Adam Osper, head of sports and media at London & Capital, the international wealth management firm, explaining what he and his colleagues do, especially in the sports world.

The wealth management industry has special client segments as a way to draw in new business and stand out from the pack. The financial needs of sportsmen and women, as well as those who work in the media and entertainment business, are catered for in some cases by firms setting up client teams solely focused on such people. This publication recently spoke to London & Capital, a UK-headquartered firm with total client assets of $3.7 billion which does a lot of business with American citizens concerning cross-border issues such as compliance with the FATCA Act. Here is Adam Osper, head of sports and media at the company, explaining what he and his colleagues do.

Tell us a bit about your background. What did you do before you joined London & Capital? When did you join L&C?

I am a Chartered and Certified Financial Planner and previously worked for a small IFA firm, looking after sports professionals and high net worth clients.

I’ve been in the industry for 13 years now and joined London & Capital in 2010 for the opportunity to head up the sports and media arm of the firm’s multi-faceted business. London & Capital does things on a much larger scale, have a long history of working with sports and media clients, and a good reputation. Historically this is a sector in which many have received a raft of bad advice. We all felt this was an area where clients needed to be looked after more professionally.

What is your connection to sport?

I have always enjoyed sports, so when the opportunity came five years ago to work in the industry, I took it on with pleasure.

What, in the main, does your job entail?

It is my responsibility to ensure our clients build up sufficient wealth to be financially secure and independent when they stop competing or their career in the world of entertainment comes to an end.  As a principle, we like to keep things as simple as possible.

Who works with you in this team? Who are they? Do any of them have specific sports connections?

At London & Capital my running mate is Sam Sloma, an ex-professional footballer.  Sam has recently qualified to give advice, and has made a significant contribution in growing our presence in the world of football.  He has a lot of friends and contacts in football, both on and off the field.

When was the sports group established and why?

London & Capital has worked with sportsmen and women since its inception in 1986, when the firm’s focus was on football. Daniel Freedman, our managing director, knows a lot of the agents from “back in the day”. Then the company expanded to become the wealth management firm it is today. The firm has always had sports and media clients. I joined in April 2010 to re-establish the firm’s presence in sport. One of the main reasons for the firm’s re-entry was that after the credit crunch it became abundantly apparent that many sports and media stars had been sold racy investment schemes, strange foreign property developments and the like - and had been badly burnt. This, coupled with the Retail Distribution Review and the trend for IFAs to outsource their investment management, made us decide to focus on this area.

(The RDR is a package of reforms in the UK designed to improve the quality of financial advice and stamp out commission payments.)

How does the sports and media team work with the rest of the firm? How do you prospect for clients? How do they hear about you?

Our business is very different to the other areas, but we fully employ the great resource we have available to us at the company, our superb investment desk for example. Our global presence really helps too. As a result of one of our specialisms, working with US resident non-doms and Green Card holders – something London & Capital has been doing for more than 20 years - we are well placed to work with American sports stars.  We have many people in the company who are multi-lingual, which is a real benefit given the number of foreign footballers we have playing in the UK.

What types of sports are currently represented as clients? And what sort of "media" clients do you have?

Our main client bank is professional footballers [in the UK]. We work with around 50 at this time, drawn in the main from the Premiership and the Championship. We now have clients in Russia, the MLS, and Holland. We have other sporting clients too - from rugby, cricket, tennis and boxing. We are now developing the media side of the business, and we look after a number of TV entertainers, film stars and some musicians.

Do you have any clients that are happy to be named?

Not directly for client confidentiality but our clients include a football and rugby world cup winner and current England internationals across football rugby and cricket

What are the main services you provide?

Sound financial planning and investment management.  Our clients see us as a key part of their "trusted advisor" team, working closely with their agents/management team and other professionals, including tax advisors, lawyers, accountants and trust companies.

What is the environment like at the moment for working with the sports and media world?

It’s fast-paced, and competitive - but it’s a lot of fun. You have to think, work and plan in a totally different way working with sports professionals. Before I would book my diary up three or four weeks in advance, now it’s on a week to week basis and can change completely of a Monday due to the nature of the clients we deal with. If they’ve had a bad game at the weekend, or have been dropped from the squad, the last thing we want to talk about is money or see me!

Every client is different, but are there common themes to the types of demands they have?

From a financial perspective, most sports and media clients are conservative investors. They have a strong appetite for property, and they take comfort in working with a group of trusted advisors. Trusting the people they work with is the most important thing.

What is the most rewarding side of the job and the most difficult part?

The most rewarding side is helping clients to be in a stronger financial position – no doubt. The most rewarding aspect is when you work with a young player and see them come through the game, and they remain the same, even when their personal wealth has increased dramatically. Helping players in the lower leagues to be in a position they would never, and to build to a position where they have the freedom to make choices about their future career, without being under financial pressure as soon as they finish their career, is also nice.

The hardest part is the chasing and the difficulty in planning. Sometimes you won’t know until 8pm on a Tuesday night that you have to be in Manchester the next day. And players will often cancel late if their training program has been stepped up, or they are injured.

How important is this business team as a differentiator for L&C? How does it work with the Anglo-US side of things?

I think people see the sports and media team as the attractive part of the business! The US side of things is an area we are looking to expand on as we have a specialist niche in this area. More US stars are coming to the UK, and that should present a good opportunity for us.

What percentage of your clients are foreigners?

I would say around 65 per cent.

Who do you see as rivals or those doing something a bit similar?

There are some good IFAs around the country who do very well in this space.

Finally, did you go to the Olympics this year and what did you see?

I did, I went twice. I got taken to the women’s beach volleyball by a lawyer I work with, which was good fun. I managed to go the Olympic Stadium to see the athletics one night too, and saw the 110 men’s, 200 meter and 400 meter women’s finals. We also saw the semi-finals of the men’s 200 meter race, so we got to see Usain Bolt. We took our son, who was eight months old at the time – I will look forward to showing him the pictures when he is older!