Wealth & Financial

The starting point is a full inventory: accounts, entities, property, obligations and income across every country where the family holds assets. From that we build one written financial plan that sets liquidity targets, an investment policy, insurance cover and the calendar of decisions ahead, from a child entering university to a business sale on the horizon. The plan is drafted in plain language and agreed with you before anything is implemented.

The plan is then kept current. We review it with you at least twice a year, and immediately when circumstances change: a liquidity event, a new jurisdiction, a marriage, a death. You receive one consolidated statement of the family balance sheet, so the answer to what do we own and where is always a single document.

• Full asset and liability inventory across jurisdictions
• Written financial plan and investment policy statement
• Liquidity and cash flow planning
• Insurance and risk cover review
• Semi-annual review meetings, in person or by call
• One consolidated family balance sheet

Portfolios are built from your risk profile and the plan, not from products. We agree a strategic allocation across cash, bonds, equities, real assets and private markets, then implement it through custodians and managers selected for mandate fit and cost. Mandates can be discretionary, where we act within agreed limits, or advisory, where every decision is yours and we recommend.

Discipline shows in the reporting. Every position, fee and transaction appears in a quarterly report measured against the agreed benchmark, and we review performance with you in the same meeting cycle as the plan. Managers who drift from mandate or underperform without explanation are replaced.

• Strategic and tactical asset allocation
• Discretionary or advisory mandate, documented in writing
• Custodian and manager selection with full cost transparency
• Currency exposure managed across CFA franc, rand, dollar and euro needs
• Quarterly performance reporting against benchmark
• Annual mandate and fee review

Clients see a steady flow of private opportunities: infrastructure and consumer businesses across Africa, established mid-market companies in Europe, and growth transactions in the Gulf. We filter that flow. Before any opportunity reaches you, it has passed our screening for sponsor quality, structure and alignment, and we tell you plainly when we decline to recommend something you were offered elsewhere.

When you choose to proceed, independent due diligence is commissioned on the commercial, legal and financial facts, executed with licensed counsel and accountants in the target jurisdiction. We negotiate terms, coordinate closing, and then monitor the position through to exit, reporting alongside the rest of the portfolio.

• Curated deal flow across Africa, Europe and the Gulf
• Independent commercial, legal and financial due diligence
• Term negotiation and closing coordination
• Co-investment alongside vetted sponsors and family offices
• Position monitoring and exit management
• Honest declines: we say no in writing when a deal fails our screen

Opening and maintaining private banking relationships across borders is slow work: compliance files, source of wealth documentation, and finding the institution whose appetite actually matches your profile. We prepare the file once, to the standard the banks require, and make introductions to private banks in Paris, Geneva, London and Dubai where the relationship is likely to be accepted and to last.

On the credit side, we structure borrowing against portfolios, property and other qualifying assets: Lombard facilities, mortgages on international property, and asset-backed lines for liquidity without selling. We run the process competitively across two or three lenders so terms are tested, and the legal documentation is reviewed by licensed counsel before you sign.

• Introductions to private banks in Paris, Geneva, London and Dubai
• Source of wealth and compliance file preparation
• Lombard credit against investment portfolios
• Mortgage structuring on international property
• Competitive term comparison across lenders
• Facility documentation reviewed by licensed counsel

Cross-border families face overlapping tax systems, and informal arrangements age badly. Our role is coordination, not improvisation: we map where the family and its assets are taxable, identify the questions, and brief licensed tax counsel in each relevant jurisdiction. All tax advice is written, signed and executed by those licensed advisors. We manage them as one team so their answers fit together instead of contradicting each other.

The output is a structure that is efficient and fully compliant: residence positions clarified, treaty relief applied where available, reporting obligations met on time in every country. We keep a compliance calendar for the family and warn you of filings before they are due, not after.

• Multi-jurisdiction tax mapping for family and entities
• Licensed tax counsel engaged in each relevant country
• Residence and treaty position analysis
• Structure design executed and signed off by licensed advisors
• Annual compliance calendar and filing reminders
• Coordination with your existing accountants

Succession is the question most families postpone. We put it on the table early and settle it in documents: wills valid in each country where assets sit, trusts or foundations where they genuinely serve the family, and a governance framework that records how decisions pass to the next generation. Drafting and execution are handled by licensed estate lawyers and notaries in each jurisdiction; we define the brief, coordinate the work and pressure-test the result.

A family in Douala asked us to prepare for a transition between generations across assets in four countries. Eighteen months later the structure was documented, the heirs briefed, and the operating business protected by a shareholders agreement, all before the question ever became urgent. That is the standard we work to.

• Wills coordinated across every relevant jurisdiction
• Trusts and foundations where genuinely appropriate
• Family governance charter and shareholders agreements
• Next-generation briefing and preparation
• Executor and protector arrangements
• Drafting by licensed estate counsel in each country

Assets held personally across many countries are exposed to disputes, forced heirship surprises and administrative friction. We design holding structures, companies, and where suitable trusts or foundations, in reputable and well-regulated jurisdictions, so that ownership is clean, financing is easier and a sale does not require unwinding a tangle. Every structure has a written purpose; we do not build complexity for its own sake.

Formation, substance requirements and ongoing filings are handled with licensed corporate counsel and administrators in each jurisdiction, and every entity is reviewed annually against cost, purpose and current regulation. Structures that no longer earn their keep are simplified or closed.

• Holding company design in reputable jurisdictions
• Ring-fencing of operating, property and personal assets
• Substance and administration arranged with licensed providers
• Register, filing and renewal management
• Annual structure review against cost and purpose
• Simplification and wind-down when structures age out