FROM THE EDITOR'S CHAIR: Privacy, Californian Tax And Mixed Results

Tom Burroughes

13 February 2023

How must the wealth management industry think about privacy, what it means today and how to protect it in a world of social media, demands for every-greater “transparency” and when revenue-hungry governments are happy to push the boundaries of due process? These are some of the questions I want to explore in coming weeks. I really want to hear from readers about this.

Spending time talking to industry figures in Switzerland last week made me realise that understanding what privacy should represent today is not straightforward. I’ll be gleaning views from the sector and plan to publish articles in the coming weeks.

I am also looking forward to publishing commentaries from the US about proposed tax changes to trusts by the state government of California. On another tack, we will report back further on how technology is – or in some cases isn’t – changing the wealth industry.

We have had a busy past few days, reflecting on the investment implications of China’s move away from pandemic restrictions, the potential impact of a wider UK “failure to prevent” duty on financial advisors, and results from banks such as Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank . We have covered how a “family office of the future” firm has opened a non-US international HQ in Singapore – a sign of how important the Asian city-state is as a family office player. On the family offices subject, data and research firm Highworth, with which this news service is an exclusive media partner, has been building up its database covering US single-family offices. Family Wealth Report's US correspondent, Charles Paikert, has written this important analysis asking what a private equity bid for Focus Financial might mean for the wider wealth sector.

Our video content remains busy. See this Wealth Talk interview here with a woman who has built a remarkable web-based platform showcasing wealth managers in Switzerland that serve expat US citizens or provide access to Swiss investments.

This news service hasn’t been afraid to wade into difficult areas: I recently asked why, in certain regions, clients are not all hot for ESG investment, despite the supposed relentless focus on it. And that’s very much the approach of this publication: We take nothing for granted when it comes to themes.

As always, if you have news, grumbles or feedback, please get in touch at tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com