Happy Christmas and end-of-year thoughts from the Editor

Date: 14 Dec 2023

Ashleigh John

As we wind down for seasonal family time and holiday time-off, Citywealth CEO and Editor Karen Jones provides some final thoughts for 2023.

Dubai – money starts to move out and back to key centres like London

The money may have all gone to Dubai but some interesting comments have been made. One by Simon Hopkins, co-founder at Milltrust International a niche ESG fund manager. He says people may live and work there but they don’t want to keep their assets there, a prime opportunity to gather assets and move them out (I wonder about the AML compliance though).

In addition, a new restaurant opening – Gaia, which is well known in Dubai, has now opened in London and the crowd all looks like it is from… Dubai. So the money may have moved to Dubai but it seems it is working its way back into key economic centres that attract the rich and famous.

Litigation silver linings and dynastic trusts – can they survive AI?

The world is becoming more litigious, and it’s become reckless to assume that something won’t be disputed. How do clients and litigators both walk the line between unnecessary preparation and complacency? What is the silver lining of litigation? Is it the fact that well-handled, clever settlements have the potential to create win-win scenarios that would otherwise not be on the table?

As we see fourth gen UHNW clients diverge in their thinking and trusts splitting up, we also ask ‘can dynastic trusts survive the new technology that has arrived in the market’? Will dynasty trusts survive AI – new forms of intelligence bringing external thinking to the wealth management industry. It is a question we will debate at the Citywealth Forum.

A note on AI from Charles Kerrigan, Partner at CMS UK

“AI compliance is a substantial piece of work for all businesses for a couple of reasons. One, everyone uses AI, and two, there is AI at scale. When we go to wealth managers and other types of financial institutions, we are finding that they have hundreds, if not thousands, of AI deployments and our first question is ‘where are you using AI in the business?’. And they often are unable to point to a list; it requires some work for them to answer that question and they are often surprised at just how many deployments they have. For sure we can see that the future holds a vast compliance job. The Commission estimates €7bn in annual compliance costs.”

Crypto and tokenisation – is tokenisation the bridge to crypto?

Tokenisation is starting to look like the bridge from the tech world of crypto into the finance world as banks start to test bond issues – big brands are in a rush to be king pin in this marketplace.

As well as this, there are also investor disputes in crypto that are developing into commercial, B2B disputes. Projects are waiting for the US election in Nov 24 before launching. Slightly different approach to crypto by Isle of Man – “financial activity around crypto must relate to something you are already doing in financial market, so they have seen tweaks to existing finance legislation rather than dedicated legislation – movement now of redefining what digital assets are and how they relate to experiences we’ve seen before in the financial industry.”

Trends and themes – corporate sustainability

Corporate gifting – consensus on minimal gifting which is budget driven (weighing opportunity costs) but also awareness of the sustainability factor – not giving gifts that end up in the trash and don’t help with overall sustainability. Interesting to note the ‘Ogier plant a tree’ – Citywealth had a look, and it looks exciting and fun for staff, clients, and peers. https://www.ogier.com/ogier-forest/  

We also heard about ‘econometric modelling’ to look at £ spent against impact to the business. CRM systems and data – general sense of lack of understanding outside of marketing/BD teams on how valuable data is when properly managed and maintained – ‘black hole’ on leads is a common problem which means leads are created but is there a system to follow up? One system had marketing assess the leads, gather intel on their value, then pass along to the bd team the leads that were ‘qualified’. This helped relationship managers and bd understand the value to them and the business in the search for growth and assets.

For the next gen in the industry and a note to those who are recruiting

“Parental leave and support – generally seeing a shift towards more supportive policies and mention of other benefits on offer for working parents – mentions of a need not just of policies but a culture change in the workplace, as some senior/legacy employees remain stuck in ‘the old days.’”

Citywealth’s Top 15 People of the Year – Editor’s Choice

Greg Easton, MD, Ravenscroft, Isle of Man – for his passion and commitment to ESG – not an easy topic this year for many investment managers

Christopher Griffin, Partner, Carey Olsen, Jersey – for his deep knowledge and no nonsense attitude to funds and crypto

Rupert Pleasant, CEO, We Are Guernsey – for making a difference to Guernsey and its worldwide perception

Steven Rees Davies, Partner, Carey Olsen, Bermuda – for his charisma and can-do attitude and for making the insights into crypto fun and quantitative

Francesca Boschini, Deutsche Bank, New York – for her kindness, thoughfulness and helpfulness with our Powerwomen Awards New York

Darcy Katris, Partner, Co-Chair Family Office, Morrison Cohen, New York – for being so positive and supportive of our Powerwomen Awards New York effort

Kate Kirk, Global Director Marketing and Communications, Ogier – for left of centre and visionary thinking on sustainability

Kim Lansdown, Head of Business Development and Marketing, Mishcon de Reya – for innovation in growing the Mishcon business

James Ramsden, Co- founder and Barrister, Astraea Group – for operating at the top of the world in the biggest law cases and remaining accessible to peers

Nick Connon, CEO, and Paul Oakley, COO, Quintel intelligence – for striving for excellence in asset protection and tracing and being so supportive of the Citywealth Crypto Club

Alex Fox, Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper – high achiever, hard working, yet personable and super supportive of his staff

Charlotte Hill, Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper – for understanding excellence in advice and networking

Roni Davidowitz, Partner, Head of Private Wealth, Katten Muchin Rosenman – for her generosity and sense of purpose for the Katten business and managing an enormous workload

Josh Rubenstein, Partner, National Chair, Trust & Estates, Katten Muchin Rosenman – for charisma, charm, innovation in thinking and operating at the top of the world for decades

Charles Kerrigan, Partner, CMS – for being a serious thinker, networker and top of the world on his topic of fintech and crypto

Look forward to seeing some of you at the first event of the year, the Citywealth IFC Awards on 24^th January, with Willy our Scottish piper and a celebration of Scottish new year!

Have a great break and always let us know if we can help you.