A founding director at Strabens Hall, Benskin will take on the newly created role following a 50% increase in the size of the team and 40% revenue growth over the last 12 months.
He will also take responsibility for the development of Strabens Hall’s Hong Kong office, where another director, David Benskin, is leaving to join The Capital Company as a partner.
The changes also see founding director John Halley taking on the title of head of legal, financial and compliance, and Alistair Peel becoming head of Investor Services.
Peel told International Adviser that the business has accumulated around £1bn in assets under influence, with a target of adding £350m in three and a half years.
The financial planning part of the business is key to its growth: “We’re a planning led business. That’s how you add alpha”, he said.
The firm’s wholly independent fee-based service is aimed at the growing global client base of entrepreneurs, business leaders, landed estate owners and non-doms, a statement said.
The management re-organisation and the assignment of more clearly defined roles for the directors would help Strabens Hall streamline its business and more efficiently pursue the opportunities for expansion it has identified both in the UK and Asia.
Adam Benskin said: “We conducted a strategic review of the business last year and have refined and developed our proposition to better serve the evolving needs of our clients and take account of the most important developments in private wealth advisory. These appointments enhance our capabilities and play on the individual strengths of our senior management by utilising their skills in the most appropriate areas as well as harnessing their passion to drive the business forward.
Fee based service
“Our unconflicted financial advice model of providing a fee-based service, which is not product led and with best advice delivered by an expert and dynamic team is rapidly gaining us clients both in the UK and overseas.”
Peel added: “The private wealth management industry is changing fast offering many new opportunities and we need strong cohesive leadership to ensure we capitalise on this. Although investment management is becoming increasingly commoditised with significant amounts of money being committed to passive and tracker funds, there is still a strong role for financial planning in private wealth advisory.
“This is the core of our offer, with many of our clients having complex issues, could be experiencing significant changes in their lives, which often involve a raft of tax and multi-jurisdiction considerations and factors. In such situations careful, professional financial planning is vital.
“Our growth over the past 12 months shows that our approach is being very well received by the market and we look forward to accelerating our expansion over the rest of this year and beyond.”
Strabens Hall presently advises around 350 clients from its offices in London and Hong Kong.
