A rundown of the 10 most read people moves stories to feature on eprivateclient in January 2024...
1. (12/01/2024) Trust, fiduciary and family office services provider New Quadrant appointed Virginia Airey as its new chief executive and board director. Ms Airey has over 30 years’ experience of working in financial services, initially as a banking lawyerat Clifford Chance, before transferring her skills to hold a number of key senior roles for several global investment banks, which included 17 years with Citi. She has extensive industry knowledge with executive committee and board level experience, both domestic and international. Her role at New Quadrant is to drive and shape the business to meet the changing needs of the firm’s established, but also future, clients. In particular, she will oversee the further development of the firm's family office services alongside the long-established legal and tax advisory, and trust administration services.
2. (04/01/2024) Former eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35 Ceri Vokes was made joint regional European head of private client & tax at international law firm Withers. Ms Vokes – who was named as a Top 35 Under 35 in 2013 – will lead the team alongside Christopher Groves. She works with UK domiciled and non-UK domiciled high net worth individuals and advises on all aspects of wealth planning, with a particular emphasis on: tax efficient investment structuring, with specialism in insurance bonds, real estate, private equity funds, hedge funds and other alternative investment classes; carried interest and buyout structuring; advice on entrepreneurs' relief planning; and tax issues for sports stars. Ms Vokes has worked at Withers for over 18 years and has been a partner at the firm for over 10 of those. She previously worked at Hogan Lovells and was a trainee solicitor at Linklaters.
3. (19/01/2024) London law firm Burgess Mee Family Law hired family law partner Rachel Freeman. She joined the firm from Kingsley Napley, where she was also a partner. Ms Freeman has more than 20 years’ experience across all areas of family law. She has particular experience in complex financial cases and disputes in relation to children. Many of her cases have an international aspect, often with links to France and French-speaking countries. A collaboratively trained lawyer, she also holds a foundation certificate in psychotherapy and counselling.
4. (08/01/2024) Mishcon de Reya hired Marianne Kafena and Idina Glyn as partners in its London office. Ms Kafena advises high net worth families, family offices and private businesses based in the Middle East and brings overs 20 years' experience to the role. She has joined from Harbottle & Lewis where she was a partner from 2020. Prior to this, Ms Kafena was a partner at Farrer & Co for six years. Ms Glyn advises on transactional and advisory property matters alongside onshore tax, trust, succession, charity, super prime central London property matters and art law. She has joined from Forsters where she was a senior associate.
5. (10/01/2024) Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO strengthened its South East team with the appointment of Lucy Saunders. Ms Saunders joined BDO's private client tax team as a partner from Blick Rothenburg. She has 20 years’ experience, in particular in advising international high net worth individuals (HNWIs) on complex tax matters including matrimonial, succession, inheritance, trust and company areas. At BDO, Ms Saunders will help to strengthen the firm’s private client tax team both regionally and nationally. Recognised as an eprivateclient Top 35 under 35 in 2013, she will work with HNWIs, families and their structures – both in the UK and internationally.
6. (12/01/2024) International law firm Charles Russell Speechlys added three partners to its transactional teams. James Walton joined as a partner within the firm’s banking and finance team. He joined Charles Russell Speechlys from Edwin Coe and will be based in the firm’s London office. At the same time the firm has added two partners to its corporate team in London with the arrival of merger and acquisition (M&A) specialists Giles Dennison and Alexis Karim. [Read more]
7. (05/01/2024) Kingsley Napley hired Sophie Voelcker as a partner in its private client team. Ms Voelcker will focus on advice to UK resident and/or domiciled clients regarding wealth structuring, estate planning and trusts, with a particular interest in any cross-border taxation and succession issues for clients with international assets or who have relocated abroad. She also has experience providing such advice in the context of matrimonial disputes and pre-nuptial agreements. Ms Voelcker has joined Kingsley Napley from private client boutique New Quadrant Partners where she had been a partner since 2017. She trained at Payne Hicks Beach and is a member of STEP (The Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners).
8. (17/01/2024) Julian Washington joined Sotheby’s as head of tax, heritage and UK museums and head of fiduciary client group, Europe. After reading law at Cambridge, Mr Washington worked as a solicitor in the private client field, becoming a partner in private wealth at Forsters in London, before pursuing a career in business development in wealth management at RBC Wealth Management and then for City law firm Druces. Mr Washington has now taken on the leadership of the tax and heritage team in the UK alongside the fiduciary client group in Europe. The tax and heritage team has grown in the UK market under Mr Washington’s predecessor, Wendy Philips, who remains in the business as a consultant after a 40 year career at Sotheby’s.
9. (18/01/2024) London law firm Seddons appointed David Thompson as a partner in its family team. Mr Thompson has joined Seddons from JMW Solicitors, where he was a partner for three years. Before that, he spent three years as partner at BDB Pitmans and 16 years at Charles Russell Speechlys, leaving as partner in 2018. He is a qualified mediator and collaborative lawyer, having previously served as the chair of the London region of lawyer network Resolution from 2015 to 2021.
10. (23/01/2024) London Stock Exchange-listed service provider, JTC, appointed Tom McGinness to the role of group director within its private office team. In his new role at JTC Private Office, Mr McGinness will have a particular focus on family governance, succession planning and sustainability. Until recently Mr McGinness was global head of family business at KPMG. He has more than 30 years’ experience supporting the needs of large international family businesses and global family offices. Prior to joining KPMG, Mr McGinness worked as an inspector of taxes at HMRC in the UK, whilst he also holds family governance qualifications through STEP. [Read more]