Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Susie Hillier

Date: 07 Feb 2024

Ashleigh John

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Susie Hillier, Head of Wealth Planning at Stonehage Fleming.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I’m Head of Wealth Planning, our FCA regulated independent wealth planning business, which looks after the UK based clients of the multi-family office Stonehage Fleming. I joined back in 2011, having spent the majority of my career prior to this within accountancy firms – always focussed on planning and strategy for private clients.   Our client base ranges from business owners and entrepreneurs to individuals in professional services through to private equity partners and hedge fund managers. We support individuals and families throughout their lives in the UK, as well as internationally.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day to day life is pretty varied and I don’t tend to have a typical day! I work in a people business – I spend a lot of time with our clients, really getting to know them and their situation.  I enjoy working with our professional connections identifying how we can work together to support our mutual clients.  I’m a strong advocate that you are only as good as your people around you, and so I enjoy spending a lot of my time building and supporting the team and working closely alongside them. Believe it or not I even enjoy investment committee and compliance meetings!

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions.

The work we do for our clients, and the situations that they come to us with, are often incredibly varied. There tends to be a trigger in their life that prompts people to come to us – exciting triggers such as an entrepreneur selling their business, a professional retiring or the inter-generational transfer of wealth by parents.  But there are other triggers such as a health scare, death or divorce.  In all these cases our role is not just purely as a financial strategist but also as a stabilising supportive figure  We have practical experience of working with families and helping them navigate the key issues that are common amongst many.  One interesting piece of work we are currently working on is supporting a non-dom client with a substantial UK inheritance tax exposure through our bespoke underwriting approach for insurance.

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

At the moment,  there’s clearly political uncertainty, so we are helping our clients plan for different eventualities. We also have lots of conversations with our clients on the purpose of their wealth, which is becoming especially prominent in respect of how to pass wealth to the next generation or support philanthropic endeavours. We are very engaged with the next-gen and help with their financial education.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

I think for me my proudest professional achievement (so far) is having a role that I love and getting here even when I didn’t work that hard at school!  All I did was play sport and I don’t have a 1^st class degree from a university like most of my team.  I started at the bottom so today understand the importance of every role that supports our clients.  I studied to gain the technical qualifications but learned so much more than can be gained from a text book. I think it’s important to understand that not everything can be taught through traditional means of education – interpersonal skills, empathy, story-telling comes through experience. I’m also incredibly proud of the fantastic team here at Stonehage Fleming.

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

To me the most important attributes of a leader is to lead by example and to listen to your team. We all spend so much time together (sometimes too much!) it’s important to build trust, develop strong working relationships but also to be able to enjoy team life and to have fun.

Who do you most admire and why?

I would have to say my parents and now my sister, through the values that were instilled into both of us from childhood. My sister always knew that she wanted to be a nurse and after nearly 40 years working in the NHS she has worked at top management and was recently awarded an OBE ‘for her contribution to the NHS particularly during Covid 19’. Her dedication and passion to her role is a true testament to working hard and achieving your goals and something hopefully we both picked up during our childhood.

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

My husband and I went to Morocco last year (before the earthquake) and loved the culture, people and the food.

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

When I was younger, I had my heart set on being a PE teacher, but I damaged my knee in my last year of school so changed direction.  But I did become one of those annoying parents on the side lines of lacrosse pitches, netball or tennis courts!

How do you relax after a long day?

Far too late at night my daughter at university and I start sharing Tiktok’s via WhatsApp!  I am also whizzing through Grey’s Anatomy on train journeys or before bedtime.  Both help me unwind but don’t help me to switch off the light and get sleep!

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