Private client partner completes role as consulting editor for new STEP handbook for advisers to family offices

Posted: 13/04/2015

Penningtons Manches private client partner, Clare Archer, welcomed the launch of Family Offices: The STEP Handbook for Advisors at the end of March as it marked the successful completion of her role as consulting editor to this new 413 page guide. Published in association with STEP by Globe Law and Business, which specialises in producing practical, topical titles for international legal and business professionals, the family office guide is targeted at both the professionals who advise and work with family offices and the wealthy families themselves. 

With contributions from leading lawyers in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the family offices handbook provides an analysis of the family office model from its inception to successful business entity and considers a range of cultural issues affecting these offices in both developed and emerging jurisdictions. 

Penningtons Manches has had a long-standing association with STEP, the world’s leading organisation for private wealth professionals. Not only are the majority of the firm’s private client lawyers members of STEP, but consultant Colin Russell was a founder member who initiated the first STEP Special Interest Group and was presented with a Founder Award in 2012. Senior counsel, Chris Lintott, is currently the Chair of the STEP Business Families Special Interest Group. 

STEP Chief Executive, David Harvey, said: “STEP members know first-hand the challenges that private client advisors face in their respective jurisdictions around the world. Family Offices: The STEP Handbook for Advisers represents the cumulative knowledge of experts from all corners of the world and offers invaluable guidance for practitioners working with family offices or advising wealthy families. I look forward to this handbook becoming a mainstay reference for practitioners looking to do the best possible job for their clients, no matter where they are.” 

Stefan Voswinkel, president of The Family Business Catalyst, said: "This handbook is a must not just for external and internal advisors to business families, but also for family members themselves and everybody working with them.

“It is profound, comprehensive and written by the best in the field. Best practices are at the forefront, and its approach is practical and holistic. The handbook covers all forms and stages of a family office. It also delineates real family offices from those who are pretenders driven by self-interest.

“What makes this handbook so excellent is its focus on the soft dimension - which is actually the hard dimension. It is critical for success that soft issues precede legal and financial structures. The root causes why the majority of family businesses, family offices and family wealth do not prevail over the long term are identified, and, most importantly, realistic and proven approaches to avoid just that.”

In addition to Clare Archer’s particular interest in family office work through her role as a trusted advisor to a number of high net worth families, she advises on capital tax planning, the administration of complex and large estates, will and trust drafting, and a wide range of asset protection and equity work, particularly for business owners and elderly clients with capacity issues. Commenting on her role as consulting editor, Clare said: “Although this has been a lengthy and complex project, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with such a committed group of leading experts from so many countries. I am delighted that the handbook has come to fruition and firmly believe that it will provide valuable guidance for anyone involved in this specialist but rapidly growing area of cross-border financial and legal advice.”

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