A large gathering attended this week's WealthMatters conference, organised by the publisher of this news service, in association with Coutts.

With extra seating having to be set out to accommodate the large numbers, the latest WealthMatters conference, hosted by the publisher of this website in association with Coutts, was held this week at the renowned setting of Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

The first panel discussion of the day, held around the subject of “Current Trends in Wealth Planning”, explained to the audience the most common contemporary themes they are tackling.  

Kicking off the discussion, Dawn Quek, principal at global law firm Baker & McKenzie said the structuring of onshore assets and forming robust business succession plans to ensure smooth continuity had been taking up a lot of her time. She had also been dealing with more requests to create philanthropic structures. Indonesia in particular was a strong source of this growing demand, she said.

Lee Wong, head of wealth planning, South Asia and NRI, at Coutts, said the landscape for her firm’s ultra high net worth clients had become more complex. But a positive aspect of this is that clients themselves are more aware and keener to make sure that they were fully compliant with rules. Next-generation, inheritance and structuring issues were progressively growing as business areas for her, echoing Quek’s comments.

Addressing the tax issue, Peter Milnes, managing director at Rawlinson and Hunter Singapore, said many of the clients his firm advises have expansive international business concerns and must conform with a mixture of different jurisdictions and rules. Milnes also coined the phrase “mid-shoring” to describe how a new stratum of client demands have organically developed in tandem with the myriad of fresh regulatory requirements.

FATCA reality
Markus Grossmann, chief executive of Trident Trust Asia and New Zealand said he firmly believes that with the US FACTA act a reality and a complete game changer for the industry, UHNW clients must be well structured with a thorough succession plan in place. On the upside, he saw this state of affairs as a healthy opportunity for wealth professionals to spend more time with their UHNW clients to now conclusively structure their assets/holdings.       

Kimmis Pun, managing director of BNP Paribas for China, and also a senior member of the Financial Planning Association of Singapore, said prudent financial planning had become a critical issue for Asian clients, especially those with families. As well as being the pragmatic course of action it could help ensure family harmony and perpetuate any long-running family business operations.

Baker & McKenzie’s Dawn Quek added that as patriarchs of mature businesses are reaching the stage of handing over power there was now a trend of next generation/second generations becoming the driving force in the succession planning across Asia.

Summing up after a lively question and answer session, Coutts’s Lee Wong said her fellow wealth management professionals had to remain updated and relevant as more complex issues fell under their remit.

Rawlinson & Hunter Singapore’s Peter Milnes summed up that tax planning and tax compliance is crucial – it is also the right thing to do for the client. BNP Paribas’ Kimmis Pun argued that wealth managers and those who service them must be constantly educating and up-skilling to match the fast moving governing landscape.

In closing Markus Grossmann’s advice was that advisors to UHNW clients across Asia should tell clients that now is the perfect time to evaluate and structure. And Baker and McKenzie’s Quek ended the session by recommending that all industry players should try to become more sophisticated in their service offerings and expertise.