Resources On-Demand

Annual Cross-Border Considerations for Advisers: Global Families and Business Owners - Day 1 Part 3

Overview

Preserving and growing wealth through optimising planning strategies, avoiding costly mistakes and implementing good governance

Advice is multi-layered and overlaying the complexities is the constant and fast-paced changes to local and global legislation, international efforts for aligned taxes and reporting, local and global business operations, asset locations, taxes and family footprints and dynamics. Bringing together the complexities and advising clients requires an understanding of current trends and the diversification of wealth. The preparation of the documents that flows from the advice and the implementation and ongoing maintenance of the plan is key. It is important to understand how different assets can be held and the impact of the type of structure used, understanding the diversification into non-traditional assets. Communication between stakeholders is essential, including communication with the client and their inner circle. The pandemic exposed the importance and need for communication between different generations and relationship holders, flagged topics for each generation, with an aim to protect family values, highlighting the role of solid advice on family wealth.

Asset protection and legacy planning is imperative, and the pandemic has created a heightened focus which stretches wider than the client’s personal needs, there is an awareness that more must be done from an environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspective. Advisers needs to understand the overall changing landscape for advice which incorporates all the elements, including a focus on finding purpose through philanthropy. The pandemic has intensified discussions about the interconnectedness of wealth and advice.

Key considerations

Tax liabilities and reporting are difficult to define due to various factors such as nationality, employment, or residence issues. The event aims to highlight, accelerate, and ignite wealth and succession planning trends and solutions. We will review the impact of planning with local and international advisers, looking at the trends, what does an international estate plan look like, visiting certain jurisdictions, looking at what are the main risk trends for family wealth, how does ESG impact on the client’s wealth journey. What is the impact of international tax, what is the role of non-traditional assets, on the planning journey? Some of the common question’s advisers face will be addressed during the panel discussion:

• I just bought a vacation home outside my home country. Should I do anything?
• My daughter married someone in a foreign country. Should I change my trust?
• Will I be able to do tax planning by using offshore trusts or similar structures?
• What is the key-tax considerations per jurisdiction, for example, situs tax, death taxes, other taxes?
• My child emigrated and became a non-resident. What should my estate planning considerations be?

The complexities of advice and the changes to the advice landscape for families and business owners can be navigated by finding an international network, using different planning techniques and advice methods. Advisers must gain an understanding of how to plan for clients with a collection of art, classic cars, wine and whisky, coins, and stamps. The criteria for exotic investments are broad and they are generally tangible items.

Compliance and reporting are key, South Africa is an early adopter of the international standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, advisers must understand the reporting requirements and risk of non-compliance.