Family Office
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted families of wealth to accelerate their succession planning and check if existing plans are still fit for purpose.
Ever since we started in 1994, we have written an investment review, garnished with a cartoon, and filleted by compliance for political incorrectness. In normal times, it appears shortly after the quarter end. Amid the fireworks of COVID-19, it is appearing now, in early June, rather than waiting for early July.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the main challenge posed to the dominance of the English legal system appeared to be Brexit. A flurry of English language courts opened in European cities, touting for business that would otherwise come to the English High Court. We know that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so is it any surprise that litigants—including ultra-wealthy clients—still choose the English Courts to resolve their disputes?
Dilmah, the global Sri Lankan family tea producing business, has moved swiftly to safeguard its workforce and adapt its manufacturing when confronted by the coronavirus, and calls for humane family values to recalibrate the post-Covid-19 world.
Sir James Matthew, the 19th century Anglo-Irish judge, is reputed once to have said: “In England, justice is open to all, like the Ritz Hotel.” That may be the hope of Sir Frederick Barclay, who, with his daughter Amanda, recently began proceedings in the High Court in London alleging that their private discussions in the hotel had been bugged for months by children and at least one grandchild of Sir Frederick’s estranged brother, Sir David.
The boards of family businesses need to step up their professionalisation to broaden succession planning, introduce the next generation and improve the gender mix, says a leading international family business consultant.
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