By Francoise Bougourd | Director | Guernsey
& Katie Douglas | Associate Director | Jersey
There is greater recognition across all generations, that for a family and its wealth to be successful long term, we have to look at a more holistic approach to sustainability that includes stewardship of the planet on which we rely.
Alongside the more traditional dynastic family structures, we are now working with not only next-generation successors, but also next-generation wealth creators who are looking to the future with sustainability at the core of their decision-making. It's these younger clients who are particularly digital and ESG focused and have an appetite and opportunity, whether inheriting or creating, to make a real change.
ESG investing might be increasingly prevalent in portfolios across the industry, but at HIGHVERN, we work with our clients to create individually tailored solutions that meet their personal and family goals, while also protecting and enhancing their wealth. Trust and relationships are critical when working within family structures and we need to be adaptable and responsive to individual needs and values, as well as the rapidly changing investment and technological landscape.
Recently, we worked with a family that had varying levels of engagement, ambitions, and needs. Their diverse assets include commercial property in the form of a large business park, that had over the years become partially self-sufficient by using renewable energy. One family member was particularly keen to be part of the sustainable ethos and asked us to investigate a renewable energy source for investment. We worked in close partnership with them to invest in the renewable energy business that not only provided sustainable energy for the business park, but also benefitted the rest of the family who invested in the project. We saw a power purchase agreement between the business park and the renewable energy business, with excess power sold to the grid. A win-win situation for the family and the environment.
Sustainable investing is not without its challenges and that requires expertise to grapple with its complexities and potential risks so that we are able to assist our clients in balancing financial returns with environmental impacts. Those risks also include digital currencies, NFTS and fintech, which the digitally native next-generation clients might be attracted to but can be highly volatile. We work closely with clients and their advisors to implement and develop structures that aim to mitigate against those risks and provide long term returns so clients can still take advantage of these new opportunities.
We use prudent creativity to seek new ways to solve old problems and work in partnership with clients who have a vision to create a sustainable strategy and industry leading advisors and ESG and impact specialists. That can involve advice on tax incentives, introductions to other stakeholders, legal structures and risk management and mitigation. Our clients want to make an impact and to use their wealth positively, so that also includes reputation management.
It’s our job to navigate the changing trends and demands of this area while also managing client expectations and explaining the strategy to other family members who might be concerned about a potential trade off in financial performance. We look to long-term success for our clients, and through a sustainable lens are able to better position a family and their wealth for returns over the long term, accessing a broader range of opportunities than just traditional financial ones, and embedding the family values into the investment strategy.
At HIGHVERN, we also don’t just assist clients in this area, we are committed throughout our organisation to ESG principles and make a conscious effort to incorporate environmental factors into all our own decision-making processes. Safeguarding the planet’s future requires collective action and we believe sustainability will play an increasingly important part in all our lives.
For full details of our regulators, please visit www.highvern.com
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