We have been approached by a private bank to act as an outsourced wealth planning team and enhance their offering to the external market.

The services included were:

Assistance with creating a network of External Service Providers to act as a source of business referrals for the bank;

Project management of a network of advisers and service delivery in respect of various projects for UHNW clients;

Assistance with family governance and transitioning of wealth to the next generation whilst considering the current political environment and unrest;

Wealth planning and highlighting issues affecting the bank’s clients and assisting them with sourcing the appropriate advisers for the specialist advice; and

Providing wealth planning content and speakers for client events.

A recent case included a highly successful, first generation UK based real estate entrepreneur.

The client approached KPO with a concern around the lack of a contingency plan in the event of an unforeseen interruption in the usual course of business. The scenario was considering the top management which consisted of four key individuals being “out of action” unexpectedly and the associated impact on the business’s efficient operation.

We assisted by working with the client to undertake an independent, external assessment of the current business governance framework and devised a contingency plan to factor in unforeseen eventualities whilst setting out robust mechanisms to address them and ensure minimum impact on the business.

One of our recent engagements involved acting as a family office for a UK based hedge fund entrepreneur.

Constantly active in the space, our client had set up a number of businesses following the sale of an earlier business several years before. Whilst her commercial interests were taking up a large proportion of her time, the client required assistance with managing the impact on her family and their future.

KPO initially assisted with a review of the client’s existing assets and wealth holding structures and, together with the client, drafted a framework for diversifying structuring risk. This was identified as a key long term goal for the client.

At the same time, KPO assisted with consideration of succession planning matters with a focus on asset protection and provided advice on potential avenues for dynastic planning in line with the client’s objectives.

A further concern for the client was the impact of the UK’s uncertain political scene on the family’s wealth and the advice was tailored to factor this in. The goal was to assist the client with devising a suitable strategy suitable for her and her family’s needs in light of her wealth structuring objectives.

Throughout the project, KPO assisted with sourcing and coordinating other advisers as required by the client and project managing their services. Other ad-hoc family office services were also part of the service.

We were instructed by a non-UK resident tech entrepreneur to assist with the sale of one of his businesses worth approx. $500m.

The client had accumulated a substantial amount of wealth from numerous ventures across the globe and was considering exiting and monetizing one of the businesses having spotted a unique opportunity.

Initially, we assisted the client with understanding the myriad of legal and administrative requirements attached to such a sale and introduced him to a number of our close professional contacts including lawyers, accountants and corporate finance houses to assist him with progressing matters efficiently and discreetly.

We were later on asked to assist with sourcing professional help in the run up to an Initial Coin Offering that our client was planning for another venture. Another focus was sourcing a UK property as well as a holiday home.

Other areas where we assisted included reputation management and cyber security as well as philanthropy Throughout the engagement we worked closely with the client to understand his medium and long term goals and constructively challenged him on some proposed action points to ensure the best possible outcome was achieved.

We assembled a team of professional advisers to support him throughout his journey whilst constantly being there to counsel him through what was a completely novel process for a serial entrepreneur.

Instruction received to complete the purchase of a 55m Super Yacht on behalf of an ultra-high net worth client.

The client already had an extensive and comprehensive family office structure in place with the group’s trust and corporate service provider and requested the group’s assistance with the search, acquisition and running of his own Super Yacht. After a detailed review of the market and analysis of Super Yachts for sale, a short list was presented to the client for consideration.

The group then concluded the acquisition of the preferred Super Yacht working closely with a number of key third party advisors including a marine lawyer, marine surveyor and debt specialist. Terms agreed with all parties were on preferential rates as a result of the group’s standing and the acquisition was concluded promptly. Further, the group dealt with all insurance, coding and flag state requirements to ensure the Super Yacht could be operated as a commercial charter yacht from day one.

The group’s fiduciary partners handled the VAT registration to ensure the Super Yacht was owned in the correct structure and fully compliant across all relevant jurisdictions.

Once the purchase was concluded the group via it’s marine and aviation division managed the process of ensuring a full crew of 13 was in place, all crew contracts and payroll requirements were dealt with accordingly and all on-going maritime compliance and flag state requirements were met. In addition all financial records and management accounts were maintained by the group’s accountancy division on a real time basis.

Shortly after the acquisition concluded the client embarked on a major overhaul and refit of the Super Yacht. Again the group assisted with the management and control of the entire project bringing it ahead of schedule and within budget. The end result has transformed a “standard” Super Yacht in to a stunning vessel that has had massive success on the charter market and provided many hours of enjoyment for the client and his family.

A leading City of London based wealth manager formed a joint venture with an established property consultancy in order to raise an investment fund. They engaged the group’s consultancy to advise on and assist with the project.

Our consultant advised on the jurisdiction, structure and format of the proposed fund, and sourced the required service providers (lawyers, auditors, domiciliary agents, administrators, tax advice etc.), negotiating favourable fee arrangements from the best available partners.

The consultancy drafted fund documentation (offering document, marketing materials, fact sheet, roadshow presentation etc.), and liaised with the regulator and service providers on an ongoing basis to keep timeframes for progress as short as possible.

As the fund approached launch, the requisite marketing registrations were completed and initial investor meetings were organised to secure seed capital. Calling on the broad experience of the group, including its considerable distribution expertise and investment power, the fund was able to launch with AUM in excess of its initial target raise.

A successful and profitable launch of a new investment fund within a 6 month timeframe leaves the fund and group well placed to continue to work together: introducing further investment, arranging roadshows, updating and assisting with information flow and relationship management with investors and service providers, as well as making deal-flow introductions.

Instruction received to source a Central London residence.

The group’s property development company sourced an elegant 6,000 sq ft, six-storey residential town house, with a mews property attached, situated just off the well-known Sloane Square. Terms were negotiated on behalf of the client and agreed with the vendor.

The group’s debt consultancy company was engaged and debt was sourced with a highly regarded private bank with flexible terms on a pure standalone basis.

Advice was sought on holding the property and resulted in the establishment of a trust structure.

The property was purchased with a plan to reconfigure the house to create a private family residence of the highest quality, tailored to contemporary living, whilst maintaining the grandeur of the formal rooms. The group’s interior design company was engaged to strip the house back to its fabric, albeit retaining the original features. A single storey basement extension will house a swimming pool and steam room and add an additional 667 sq ft to the property. The property will also incorporate 6 en-suite bedrooms, cinema room, gymnasium, wine cellar and formal dining rooms and reception rooms, all served by a lift. The creativity, expertise and attention to detail will transform a tired property in an excellent location into a desirable gem.