"Of course," responds Lea Hilger from the German branch of RSM Ebner Stolz, laughing, when asked if she ever dreams of being as wealthy as her clients whom she guides through Private Client Services. Gary Heynes is more reserved. The experienced British adviser to ultra-high-net-worth families, from RSM UK in London, hesitates. "Because I also see that some clients feel vulnerable because they can't oversee everything. That can cause anxiety and concern, including about the future." Laura adds enthusiastically: "And it's precisely through our international collaboration that we can take away much of that concern for our clients; because they know they're being taken care of as everything is properly arranged from a tax perspective."

Wealth of experience

Lea Hilger, Gary Heynes and Laura Bles-Temme know exactly what they're talking about. All have a wealth of experience when it comes to advising and guiding ultra-high-net-worth individuals and the associated, often globally operating, family middle-market organisations. Lea Hilger, chartered accountant and certified tax adviser, has built an impressive track record over the past 13 years in Cologne. Her expertise ranges from tax-optimised business succession, through inheritance and gift law to succession planning for wealthy individuals.

Gary Heynes has extensive experience working with some of the most affluent British and multinational families and the teams around them. The Londoner understands future ambitions and helps families grow, protect and transfer their wealth in a professional and well-structured manner. The family office team he leads ensures that families have access to clear information about, among other things, the value of their wealth and cash flows.

Laura Bles-Temme is one of the two Managing Partners at RSM in the Netherlands and also Tax Partner. She has been working as a tax adviser for RSM since 1994 and she guides her clients with financial and tax issues but also with strategic business activities. Among her clients are many family middle-market organisations with whom she has had close relationships for years. Laura specialises in director-shareholder advice, (re)structuring and business succession, guidance of book audits, horizontal supervision and optimising the tax position. Additionally, Laura has extensive experience in guiding family middle-market organisations around governance and she guides the preparation of family constitutions.

Round table discussions

Lea, Gary and Laura are part of RSM's global Private Client Services and family office team and work together with specialists in a number of the 120 countries where RSM is active. During annual meetings and round table discussions, experiences and information are shared. "For ultra-wealthy families and owners of family middle-market organisations, it's very unusual for them to be active purely in their own country," Gary explains the importance of mutual consultation. "They either have business assets in multiple countries, or personal assets. This involves a holiday home, investments or private business investments in different countries."

"And then there are naturally the children and grandchildren, who, as the family wealth increases, travel around the world," Gary knows from experience. "You need to think about the tax consequences of buying assets in different countries, the use of trusts, companies, foundations and funds. And you need to think about what it means when those in the family who benefit from the family wealth live in ten different countries. So we need an international group that can serve these families in a very similar, consistent manner."

Global puzzle

This also involves putting together the global puzzle of companies, wealth and real estate. Because, Lea knows: "It's precisely the overview of all assets that's often missing for our clients. Then it emerges in the middle of an audit that there's still real estate somewhere else in their name. It's our task to help them bring everything together, so they get an overview of the income from the cash flows of all assets worldwide and, for example, also of taxation in case of inheritance. That's why the RSM network in Germany has started implementing this service provision. So that we not only provide successful inheritance succession, but also cover all other areas that influence ultra-high-net-worth families." Personal contact with clients plays a major role in their passion for their work. "What I really enjoy," Lea tells, "is getting in contact with the shareholders, with the family owners, with the families at a very early stage. It's always an emotional discussion when you talk to them about succession. You become close to the families, get to know them well, it's very personal. That's what I like about this service provision."

Valuable network

Families or wealthy individuals who are internationally active or where part of the family lives in another country can be served by our Private Client Services group. Laura: "We see each other as colleagues and can have a joint appointment with the client and give good advice together across borders. Think of the daughter from a large family business who has considerable wealth and goes to England for love and lives there. What consequences are attached to that? In which country should a will be drawn up? Or should there perhaps be multiple wills? And what happens in case of the father's death? How is the wealth distributed and how much tax must then be paid? These are just examples of the daily questions that come across colleagues' desks."

Multiple generations

Gary's mobile number isn't only among the favourites of the executives of family middle-market organisations, the generations after them also know how to find him for advice. "About half of my clients I've been advising for 20 years. So they call me for everything. Three years ago I was called on a Saturday by the son of a very wealthy client. A very smart young man. He was working in the family business and had been in a relationship for some time. He wanted to buy a house and put half of that house in his girlfriend's name. What should I tell my father, he asked, very nervously."

"My advice was to tell his father the truth, marry his girlfriend if he was planning to do that anyway, and bring the house into the marriage after the wedding. It wasn't a cheap property, because they're very wealthy. It took me about an hour to convince him, but the advice worked very well. They got married, Mariah Carey sang at their wedding."

Concern about wealth

The next generations play an important role within the families and therefore also for Gary, Laura and Lea. "That first played out in the late nineties, when after the technology boom many people sold their companies for hundreds of millions," Gary looks back. "We advised them in this and I realised that there were many emotions around the sale of the business they had built. But that there was also concern about what that new wealth meant for families, children, grandchildren and the future. How the children could be protected against that wealth. Because if children know that their family is worth 100 or 200 or many hundreds of millions, they have less ambition, less desire to get ahead in life, less focus. So how do we ensure that they know their family is wealthy, but don't know exactly how wealthy?"

"Additionally, as advisers we look far ahead, for example already at the young children: what happens if those children marry or divorce? How do we keep the money within the family? What happens if a child takes their share of the money and loses it through foolish things? Additionally, within families you deal with conflicts, when parents have already mapped out a life path for the children, but the children ultimately don't want to work in the family business."

The perfect answer

"We started our careers as accountants, as tax advisers, very objective, logical thinking. If you take an exam, there's a perfect answer. The reality is that when we work with these families, the perfect answer probably isn't the perfect tax answer for the family, their values and their objectives. So we look for the compromise, which is ultimately much more important than the tax result. It's about the question: who gets the money? How is it invested? What is the purpose of the money? How much do they want to give to charities? How visible should their money be? That's different for every family."

"It's very recognisable what Gary says," Laura adds. "The biggest challenge is that you sit at the table with a family and win their trust. So that they open up when you discuss succession and everything really comes to the table. Only then can you decide what the right path will be, which advice fits best."

Retirement planning

Like with a 'special' case, which Lea recently dealt with: a client residing in the Netherlands who sought advice about the best place on this globe to settle in five years' time, after his retirement. "For that I needed advice and input from our colleagues from other countries, because he's a very wealthy client, with considerable pension arrangements. We wanted to find the most effective tax country for him. We've made a general analysis for now, because much can change in five years' time, and we're keeping an eye on developments in the coming years. So that in five years' time we have a sharp view of what the most interesting country could be for him. For now, that seems to be Cyprus.

Special project

"We have just completed a special project for an Eastern European client," Gary also gives an example from practice. "This billionaire moved from the United Kingdom to Zurich in 2017. He owns extensive assets: real estate, bank accounts, investments and interests in football clubs, spread across Europe. During COVID he suddenly realised that he had no will, while he has two children in their early twenties. Moreover, he himself had no complete overview of his possessions.

Together with a lawyer, we spent a year mapping all his assets. Subsequently, we checked with fifteen RSM offices worldwide what would happen upon death and how we could improve that. Now we're working on all the wills and structuring everything in the right way. An ongoing process, because he continues to actively invest."

So Gary continues to follow the billionaire daily with his team. With great pleasure, because his work is his passion. This also applies to Lea: "The personal contact, the advising on a broad terrain, the international cooperation, I love it." Laura fully agrees: "The involved relationship with our clients, the complexity of the issues, our international network, I commit myself to that with all my heart one hundred percent."

Private Client Services

RSM's Private Client Services Group focuses on developing strategies for ultra-high-net-worth families, to help them manage and preserve wealth and real estate across generations. The tailored advice takes into account all aspects of the families' personal and business tax position, from real estate and private equity investments to international affairs and philanthropy. These families often have a family office (which task RSM can also perform). The families are guided through the economic and tax consequences of, among other things, investments, business structure and wealth transfer. Just like when planning business succession, where methods to save tax are examined, pension needs are mapped, philanthropic plans are addressed and effective inheritance and gift taxes are managed. Trust and personal contact play an important role within Private Client Services, which is offered globally, in the 120 countries where RSM is active.

This article appeared in the most recent edition of RSMagazine, a magazine that is distributed twice a year throughout the Netherlands among clients, relations and other interested parties. Don't you receive the magazine yet, but are interested? Then contact Angelique Timmer-Weisscher via ATimmer@rsmnl.nl. You'll then receive the magazine free of charge in the future.