The bank has appointed Jane Niles as chief executive.

She is taking over the role from Brendan Stewart, who is stepping down after five years.

Niles joined Investec in 2016, initially leading the corporate and family office segment, and more recently, acting as head of offshore real estate and head of lending.

Irwin Mitchell

The law firm and advice group has named Craig Marshall as group chief executive.

This is following the death of the firm’s former chief executive Andrew Tucker.

Marshall joined Irwin Mitchell in 2007 when the firm merged with Scottish law firm Golds before being appointed chief executive of Irwin Mitchell’s personal legal services division from 2014 to April 2021.

He then became group chief operating officer in 2021.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM)

The asset manager has named Pauline Plunkett as chief executive of its European operation and managing director of Ireland, subject to regulatory and board approvals.

She was previously head of insurance clients, having joined LGIM in March 2014.

Brown Shipley

The Quintet Private Bank subsidiary has hired Andrew Kyle as chief financial officer, subject to regulatory approval.

Kyle, who served as chief financial officer of Coutts for the previous five years, will join Brown Shipley in October 2023 as chief financial officer designate, working alongside the firm’s outgoing chief financial officer Andrew Curran, who will retire in March 2024 after serving at the UK private bank for over 20 years.

Standard Chartered

Mike Tan has joined the bank as global head of wealth planning and family advisory.

He was most recently part of the wealth advisory team at JP Morgan NA, Singapore.

Lombard Odier

The wealth manager has appointed Alexandre Meyer as managing partner.

Meyer joined Lombard Odier 25 years ago.

Annika Falkengren, who joined the group in 2017, has decided to step down as managing partner at the end of 2023.

MKC Wealth

The independent wealth management firm has appointed Rick Eling as managing director of its authorised investment management business MKC Investment Management.

He joins from Quilter, where he was latterly head of adviser propositions and spent four years as investment director of its advice network Quilter Financial Planning.

Alexander Peter Wealth Management

Claire Taylor has joined the advice firm as a transatlantic financial planner.

She was previously at Forth Capital, where she was an international planner.

Indosuez Wealth Management

The global wealth management arm of Crédit Agricole Group has named Emile Salawi as head of the Middle East.

He joined Indosuez Wealth Management in 2020 as head of key clients and family offices of CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA.

EFG

The company has named Francesca Speroni as team leader and deputy head of private banking of EFG Private Bank, the UK private banking arm of EFG International.

Speroni has joined EFG from Credit Suisse, where she was a managing director and served as team leader UK for more than five years.

Earlier this year, EFG also hired Inbal Shiloach as client relationship officer focusing on Israeli ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI).

She joined the bank from Julius Baer, where she spent 12 years and most recently served as head of Israel out of London.

Vivian Yuen also joined EFG in London earlier this year as client relationship officer with responsibility for UHNWIs based in Hong Kong and Greater China.

She previously worked for Julius Baer Hong Kong, where she was most recently an associate manager serving private clients booked in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.

HSBC

The UK private banking arm has recruited a team of relationship managers in its London office.

Phil Aleppo will lead the team and joins from Credit Suisse where he led a team of ultra-high net worth and high net worth bankers in the UK domestic team.

Joining the team are Henri Etchegoyen, Brad Werner, Usmaan Aziz and Oliver Beasant.

Elsewhere, Lok Yim has been named as regional head of global private banking, Asia Pacific.

Yim joins HSBC on a designate basis on 1 November and commences formally on 1 January 2024, subject to regulatory approval.

Yim succeeds Siew Meng Tan, who is retiring after an almost forty-year career in banking.

He joins HSBC from Deutsche Bank where he spent 16 years, most recently as chief executive for Hong Kong SAR.

Belasko

The financial services provider has appointed Alex Le Prevost as associate director.

Le Prevost was previously at Suntera Global, where he was a senior trust manager.

UBS

Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi will join the firm’s chief investment office as head chief investment officer for equities, effective 23 October 2023.

Hoffmann-Burchardi joins from Tudor Investment Corporation, where she has been a partner and senior portfolio manager since 2009.

Holborn Assets

The Dubai-based firm is launching a major expansion of its residency and citizenship investment (RCBI) division.

It has appointed Pablo Ostrick to be the managing director of its RCBI unit, known as Holborn Pass.

In his new role, Ostrick will hire 25 advisers this year to work alongside the firm’s 250 wealth managers.

He was previously general manager of Holborn Pass.

Macquarie Asset Management

Henry Middleton has joined the firm as managing director and head of wealth distribution for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

He was previously at Barings, where he most recently led its US institutional and global wealth distribution activities.

Recent research revealed that high net worth individuals (HNWIs) are struggling to make plans to transfer their wealth. It found that 40% do not have a formal inheritance plan, due to the complexity of dividing their assets fairly – and that half (50%) have not shared details of where assets are held, how they intend to divide them or how much they are worth.

International Adviser spoke with Progeny, Succession Wealth, Blevins Franks, Arbuthnot Latham, Brown Shipley, Blacktower, Schroders, the Fry Group and Canada Life why the topic of inheritance is a problem for HNWIs and whether advisers and wealth managers are doing enough to address this.

‘Financial advice industry needs to do a better job’

Neil Moles, chief executive at Progeny, said: “Transferring money to the next generation is an ambition for many, yet there is a stark lack of any structured planning in evidence. This creates risk and missed opportunities for those on both sides of the inheritance divide.

“In the years ahead, we will see more families having more complex requirements when it comes to passing on their wealth to the next generation. In these circumstances, financial advice and lifetime financial planning will be more important than ever.

“It’s clear that we in the financial advice industry need to do a better job of demonstrating our strengths and showing how we can help families with their estate planning.

“Our role is to create the space for constructive, multigenerational conversation within families, allowing them to make important decisions about transferring wealth in a supportive and informed environment.

“We have an opportunity to reconsider inheritance and intergenerational-wealth-transfer planning as a responsibility for those who are giving and those who are receiving to share, bringing clarity and peace of mind to both.”

‘Ensure everyone is involved’

Alice Shaw, wealth planner at Succession Wealth, says that while it is a tricky subject, it can be beneficial to get everyone round the table.

“With the freezing of the nil-rate band, inheritance tax (IHT) planning has become even more crucial when discussing financial planning with clients,” Shaw said. “The subject of IHT planning can be a sensitive subject as it inevitably involves the death of a loved one. However, once the conversation is started, financial plans can be structured that benefit the clients and their intended beneficiaries.

“Where suitable, it is always constructive to involve family members and intended beneficiaries such as children in these discussions to ensure everyone involved is on the same page. This can be challenging as often children/beneficiaries of the clients may have very different financial situations themselves and therefore the client may wish to assist them in different ways.

“Equally, beneficiaries/children/grandchildren may feel that they would benefit more from funds at different stages, such as from gifts in the client’s lifetime in order to assist with school fees, fund a house purchase or assist a grandchild with private-education fees for example.

“It can be a balancing act between reducing the estate to mitigate a potentially large IHT bill and ensuring the clients have sufficient funds in order to maintain their lifestyle and pay for the cost of long-term care should this need arise in the future. Discussions around the client’s wishes in the event of long-term care, any desire to downsize in the future and plans for any significant capital expenditure all form part of these discussions.

‘Start the conversations early’

Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, also emphasises that it’s a case of the sooner the better, when it comes to discussing IHT planning.

He said: “The nil-rate band for IHT has been frozen for more than a decade and as a result is woefully lagging behind inflation. While IHT has historically been a tax of the very wealthy this is no longer the case. With property prices soaring and most personal tax allowances including the standard and residence nil rate band frozen, this is now a concern for larger sections of society as the IHT tax net widens.

“It is important people have these discussions about IHT planning with advisers earlier in life, and potentially include wider family, such as children, within any decisions which are made.”

Where in the world?

Jason Porter, business development manager at Blevins Franks, highlighted the key factor of location of family members for effective planning.

“People are far more mobile now, and those with wealth are even more so, “Porter said. “As a result, it is quite common to see a wealthy family spread across three-four countries. This will significantly increase the complexity of an estate in terms of probate, conflicting succession law and the estate taxes payable.

“While the aim might be to try and equalise what each child receives from an estate, if one chooses to relocate to another country, then that can result in quite different estate tax liabilities on what might be the same assets.

“Trying to keep on top of these kinds of events and their impact is why the services generally only reserved for those benefiting from a family office or similar need to be made available to a wider audience.”

Swept under the rug for another day

John Westwood, group chairman at Blacktower, points to the risks of unfortunate consequences from avoiding the topic.

“It is an unfortunate truth that many families still feel uncomfortable discussing inheritance planning due to its inextricable association with death and grief,” Westwood said. “Regrettably, it is a topic that people find all too easy to sweep under the rug for another day, only for the conversation to never take place.

“While this might be the easier option in the short term, when it comes to the practical implications of this, after a loved one’s death, things become astronomically more stressful if the proper preparations have not been put in place.”

Huw Wedlock, director of The Fry Group Singapore office, also warned that lack of planning can become a thorny legal issue.

He added: “Inheritance remains a complex and sensitive subject for many HNWIs and their families. We often see cases where plans to address important issues have been ignored, being deemed too complex or difficult to discuss, and are then set aside for another day.

“We also see out of date or unsuitable wills and estate plans which fail to deliver on the individual’s final wishes. Not properly planning, documenting and communicating wishes can be a source of contention and dispute within a family, sometimes involving the courts.

“Emotions can run high when considering inheritance, and this is often why people shy away from the topic. HNWIs can have complex financial affairs − perhaps involving overseas assets and complicated trusts − which might not be particularly liquid and potentially difficult to distribute fairly to chosen beneficiaries.”

‘Sometimes you must challenge them’

Chris Allen, director of wealth planning at Arbuthnot Latham, also said advisers must help their clients to overcome reluctance to discuss inheritance.

“For me, talking about inheritance is not taboo. Clients come to us for advice and there needs to be a wide-ranging conversation to ensure we truly understand our clients and what their goals are. Sometimes you must challenge them to consider what happens when they pass away and if they are comfortable with the current structure of the legacy they would leave.

“No one likes to consider their own mortality, but if you do not have these conversations, then you are not providing a full wealth-planning service. People are not as squeamish as you might think, even if they have not thought about it before.

“No one considers looking after their loved ones to be a taboo subject. It does not mean you need to be insensitive in the conversation; in fact, it can bring comfort to people knowing that the decisions they make now can continue to benefit their loved ones after they are gone.”

‘Contentious issue’

Rebecca Williams, head of wealth planning at Brown Shipley, added: “Many HNWIs have not made formal inheritance plans for many reasons, including the complexity of dividing their assets fairly. Dividing assets between immediate and sometimes extended families can be a contentious issue and can be particularly challenging for individuals who have large estates.

“Business owners may face additional complications when considering wealth transfer, particularly since businesses will often be an individual’s most valuable assets. Recent Brown Shipley research uncovered that one in five six-figure earners’ wealth comes from running a business. If the family business is passed to one child, the owner may want to consider leaving personal assets to other children. If the business is sold the value of the individual’s estate, and likely IHT liability, will materially increase. Conversations around the future financial security of the business owner and passing on wealth are key.

“Wealth advisers understand and advocate for ongoing conversations with families that facilitate the most effective means of wealth management and inheritance planning. Knowledge and information sharing from advisers to clients aims to simplify a system that can be complicated and ensure that inheritance planning can be as informed and efficient a process as possible.”

Gillian Hepburn, head of UK intermediary solutions at Schroders, emphasised the importance of advisers having good communication skills.

“Family conversations about passing on wealth are often difficult and can be made more so in the case of blended families, or when there is an unequal distribution of wealth among siblings or the intention is to skip a generation,” she added. “To navigate these issues, advisers need excellent soft skills, empathy and a good understanding of some of the potential challenges.”

‘Honest and open’

Fry Group’s Wedlock also said that clients need to communicate clearly and advisers can help with this.

He said: “It’s safe to say that many people aren’t comfortable talking about inheritance and succession planning. With blended families, the conversations can be even more difficult, especially if there are added factors including divorce and remarriage.

“It’s important to be honest and open, and not to leave any surprises in terms of how wealth is going to be shared out. A professional adviser can play an important and impartial role in helping to facilitate difficult conversations among family members.

“Having a will that is up to date, reviewed regularly, and appointing a professional executor that can act alongside family members, are constituent parts of a good estate planning strategy.”

Paul Russell has been named chief information officer at Canada Life.

He previously founded start-up Upside Saving where he also served as chief technology officer.

Edmond de Rothschild

Private bank and asset manager Edmond de Rothschild has made two senior hires to expand its presence in the Middle East.

Manuel Sturm becomes chief operating officer for the Middle East and Africa market, while Saman Habibian is market leader Middle East and Africa.

Sturm was most recently chief of staff for the Middle East and Africa region at Bank Pictet in Zurich, while Habibian was head of Middle East at the bank.

PraxisIFM

The independent financial services group has promoted Katja Daborn to managing director of its Hong Kong office.

She has been with the firm for nearly 15 years.

Ninety One

The global investment manager recruited Daisy Streatfield as sustainability director.

She will be responsible for implementing the firm’s net zero commitments across the business and within portfolios.

Streatfield was previously at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change where she served as programme director.

HanETF

The Europe-based white label Ucits ETF issuer has made three senior hires.

Vincent Chen joins as business development director, Torsten Dueing as head of ETC structuring, and Himanshi Rastogi as director of marketing.

Chen joins from Krane Fuds Advisors where he worked as executive director; Dueing was at Nomura where he was responsible for the development and product management of index-linked quantitative strategies; while Rastogi used to work for Aviva Investors as global lead for institutional marketing.

Brown Shipley

Mark Flynn will take on the role of managing director and head of Scotland at the private bank from June 2022.

He will join from Barclays Private Bank where he is head of private banking for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Rathbone Greenbank Investments

Rathbone Investment Management’s ESG arm has made three hires.

Christophe Borysiewicz and Jonathan Moon will become investment directors, while Stephanie Sotiriou will be an assistant investment manager.

Borysiewicz joined the firm in 2021 from Epworth Investment Management, while Moon was previously at Sanlam Private Office. Sotiriou joins from Tam Asset Management where she was responsible for managing ethical portfolios.

Kleinwort Hambros

The wealth firm has made three senior hires in its Gibraltar client relationship management team.

Joe Bautista and David Isted have taken on the roles of private bankers while Carlos Ibanez becomes head of fixed income.

They all join from J Safra Sarasin.

City of London Police

The City of London Police’s insurance fraud enforcement department has promoted Tom Hill to head of the unit.

He was previously detective chief inspector and has been with the force for over 15 years.

Eddy Reynolds will succeed Martin Andrew as chief executive on 7 March, after he leaves to pursue “the next stage of his career”.

Most recently, Reynolds was managing director of Standard Life Savings.

Janus Henderson

Director and head of investment trusts James de Sausmarez will retire on 30 June 2022.

Deputy head of investment trusts Dan Howe will succeed him.

De Sausmarez has led the investment trusts business since 2005 and joined Touche Remnant, a Henderson legacy firm, in 1986.

Howe joined the company in October 2021 from JP Morgan Asset Management where, since 2018, he was executive director for global strategic relationships.

Brown Shipley

The UK private bank has made nine hires to expand its presence in the east of England, specifically in Cambridge and Norwich.

Simon Smith becomes managing director as he joins from Barclays Wealth & Investment Management where he served as regional director, east region.

The other eight, who also join from Barclays Wealth & Investment Management, will become client advisers: they are Kevin Nevard, Paul Marshall, Mark Turner, David Vernon, Luke Caraccio, Warren George, Mark Harrod and James Haynes.

AllianceBernstein

The investment management business has named Patrick Groenendijk as director of Benelux institutions to bolster its distribution team in the region.

He was previously at PGGM where he worked as principal fiduciary adviser and will be based in Amsterdam.

Skybound Wealth Management

Conor Groome has taken on the role of business development manager at Dubai-based Skybound Wealth Management.

He joins from DeVere Acuma where he was a business development associate.

ValidPath

The network for independent financial advisers hired Jon Barham as commercial director, effective immediately.

He will be responsible for managing the development of the firm’s proposition for IFAs, especially for those looking to retire, grow or for a management buyout solution.

Mos recently, Barham was head of DA consultancy at Bankhall Support Services.

Director Franscesco Gaetano Caltagirone has resigned from Generali, the firm said in a statement.

He was also deputy vice-chairman, non-independent director and a member of several committees at the firm.

In a letter to the chairman, he referred to being “prevented from making his own critical contribution and from ensuring adequate control” within the board of directors, as the reasons for his departure.

Caltagirone had been part of the board since April 2007.

Brown Shipley

Calum Brewster has been promoted to chief executive of Brown Shipley, subject to regulatory approval.

He joined the private bank in February 2021 as managing director and head of private banking and client solutions.

Brewster will succeed Alan Mathewson, who served as chief executive since 2018.

Seccl

The platform technology provider has hired David Ferguson as chief executive, effective from 4 April 2022.

Ferguson was the founder and chief executive of Nucleus Financial Group until September 2021.

Seccl’s current co-chief executives Sam Handfield-Jones and Dave Harvey will continue in their roles until 4 April 2022.

After that, Harvey will focus on leading the firm’s technology and product direction, while Handfield-Jones will transition to an advisory role.

The Pension Superfund

The UK pension consolidating ‘superfund’ has named Michael Clark as chief executive.

He joins from Shell, where he worked as global head of pensions and was responsible for the governance and administration of the group’s pension arrangements.

Avellemy

The UK asset manager has promoted two senior people.

Steven Lloyd, who joined the firm at its inception in 2014 as investment director, will become managing director.

Graham Bentley, who was a non-executive director and chair of the board since 2020, will become the asset manager’s first chief investment officer.

Crestbridge

Martin Lambert has taken on the role of head of UK operations at the global provider of administration solutions, based in London.

He will also replace Paul Windsor as head of the London office, who will retire after six years as London managing director.

Lambert joins from Grant Thornton, where he worked as a partner.

Lazard Asset Management

The asset manager has appointed Nick Savastano as head of third-party distribution in the Middle East, based in Dubai.

He spent the last 14 years as a senior executive officer at Invesco Middle East and Africa.

Marlborough

The firm has brought in fund manager Nick Peters to help with the development of investment propositions.

He was previously at Fidelity International, where he worked as a multi-asset portfolio manager for nine years.

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)

The Abu Dhabi Global Market has named chief executive Mark Nicolas Cutis has his role, effective from 28 December 2021.

He joined the international financial centre in June 2021.

Ninety One

Juliana Hansveden has become portfolio manager for emerging markets sustainable equity at the independent investment manager, based in London.

She previously worked at Nordea Asset Management, where she was responsible for managing the Emerging Stars Equity and Asian Stars Equity strategies.