Wealth management

Individuals and organisations helping to manage the wealth of private clients face the dual challenge of developing and maintaining strong relationships with those clients and their families whilst conforming to this highly regulated area of the financial services industry. Whether you are a private bank, investment manager, financial adviser or financial planner, you want to help your clients manage risk, preserve and enhance their wealth and make sure they value the relationship they have with you. The private wealth team at Speechly Bircham understand these challenges as we advise both private individuals and financial institutions.

We work with wealth managers based in the UK or offering products and services into the UK, whether or not through a permanent UK presence. We address the legal and tax aspects of the financial products and services you offer, regulatory controls governing the establishment, structure and conduct of day to day business activities and also work with you to co-ordinate tax, succession and estate planning for high net worth clients. The solutions we offer are sophisticated and distinctive.

We provide training and guidance for wealth managers to help enhance your client relationships and give advice on issues including regulation, trust documents, the development of funds and the tax treatment and European passporting of products and funds. 

Private banks and wealth managers come to us because we understand your world; we adopt a proactive approach, coming to you with ideas and opportunities as they arise.  Our breadth of experience and comprehensive service means that you can come to us for advice and support at any stage of your business or the relationship with your client, and be confident that we will deliver sound advice which makes sense to you and your clients.

Some examples of work we have carried out for private banks and wealth managers include:

• advising on the structuring, establishment and distribution of investment funds, investment trusts, structured products and all other types of investment products provided by the private wealth community.  The investment fund practice ranges from authorised funds such as UCITS schemes to alternative collective schemes such as real estate funds, hedge funds and private equity funds.
• advising on the establishment of a number of regulated businesses across the banking, investment management and wider financial services sector including preparing application materials and processing applications through the regulator.
• advising a number of UK and international private banks on the recent changes brought about by the EU Consumer Credit Directive which involved the preparation of loan documents, pre-contract disclosure documents, and lending and enforcement procedures.
• assisting a wealth management firm with the rewriting of all of its current client documentation covering the full range of investment services currently provided by the client.  This was an extremely large exercise involving a root and branch review of all existing client documentation and close analysis of all regulatory issues arising.
• working with a UK private bank in relation to the launch of the first combined credit and debit card to have been launched in the UK.  We advised the bank on the application of the Consumer Credit Act to the provision of the Card and in relation to the contractual terms between the bank and the cardholders.
• advising on the range of regulatory issues faced by overseas firms providing investment services to clients in the UK, and on the passporting of investment services by institutions based in EU member states.
• advising a private bank on its offering to the family office market including advice on bespoke investment strategies and policies and the structuring and establishment of private investment vehicles (open and closed ended) for families and collections of families.
• advising on the structuring and establishment of single and multiple family offices.