It is a paradox that wealth sometimes does not bestow either control or satisfaction. One would think that the more spending power one can wield, the more one can "buy" a sense of control over one's life, says Nick Rucker, global head of private wealth at the international legal and professional services firm Ince.

My own experience of working with wealthy clients leads me to the conclusion that, for some, the more things they own, the more those things can own them. Ownership can be a curse. Even simple administration of multiple assets can become overwhelming.

As one of my clients said of his extraordinary South African getaway, "I love my house when I am there, but when we come back and the bills and maintenance problems start rolling in, I just want to get rid of it!"

For very wealthy individuals and families, setting up a private or family office is often a way of trying to centralise administration and regain some vestige of control; however, for the vast majority, this is not an option until wealth hits stratospheric levels.

So where does that leave the rest of us? Usually, it means project managing a group of advisers and service providers, a job in itself, especially if you are not well-versed in the granular detail of the advice and services you are receiving.

In a previous life, I was an investment banker where in essence, I project-managed transactions for my corporate clients. It has always struck me that, while there is a clear appetite to provide these services to corporates and institutions, there has always been far less appetite to do so for individuals or families, even where their wealth was significant.

I have no doubt that, in many cases, cost was a major issue. However, I was also struck by the fact that a lack of co-ordination between advisers and service providers places the end client at a significant disadvantage.

Very few private clients I know are fully up to speed with legal, tax, accounting, investment management, fiduciary and the many other elements required to protect and enhance wealth. Frankly, why should they be?

As regulation has increased in extent and complexity, so have the commercial forces that have driven consolidation in many of the regulated industries.

Law is no exception, and many smaller firms and those who traded under the banner of "general" practice have disappeared.

For years, and not just in law, there has also been a focus on specialisation so that individuals have found themselves pigeonholed within niche practice areas, particularly in financial services.

I experienced that pressure myself but have always tried to resist it because I saw the benefit of being a "specialist generalist" when dealing with high-net-worth clients. That this ran against the grain of what was happening to the majority of my colleagues both in professional and financial services is something of an understatement.

My first attempt at trying to address these issues, and particularly around client service, came when I was a partner at Lawrence Graham.
We had a tier one private wealth business there and some fantastic clients, but the focus of the business was definitely on corporate and institutional wealth.

Other partners couldn't (or wouldn't) see the benefits of co-ordinating services to high-net-worth families, particularly those from abroad who were often wealthier but less well informed.

There was also a concern that other service providers would think we were trying to take their work and yet, like other law firms, we had our own in-house trust company and even a small investment management business at the time. The logic did not seem to stack up.

When I and three other partners set up Berkeley Law in 2010, we set out to bring together advisory services which high net worth clients would need, but without adding conflicting asset-gathering distractions.

Like all new businesses, our aims were lofty, but we were constrained by resources, and selling to Irwin Mitchell in 2014 seemed like the way to kill two birds with one stone.

It wasn't until I was approached by Ince (subsequent to its merger with Gordon Dadds) to help to grow and evolve their Private Wealth business globally that I really discerned a business with a similar strategy.

Ince is listed as "a business focused on consolidation and expansion into complementary businesses to its core legal services business" rather than just a law firm.

For clients needing access to a wide and complementary gamut of advisory services in one place, it is something of a game-changer.
Which other law firm has a fully-fledged corporate finance boutique in-house ("Ince Corporate Finance"), for example.

We also have wealth planners, chartered tax advisers, pension consultants, employee benefit experts and actuarial advisers, a regulatory consultancy, corporate services and fiduciary support, as well as full service legal advisory across an international footprint.

A recent enquiry by a client selling a wealth management business in the Middle East was a real eye-opener. He wanted to set up an offshore structure to protect the significant sale proceeds, but also act as a professional manager of the funds whilst living between the Middle East and UK.

We were the first people he had spoken to who could demonstrate that we could project manage the entire transaction, including negotiating the sale of the business, structuring the proceeds and providing immigration advice and regulatory support - all under one roof. For the client, the ability to keep this complex project in-house was the most compelling element of our offering.

Of course, we don't have ambitions to do everything - we work with, and refer work to, third parties such as trust companies, wealth planners, banks and investment managers all the time because clients often want, and in many cases need, separate service providers and advisers involved.

However, being able to bring "joined-up", multi-regulated, advisory services together to service complex clients, including entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and family offices (as well as the more obvious high net worth international clients) is something new in the UK legal industry.

We approach our clients' challenges in a different way - we are totally solution focused. Moreover, if we can stop their "stuff" owning them, so much the better!

About The Ince Group

The Ince Group is a dynamic international legal and professional services business with offices in nine countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. With over 700 people, The Ince Group delivers legal advice, strategic guidance and business solutions to clients ranging from the world's oldest and biggest businesses operating across numerous industries to ultra-high net worth individuals.

Through its entrepreneurial culture and "one firm" approach, the business offers its clients over 150 years of experience, insight and relationships. Ince is driven by a unique team of passionate people whose broad expertise and deep sector specialisms provide their clients with solutions to all their complex legal and strategic needs.

By Nick Rucker, Global Head of Private Wealth, Ince.

 

Register for II Connect 2022 - Wednesday 11 May 

International investment's inaugural flagship event, II Connect, for the international financial services industry is designed to enable you not only to expand your existing network of contacts, but also to build new knowledge and insights across the challenging cross-jurisdictional financial planning and wealth management space.

This event's innovative and highly participatory format will give golden opportunities to speak directly to the circle of connections that make the client advice experience complete, such as expert lawyers, accountants, specialist tax, trust and retirement advisers, as well as business model consultants including tech gurus.

Click here for more details and to register your interest