How we work with clients

Helping a family set-up a wealth holding vehicle in Jersey in a regulated environment

The Grover Family were concerned about asset protection. They wanted to relocate their wealth to a highly regarded jurisdiction which has the ability to structure their wealth in a flexible manner. They were also conscientious about low set-up fees and efficient ongoing costs.

Grover’s Goals

• Set-up a family wealth holding structure that allows for segregation of the family’s wealth by asset-class and investment strategies and with the option to further segregate it by individual siblings in the future if required.
• To possess a structure in a well regulated jurisdiction that offers a degree of privacy alongside a strong and established history of asset-protection.
• To possess a structure that wasn’t too expensive to set-up or maintain but also retains flexibility to move into a higher regulatory environment in the future if required.
• Flexibility to deal with a broad investment universe as the family diversify their wealth with no restrictions on asset classes. The ability to utilise leverage was also desired.

Our Recommendations

• Establish a Jersey Private Fund (the “JPF”) as an incorporated cell company to provide the required segregation of asset-base and also sibling segregation in the future. This structure ensures that varying investment strategies and asset-bases do not impinge on the other cell portfolios. A JPF offers privacy as the offering document does not need to be filed with the Jersey regulator.
• Take advantage of the fact that each JPF cell can have a separate investment advisor thus ensuring the investment advisor appointment to each cell is appropriate to the investment strategy and asset-base of that cell. This individualised approach to each cell ensures that professional expertise can be brought to bear on each cell for appropriate oversight and management of family assets if the family does not seek to be actively involved in the management of the assets. Alternatively, if the family, including the next generation, are motivated the family should consider utilising their accumulated expertise in historically familiar asset classes to build a track record enabling them to further institutionalise their expertise and perhaps eventually manage the assets of friends and family in additional cells or the assets of third parties by an advisory appointment to another vehicle.
• Confirm that investor numbers in the JPF are limited to 50 offers, with each investor required to be a 'professional' or 'eligible investor’.
• Ensure fees for setting-up and maintaining a JPF can be minimised by scaling the administration fees on an ad-valorem basis thus allowing the running costs to become more efficient as the asset-base grows.

Outcomes (To Date)

• Established the JPF which holds significant wealth and has additional incorporated cells for friends and family. The Stonehage Fleming Group provides a one-stop shop experience as Stonehage Fleming Corporate Services Jersey Limited (“SFCSJ”) provides administration, directorship and accounting services to the JPF and Stonehage Fleming Treasury (‘SFT’) provides the execution and custody services.
• SFCSJ also acts as the Designated Service Provider to the JPF, which is a legal requirement, whilst ensuring the JPF satisfies economic substance requirements in Jersey.
• The UBOs of the structure have approached Stonehage Fleming for additional services in Corporate Services and Family Office.

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.