Family Office Growth A Nice Earner For Legal Advisors

Tom Burroughes

1 November 2018

There is a growing crop of bulge-bracket banks providing services for family offices, whether it be acting as custodians for assets through to advising ultra-high net worth people or advising on how to create these structures. And a number of law firms also help to build these entities.

One such example is .) Banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse and, Northern Trust and JP Morgan, to name just four, provide a variety of services. On another level, entities in the , which is based in the US, has pushed eastwards into the UK and European market, eyeing family offices as a business growth opportunity.

While domestic political and Brexit-related uncertainties grab headlines, they also in a paradoxical way put a premium on strong legal planning and stable legal systems. And that, Ruffel says, plays to London’s strengths overall as a family office hub.

Ruffel said a cut to visa-free access to the UK – which is possible depending on how Brexit plays out - is a potential threat to London’s status as a family office hub, but overall she said family offices appear not be greatly exercised about the matter. Far more urgent, in their eyes, is the possibility of a Labour government in the UK, given its stated desire to push up taxes on those with wealth, she added.

What is plain is that while family offices are by their nature discreet organisations that shun the limelight, their creation is a significant revenue earner for the UK’s legal profession.