The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners has brought in Hélène Lewis, a British Virgin Islands private client practitioner, to serve as chair of the international board for one year from 1 December.

She succeeds incumbent chair Michael Young TEP, who retires from STEP’s board this month, the organisation said.

Lewis, who has practised law in the BVI since 1990, replaces UK-based Michael Young. The firm said Lewis is the first member from the Caribbean region to be elected to this position.

She became a STEP member in 2000 and served as chair of the society’s BVI branch between 2003 and 2011. Having served on STEP’s council since 2010, she was elected to the board of directors in July.  

In other recent developments, at the end of October STEP launched a new service - Trustee Managed Portfolio Indices - to help its members gauge the performance of the investments they oversee against the wider industry.

STEP has over 17,800 members globally. Of these, 1,480 are in the Caribbean/Latin America and over 160 are in the BVI.