Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Francesca Boschini, Deutsche Bank

Date: 17 Jul 2024

Ashleigh John

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Francesca Boschini, Head of International Wealth Planning & Insurance Solutions for Deutsche Bank Wealth Management.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

As Head of International Wealth Planning and Insurance Solutions for Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, I lead the cross-border estate and tax planning practice and the insurance planning platform of the Private Bank at Deutsche Bank in the United States. I support private banking teams that work with clients in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and in Asia providing technical assistance on wealth planning and insurance planning matters to those clients and working with them to develop and execute solutions for their complex global wealth preservation, estate and insurance planning needs. Our clients often have sophisticated needs that require deep knowledge, expertise, and attention to detail as we tailor our solutions to our client’s bespoke needs.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day starts quite early with video calls with colleagues and clients in Europe, I might have then several meetings to attend in the office in NY with clients and their advisors such as family offices, attorneys, accountants, etc. Later in the afternoon, after a possible video call with some of our colleagues and their clients in the west coast, I usually make sure to have time to meet internally with the different teams and my colleagues. I also make sure to spend time with our juniors’ colleagues for mentorship meetings with our interns or analysts. Occasionally, I will travel for a few days of work-related meetings or for external professional forums and conferences, such as Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners( STEP) conferences, Institute for Family Governance (IFG) workshops and conferences, Bar Association events, etc. We also will host special Deutsche Bank sponsored events, such as our CIO Round Tables with clients, Next Gen seminars, and our art related events for Frieze.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions you have received.

Recently, we have seen a number of clients expressing interest in moving their families and businesses from the U.S. and Latin America to Europe and the United Kingdom. Switzerland, Italy, and the UK are countries where most of the clients are looking to move for a mix of reasons, including buying power with the strong dollar, quality of life, educational system for their children, and for some tax planning benefits.

We also continue to see a good number of European and Latin American clients looking to move to the U.S. as geopolitical instability has triggered some clients to diversify their country risks. However, the U.S. remains the country where most of the world wealth continues to be created and grows, continuing to attract therefore wealthy global investors. For all of these clients, compliant pre-immigration planning is paramount, generating a lot of work for me and my team. On the U.S. side, political uncertainties and the sunset provisions in the current tax laws that could take effect on January 1, 2026 will cause a substantial reduction in the Lifetime estate and gift tax exemption for US domiciled individuals. As such, we are seeing increased activity on gifting and any related planning such as gifting to individuals, irrevocable trusts, dynasty trusts, etc.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

In the past years, a number of compliance and reporting rules to promote transparency, tax compliance and proper corporate governance have been implemented at the US and global level. While this is welcomed news for industry practitioners that feel they were much needed, these rules are complex; some of them keep being updated and new ones are frequently implemented to complement this complex system. Therefore, we have to ensure we are knowledgeable and up-to-date on the implementation of these rules, so we can assist our clients and their advisors to ensure they stay well informed of all of the up to date rules to comply with. This is particularly important when dealing with cross border transaction, so any investment outside of the client’s country of residence or move to a different country is done in a proper and compliant way. Working with clients and their external advisors we ensure this is done on an on-going basis.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

In my many years in business, I have been blessed to be recognized by both my past and present employers and by the professional and client community with several awards including Chairman and Executive Council Awards and the Citywealth Leaders List, amongst others. I have also had the opportunity to work with great colleagues and clients, which has enabled me to learn a lot from each one of them. However, nothing can beat a nice and unexpected thank you note from a colleague or a client on a work well done, recognizing the positive impact provided to the clients and their family with such work!

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

Strong listening skills and hard work coupled with patience and humility are the most important attributes for a leader.

Who do you most admire and why?

There are so many people, well known and not, that I admire and that inspire me every day, including all of the working parents I know, who are juggling parenthood and demanding jobs every day for their family’s well-being!

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

Miami, Florida. 

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

I would have loved to be involved in the art world. Art is one of my and my family’s passions, together with history. Both art and history inspire us and help us learn about the past to hopefully help forge a better present and future. Luckily often I get to marry this passion with my work, as one of the areas we focus on at Deutsche Bank within our wealth planning team is art planning and art lending.

How do you relax after a long day?

I relax after a long day by reading a good book or watching a good movie with my family.  

You can view Francesca’s profile on the Leaders List here.