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FAQ

FAQ1

    • What is a Family Office?

A family office is an organization a wealthy family sets up by hiring a wide range of professionals across multiple disciplines – legal, taxes, accounting, investing, estate planning, etc. – to work for them and help them manage and execute their wealth management activities. By hiring a dedicated team of individuals, a family ensures that only their agenda is driving all of the activities. Many family offices manage wealth transfer, philanthropy, family governance and taxation for the family they serve.

Establishing a family office can be a costly endeavor.

    • What is a Multi-Family Office?

Like a family office, multi-family offices tend to be holistic and focus on a broad range of wealth management solutions including investment services, estate planning, family governance and education and risk management. The difference between a single-family office and multi-family office is that – a multi-family office serves many families, distributing the costs of running the firm. Ideally, multi-family offices should be independent of any financial institution and offer unbiased advice.

Blackbridge West Family Office Limited is a Multi-Family Office.

    • What is a wealth enterprise?

A wealth enterprise is formed when a family begins to think of and manage their wealth like a business. Many families sustain their wealth by managing it as a professional endeavor, using the same processes and best practices that were used to create the wealth in the first place.

    • How do I start my wealth enterprise?

The place to begin is to start thinking of your wealth as a business – beginning with an extensive mapping of all the components and answering a series of foundational questions:

  • Who are we as a family?
  • What do we own?
  • How do we own it?

Answering these questions serves as a starting place for your wealth enterprise.

    • What’s the difference between a family office, my private bank, a wealth advisor, and an asset manager?

The difference is independence. Family offices ideally are not affiliated with any bank, financial institution or asset manager. The advice they provide is strictly objective and without the conflict of a sales mandate or a financial interest in selling particular financial products or services.

    • Will I have more work to do if I hire a non-discretionary advisor/family office?

No, you will not. While we insist on keeping your family involved in the critical decision-making around your wealth management, we also play a critical role in execution by handling administrative tasks and supporting you in the implementation of your specific wealth management mandate.

Our advisory model is based on the premise that clients should be engaged in their wealth enterprises, therefore we do not take discretion over your assets. We help you establish your wealth management priorities and objectives and then execute on your behalf. You can be involved in the details of managing your wealth as much or as little as you like – but you keep the authority to make the critical decisions.

We believe clients should be active participants, always engaged and constantly learning. We are non-discretionary advisors to our clients because we want to help not only to manage their wealth but to provide them with the knowledge they need to make critical decisions – now and in the future.

    • Can you help me manage my trust or my family foundation?

A critical component to any holistic wealth management plan is the estate plan review. Our experienced Wealth Planning Executive can work with your family’s trustees (corporate or individual) and estate and tax planning professionals to ensure they are fulfilling their role in a way that is consistent with your enterprise’s overall objectives. We also ensure that these service providers are coordinated and are providing effective services at reasonable cost.

We also help families set up Trusts and Foundations in various jurisdictions.

    • Do I have to change banks/financial service providers?

There is no need for you to change banks or financial service providers. We work with each of your service providers to be sure they are working toward your best interests. We review transactions, pricing, commissions, identify errors and see that what you agreed to pay is what you are being charged.

It’s not about us, it’s about you – we work with you and your family in the way it will benefit you the most.

FAQ2

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

      • What is the Common Reporting Standards?

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) provides for annual automatic exchange between governments of financial account information. The standard sets out: 

  • the financial account information to be exchanged;
  • the financial institutions that need to report;
  • the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered;
  • the common due diligence procedures to be followed by financial institutions.

In a sense, the CRS is not a “new” initiative started from a blank canvas. What is new is that governments around the world have accepted the need for such information to be exchanged automatically – rather than on a request only basis. Countries that have signed up to the CRS will exchange information “automatically” with one another. Traditionally, information about an individual or business has been sent from one tax authority to another on request, based on evidence that tax fraud or some other crime has taken place.

‘Automatic’ exchange of information will entail systematic and periodic (annual basis) transmission of “bulk” taxpayer information by the source country of income to the country of residence of the taxpayer concerning various categories of income or asset information.

  • What information is to be exchanged?

The financial information to be reported with respect to reportable accounts includes:

  • Interest;
  • Dividends;
  • Account balance;
  • Income from certain insurance products;
  • Sales proceeds from financial assets; and
  • Other income generated with respect to assets held in the account or payments made with respect to the account.

 

  • What are Reportable accounts?

These are accounts held by individuals and entities, which includes trusts and foundations.

    • What Financial Institutions are covered by the CRS?

The financial institutions covered by the standard include custodial institutions, depository institutions, investment entities and specified insurance companies, unless they present a low risk of being used for evading tax and are excluded from reporting.

    • Would there be any Confidentiality of Information shared?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assures us that the standard contains specific rules on the confidentiality of the information exchanged and that the underlying international legal exchange instruments already contain safeguards in this regard. Where these standards are not met (whether in law or in practice), countries will not exchange information automatically.Time however, will tell how watertight the system is in practice.

For more information, kindly contact Tina Ijomah at tina.ijomah@blackbridgewest.com
Get in touch with us today to find out what Blackbridge West can do for you!