Top 12 International and Strategic Advisors

Thomas van Straubenzee is succinct when Spear’s asks him to explain the role of Knight Frank’s private office, which he founded with Rory Penn in 2018: ‘It’s to look after the firm’s best clients and, using Knight Frank’s platform, offer them “everything property”.

‘Most importantly, we sell properties for them, whether it’s a house in Chelsea, investment offices in Reading, sheds in Portsmouth or their house in the South of France.’ The key thing for clients to note, van Straubenzee says, is that London is a ‘safe place’ to invest. ‘Despite high taxes, we have the advantage of a very fair legal system. For preserving wealth, you can’t look much further than London.’