60 second interview with Raul-Angelo Papotti, Chiomenti
As part of our 60 second interview series, Citywealth spoke to Raul-Angelo Papotti, Head of Tax and Tax Planning at Chiomenti in Milan about listening to clients and understanding what it is that really worries them.
Tell me about your role.
I am a partner and head of the tax department at Chiomenti.
Walk us through your daily routine.
I wake up naturally quite early (around 6 AM). I do some yoga if I am not too rushed. Then I wake up my son and have breakfast with him. I drop him at the school bus stop and by 8 AM I am in the office. If I do not have lunch appointments with clients or colleagues I may fit in swimming or the gym over the lunch break then it’s back to work again until at least 8 PM. Then dinner and by midnight to bed.
Tell us about a recent client instruction.
An important European family moving to Italy with a host of tax and non-tax issues to deal with, also related to important real estate investments. The presence in the structure of different trusts created interesting technical issues.
What is the most challenging issue your clients are facing currently, and how are you helping your clients to overcome it?
In these days asset protection and succession planning are some of the most relevant issues that clients want us to help them with. I believe that beside the technical support what is really needed from a client’s perspective is advisors capable of listening carefully and understanding which are the real issues to be dealt with, the client’s inner fears and what really worries him/her. Then the solution is most of the times easy to find. So I would say understanding and careful listening is the way to help clients.
What is your proudest professional achievement to date?
I count many, all those cases where I can see clients happy and relieved and where a nice personal relationships starts beyond work. I am grateful to those clients and friends.
What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?
Being fair, humble and quick in taking decisions.
Who do you most admire and why?
I admire people full of integrity and especially persons being considerate towards others.
Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?
Amsterdam for work.
If you weren’t in the private client industry, what else might you be doing?
Surgeon or shrink. But definitely in the medical field.
How do you relax after a long day?
Sport, listening to music or reading a book. Although with lots of reading for work the last option is often left out.
Best piece of advice for Generation Z?
Being considerate to others and humble in being creative in any subject they might be interested in. Anything is important as long as you do it with intensity and passion.