined Islands & Gibraltar business, that is part of Deloitte UK and the wider North South Europe network. Alongside our market-leading Audit & Assurance and Tax & Legal services, Deloitte’s Island & Gibraltar Advisory team is focused on digital transformation, ESG services, regulatory advice and transactional support. Our organisation has grown in both scale and capabilities, and our shared culture and mission, to make an impact that matters, remains unchanged. This is evident in our WorldClass ambition, WorldClimate initiative and ALL IN diversity and inclusion strategy. Jo Huxtable - Tax Partner, Guernsey D: +44 1481 703 308 jhuxtable@deloitte.co.uk Adam Cichocki - Advisory Partner, Jersey D: +44 1534 824 393 acichocki@deloitte.co.uk Theo Brennand - Audit Partner, Jersey D: +44 1534 824 396 tbrennand@deloitte.co.uk

Fiduchi is a leading independent financial services company providing solutions to high-net-worth individuals and businesses around the globe. Our independence ensures we have the flexibility to deliver bespoke solutions - that’s what makes us different! Over 25 years, our director-led teams have built long-term valued relationships with clients and their professional advisors, ensuring a pragmatic and trusted approach to their wealth structuring needs. Using the latest technological cloud-based solutions ensures we have the flexibility to deliver timely and innovative solutions that our clients require. Visit our website to see the comprehensive range of services we provide in the following areas: l Private Wealth l Corporate Services l Fund Services l Yacht Services l Employee Services For more information, visit www.fiduchi.com Alternatively, you can contact: Robert Ayliffe - Executive Director Tel: +44 7700 349 750 Heidi Thompson - Executive Director Tel: +44 7797 966 408 Terry Northcott - Executive Director Tel: +44 7797 715 421 Follow us: Dubai / Jersey / London Fiduchi is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Full legal, data and regulatory notices are published on our website. Fiduchi® is a registered trademark of Fiduchi Group Limited.

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We are IQ-EQ, a leading investor services group that brings together a rare combination of global technical expertise and deep understanding of clients’ individual needs. We have the know-how and the ‘know you’ to provide a comprehensive range of compliance, administration, asset and advisory services to fund managers, multinational companies, family offices and private clients operating worldwide. We act as a trusted partner to our clients, helping them to invest and preserve their capital in a sustainable and compliant manner. IQ-EQ employs a global workforce of 3,400+ professionals located in 23 jurisdictions, giving us a genuine global reach. We have assets under administration (AUA) exceeding US$500 billion. In the Channel Islands, we have 380 people across our Jersey and Guernsey offices and our expert, director-led private wealth, corporate and fund administration teams work closely with a wide array of international clients as well as their advisers. To find out more and discuss your specific requirements, please contact: Mirek Gruna Chief Commercial Officer, Jersey E: Mirek.Gruna@iqeq.com T: +44 (0)1534 714 486 Jacques Vermeulen Chief Commercial Officer, Guernsey E: Jacques.Vermeulen@iqeq.com T: +44 (0)1481 231 941 For more information about IQ-EQ’s global service offering, please visit iqeq.com IQ EQ (Jersey) Limited and IQ EQ Fund Services (Jersey) Limited are regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. IQ EQ (Guernsey) Limited is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. IQ EQ Management (Guernsey) Limited is licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1987. IQ EQ Depositary Company (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom under firm reference number 481843.

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KPMG in the Crown Dependencies is a leading professional firm that delivers audit, tax and advisory services. Operating across the islands of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, it is a standalone, locally led partnership with over 450 members of staff. The combined practice forms a core part of the KPMG Islands Group, made up of International Financial Centres and Overseas Territories spanning a sub-region which extends from Malta to the Caribbean. This grouping works closely with other KPMG practices in major global financial centres such as London and New York, ensuring that clients can benefit from an optimal blend of local and global expertise from KPMG’s network. KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. It operates in 146 countries and territories with over 220,000 people working in member firms around the world. Find out more at https://home.kpmg/cds Contact details: Neale Jehan Senior Partner KPMG in the Crown Dependencies E: njehan@kpmg.com T: +44 (0) 1481 721000

Ogier provides legal advice on BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg law. Our network of locations also includes Hong Kong, London, Shanghai and Tokyo. Legal services for the corporate and financial sectors form the core of the business, principally in the areas of banking and finance, corporate, investment funds, dispute resolution, private equity and private wealth. Ogier has strong practices in the areas of employee benefits and incentives, employment law, regulatory, restructuring and insolvency and property. We are a registered listing agent for The International Stock Exchange (TISE, formerly known as The Channel Islands Securities Exchange or CISE) and frequently advise companies listing on other exchanges whether offshore or onshore. We also provide pan-Island legal services for local Channel Islands businesses and individuals. Contact: Guernsey Redwood House St Julian’s Avenue St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 1WA T +44 (0)1481 721672 E gsy@ogier.com Jersey 44 Esplanade St Helier Jersey Channel Islands JE4 9WG T +44 (0)1534 514000 E jsy@ogier.com Website: www.ogier.com

february/march 2022 63

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BL Magazine, Issue 76, February/March 2022

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