How we work with clients

Creating a structured approach to charitable giving

The Van Olst family’s wealth was generated through the sale of a first generation business in the transportation sector. The second generation, with young children, have stewarded the proceeds successfully as financial professionals in the private equity space. They have a strong background in philanthropy.

The Van Olsts' goals:

• Develop a broader ‘family office’ style relationship, taking a holistic view across all assets, planning and implementing the smooth transfer of wealth to the next generation.
• Simplify their investment portfolio and reduce reliance on personal relationships built over many years in the investment business.
• Set up a charitable foundation to align their existing philanthropic activities and family values.

Our recommendations:

• Our Legal and Philanthropy teams helped the family plan their charitable giving, making suggestions as to giving in a systematic and thoughtful way
• Our Family Office teams in London and Jersey reviewed the the van Olsts’ existing structures and made recommendations to maximise tax efficiency and meet their long-term needs.
• Our Investment Management team sourced and evaluated external investment managers, made recommendations on transitioning legacy private equity exposures and sourced alternative investment options.

Outcomes (so far):

• Establishment of four family trusts for which our Family Office team in London and Jersey act as fiduciaries and trustees.
• Our Investment Management team now provide oversight as gatekeeper for the family’s investment assets, amounting to c.GBP60m, carrying out quarterly manager performance reviews negotiating all fees.
• An ethically constrained portfolio directly invested in global equities was established for the eldest daughter alongside an income-oriented mandate to meet UK expenditure requirements.
• Sophisticated, expert reports are generated for the client from multiple data sources to give a holistic overview of their portfolios - showing both lifestyle assets, including art and property and their investments against benchmarks.
• Stonehage Fleming Law worked with the client to set up a charitable foundation for lifetime funding and to receive 10% of their wealth at death.

Disclaimer: Please note, all case studies have been carefully anonymised. Although scenarios are based on real life events they have been fictionalised and are an amalgamation of client experiences. All names, locations and occupations have been replaced with pseudonyms.