Held in Jersey last week (5 December), the Awards – now in their third year – celebrate and recognise individual and team excellence, knowledge and best practice across the private wealth sector in Jersey and Guernsey, with winners being selected by an independent panel of judges.

The win follows on from Crestbridge FOS being successful in the same category at Wealthbriefing’s MENA Awards in Dubai last month – a category the firm has won for two years in a row – with this latest award further underlining its capabilities in supporting families of wealth with their global, complex and increasingly diverse needs.

In selecting Crestbridge FOS for the Award, the judges noted in particular that the firm has continued this year to ‘excel in delivering tailored, high-quality fiduciary services with integrity and expertise’, with a ‘commitment to independence, client trust, and employee well-being’.

Commenting on the award win, Heather Tibbo, CEO of Crestbridge Family Office Services, said:

“This year, we have been acutely focused on continuing to build on the reputation we have earned over the past decade for providing technical excellence and top-tier client service, aligned with our strategy to differentiate ourselves in a highly competitive market. This award, which maintains our recent success in being recognised as a leading independent player in the family office space, is a reflection of those efforts and is testament to the collective expertise and experience of our growing team.”

Stephen Harris, ClearView Financial Media’s CEO, and publisher of Wealthbriefing, added:
“These awards are so beneficial as they give organisations the opportunity to clarify their strategic thinking, have it independently validated, be recognised internally and externally and to celebrate in style with their peers.”

The awards have been established to recognise outstanding contributions made by individual team members over the course of the year. Nominations can be submitted by anyone in the firm, and sit across the three categories of our core values Integrity, Professionalism, and Agility. Our judges reviewed all the nominations, ultimately settling on a winner and runner up in each category. Those names announced on the night were:

Integrity: Debbie Donaldson, Manager (winner) for her energy, dedication, kindness, and commitment to her team, and Sarah Eden, HR Business Partner (runner up) for her work with the social committee and championing of inclusion.

Professionalism: Charlie Lucas, Administrator (winner) for his consistently impressive delivery of often highly complex work, and Marta Latek, Administrator (runner up) for her dedication to client service and unswervingly positive disposition.

Agility: Roxana Dumitrache, Team Support (winner) for her tireless and flexible cross-functional support of colleagues, and Ian Carr, Facilities Officer (runner up) for ensuring we benefitted from a comfortable and safe office, made more challenging in this year of relocation.

The variety and quality of nominations in this first year was impressive, making the judges’ task anything but easy. We would like to extend our congratulations to this year’s winners and runners up.

Now in their eleventh year, the Awards were held in Dubai last week to celebrate and recognise excellence, knowledge and best practice across the private wealth sector in the Middle East and North Africa region, with winners being selected by an independent panel of judges.

The win reflects Crestbridge FOS’s deep understanding of the Middle East region, a market where it has developed strong relationships over a number of years, supporting the global and increasingly complex objectives of a growing number of families based in the region.

In selecting Crestbridge FOS for the Award – which the firm also won last year – the judges noted in particular ‘the firm’s dedication to the Middle East, evidenced through its continued enhancement of Sharia-compliant structures’, as well as its wider growth and evolution as an independent business over the past year.

Heather Tibbo, CEO of Crestbridge Family Office Services, commented on the award win:

“To have won this particular Award for the second year in a row is a reflection of our sustained focus on delivering superior client service to families in the Middle East. This is a region where, as a team, we have gained considerable experience and knowledge over a long period of time. There is no doubt that clients appreciate our team’s ability to understand their needs and demands as well as our specific Islamic Finance capabilities, and we continue to focus on enhancing our service capabilities in this important region.”

Stephen Harris, CEO of ClearView Financial Media’s and publisher of WealthBriefing, added:

“We have seen a marked increase in entrants and interest in all our global awards programmes and Wealthbriefing MENA is no exception. These awards are so beneficial as they give organisations and individuals the opportunity to clarify their strategic thinking, have it independently validated, and be recognised internally and externally.”

Daniel and Faizal discuss how Gulf based families are choosing to structure their wealth, and which of Jersey’s wealth management products they are choosing and why. Plus, Daniel shares key insights into working with Gulf based family offices and enterprises, and how he sees this developing.

Listen to the episode here: https://jsy.fi/3YoTciF

The award, which honours the memory of late JSCCA president Chris Stuart, recognises those who have shown inspiring mentorship, acted as an ambassador of the profession, prioritised and invested in team members, and helped them reach their full potential.

Karen has played a key role in supporting her team as the firm has undergone a transition, continuing its journey as an independent and privately owned business. Not only did Karen oversee the restructuring of her team and the redefining of its role, but did so while successfully carrying out day-to-day responsibilities of the business to clients, partners, and others.

Heather Tibbo, Chief Executive Officer of Crestbridge Family Office Services commented: ‘This is fitting recognition of Karen’s innate leadership skills and tireless dedication to her team and the firm. Successfully managing change demands operational expertise, resilience, empathy, and the ability to unite the team around a vision. Karen has demonstrated all of these qualities and more, and is a worthy recipient of this award’.

In addition to the award, Karen has earned a £500 donation to the local charity of her choice. She has selected Youthful Minds, part of Mind Jersey, who work to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health in Jersey.

Held in London recently (24 September), the event – of which Crestbridge Family Office Services (FOS) was once again a sponsor – brought together more than 500 professionals from across the private wealth sector to explore the concept of a ‘Permacrisis’, from geopolitical upheaval to technological disruption.

Keynote speaker at the event was former diplomatic editor for Sky News and bestselling author Tim Marshall, who highlighted the emergence of a ‘multipolar world’, whilst a fireside chat with Claire Williams, one of the most successful women in Formula 1 history, focused on the need to identify opportunity in moments of significant change.

Across two panel sessions, other key points included:

• The world is currently experiencing a combination of the ends of economic, political and geopolitical cycles, which is creating significant complexity for families
• Being tuned into the wider environment and listening to clients carefully is critical for advisers in this environment, with circumstances around safety and security now driving family decision making far more than issues around tax
• Building flexibility into structuring, keeping an eye on the long-term and ensuring good standards of governance are all vital in enabling families to navigate change, drawing on the platforms provided by jurisdictions like Jersey that can offer stability and robust frameworks
• Change and volatility can provide opportunities too and families should be alive to that possibility

Commenting on the event, Heather Tibbo, CEO, Crestbridge Family Office Services, said:

“There’s no doubt that the concerns and values of families are changing as they adopt a new world view. Safety and security are absolutely critical and we need to respond to that, by being sensitive to those concerns and empowering clients to build into their structures the sort of flexibility they need to navigate this period of change in the long-term.”

Published this week (21 October), the annual rankings provide a comprehensive analysis of the leading fiduciary service providers for international private clients. Split into independent and non-independent categories, the rankings this year feature a total of 52 firms, spread across three tiers.

Within the independent category, and for the 6th consecutive year, Crestbridge FOS is included in the top tier.

The rankings are calculated based on a number of criteria including size, reputation, quality and range of service, and performance over the past 12 months.

Commenting on the latest rankings, Heather Tibbo, CEO, Crestbridge Family Office Services, said:

“Our consistent focus is on providing the highest possible levels of service and I’m pleased that this has been reflected once again by being recognised as a top tier firm in these industry benchmark rankings. The fact that we have earned this position on a regular basis is testament to the collective deep knowledge and significant experience of our team. In a complex landscape for families, we remain committed to continuing to enhance our proposition and support families in increasingly diverse ways.”

The full list from eprivateclient can be found here.

These were some of the trends to emerge from a roundtable held recently, hosted by Jersey Finance’s Director – UK Robert Moore, and attended by a range of family and private client professionals, including Crestbridge Family Office Services Executive Director Daniel Channing.

In particular, participants at the roundtable noted the persistent and significant growth in the private wealth sector, driven by a sustained rise in HNWIs relocating and bolstering their presence in the region, in turn increasing demand for family office and ancillary expertise to support bespoke family diversification strategies.

In addition, participants also highlighted the heightened sophistication of the investment landscape in the region. As well as sovereign wealth funds, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), providing considerable opportunities for joint ventures with private investors looking to diversify, the alternative funds landscape is also maturing and expanding – with hedge funds in particular growing in popularity in both the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Commenting on the roundtable, Daniel said:

“There’s no doubt that the growing and rapidly evolving family office landscape across the Middle East is presenting a number of new opportunities for advisers as families look to professionalise and diversify. Jersey in particular has become increasingly important as a hub for family structuring where there is a Middle East nexus, whilst there is also a growing demand for advice around succession and nextgen wealth transfer.

“Meanwhile, on the investment side, the sophistication we are seeing now amongst Middle East families is shining a spotlight on the Jersey Private Fund, which has become a go-to vehicle for targeted, tailored and flexible structuring in the alternative asset space.”

Jersey-based Stephanie is included in the ePrivateClient 2024 NextGen Leaders List, published today(9^th September). The list recognises and celebrates rising stars from across the private client landscape in the UK and Crown Dependencies.

In compiling the list, the publication considers a number of factors, including individual expertise and achievements over the past 12 months, career progression, feedback from colleagues, and the performance of their company.

Stephanie was also included in the eprivateclient 2024 NextGen Leaders Channel Islands List, published earlier this year.

Stephanie has over 11 years’ experience in dealing with complex and sensitive structures on behalf of global families. Working with both private wealth and corporate vehicles, she assists with the establishment and ongoing administration of a broad range of structures for UHNWIs in the Middle East. A mentor to other team members, Stephanie holds the STEP Diploma in International Trust Management.

Heather Tibbo, Chief Executive Officer of Crestbridge Family Office Services, said: “We are really proud of the focus we have as a firm on attracting and nurturing talent and providing an environment for our people to thrive, and that focus is reflected in the fact that our people have featured regularly in this list over recent years.

“As we continue to grow and evolve as an independent and privately owned business, the strength of our team will be pivotal in differentiating us in the market. With that in mind, I’m delighted that Stephanie has been recognised on the national stage. Her enthusiasm, collaborative approach and understanding of the importance of service quality makes her a great ambassador for Crestbridge Family Office Services.”

In that time he has worked with and helped manage a broad range of complex and multi-jurisdictional fiduciary structures for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and has developed experience in the Middle East family office market.

In more recent years, he has become highly involved in supporting the philanthropic activities of clients, including managing multi-trustee structures.  Mr Hind is also a full member of STEP.

Why do you specialise in this area?

Having worked in fiduciary services for approaching three decades, I think there’s been a natural gravitation towards philanthropic structures as families have become more and more sophisticated and outward looking with their wealth. The ability to assist clients with their philanthropic structuring needs, help them develop and implement their purpose-driven strategies, and shape their conversations in this space is very rewarding.

Why is philanthropy so important to the industry?

You can look at this externally, and internally from a family’s perspective. Externally, clearly there is a real need for private capital to step up and support good causes. With public spending unable to keep up with the demand for funding of increasingly diverse societal and environmental charities, there’s both a necessity and an opportunity for private capital to play a big part.

Internally, there are clear benefits to a family pursuing a formal approach to philanthropy. In particular, in a world where the court of public opinion holds real sway and wealthy families are under intense scrutiny, there are reputational benefits for a family to engage in supporting charitable initiatives.

There are operational benefits too – implementing a philanthropic strategy can help reinforce key family values, which is really important in terms of family cohesion, and when it comes to communicating those values to the next generation. A philanthropic strategy can also provide a good ‘ringfenced’ channel for families to educate the nextgen – giving them a certain amount of autonomy but within clear parameters, philanthropy can create a training ground for the nextgen.

What are the key trends shaping philanthropy at the moment?

There’s a definite movement towards greater sophistication amongst families when it comes to implementing philanthropic strategies.

At a strategic level, the concept of ‘purpose’ is increasingly important when it comes to families considering how they can manage their wealth with a conscience. We are starting to see, for instance, roles such as Head of Philanthropy increasingly within family offices, and families are looking more and more at different types of philanthropic activity – differentiating between charitable giving, impact investing and seed investing, for instance. Families are also integrating philanthropy more with their wider wealth, business and investment activities.

In tandem, families are also becoming more focused on how their philanthropic endeavours are not just driven by the personal values of a patriarch or matriarch but are underpinned by shared family values. That’s crucial where complex, multigenerational families are displaying diverse viewpoints. Philanthropy can play a role in bringing family members together, which is vital in terms of succession planning.

Regulatory evolution – reporting, disclosure, ESG credentials and so on – is playing an increasingly important role too and navigating that often that means drawing on specialist outsourced support. Advisers have a duty to help families recognise what is important, supporting them in applying a more conscious approach in line with their governance framework, and providing guidance with measuring value – an increasingly important area of evolution.

What are your favourite ways to relax/switch off from work?

I am a new convert to golf, so I spend many hours spoiling a good walk! I also enjoy reading historic novels and dining out with friends

What’s one book you think everyone should read? 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The novel provides historical insight into the French Revolution and features a fascinating cast of characters cleverly blending the themes of love, ambition endurance and sacrifice . It also includes two of the most famous Dickensian opening and closing lines.

If you couldn’t do your current role what would your dream job be? 

I have always been intrigued at being a palaeontologist – the challenge and painstaking work involved in excavating a fossilised dinosaur fascinates me.

This article was first published by ePrivateclient.