EXCLUSIVE: UK's Waverton Rolls Out Portfolios For Expat Americans

Tom Burroughes

6 June 2017

UK-based , which had around £5.1 billion ($6.6 billion) in assets under management at the end of 2016, has launched a new portfolio serviced targeted at expat US clients, with investment minimums set at £250,000 or $350,000, this publication can exclusively report.

The service comprises three portfolios: A Growth Portfolio (objective of achieving consumer price inflation rate plus 3.5 per cent); Balanced Portfolio (CPI + 3.0 per cent) and Cautious Portfolio (CPI +2.5 per cent). The portfolios hold varying equity/bond ratios, with the growth option holding 75 per cent equities.

The service is also open to US expats living in Asia, continental Europe and the Middle East. The portfolios are custodied with Praemium International to provide clients with US tax reporting. Waverton takes a 0.5 per cent annual management charge; there are separate charges for the Praemium platform service and financial advisor's services, Waverton said in a statement today.

"We have a long and established history of working with US clients, having served foreign trusts and beneficiaries, US persons and offshore trusts and US expats for over 20 years," Andrew Vaughan-Payne, director in Waverton's private client team, said. "We have now decided to provide a solution for clients with portfolios from £250,000 to meet a growing demand for this kind of service."

The rollout of the service comes at a time when Americans living outside the US continue to struggle to obtain access to financial services, as they are deemed a costly compliance burden because of how Washington imposes a worldwide tax system on them, as opposed to the territorial approach of most nations. However, a small but growing number of specialist firms are developing expat offerings. Organisations such as American Citizens Abroad have lobbied to improve financial services access.

Waverton rebranded under that name in 2014, having been previously called JO Hambro Investment Management; that business had been spun off by Credit Suisse.