You might have missed it, but a gender revolution has quietly swept the boardrooms and C-suites of Britain’s wealth management industry.
In July, Emma Crystal chalked up a year as CEO of Coutts, overseeing £48.9 billion in assets under management (AuM). In June, Camilla Stowell got her feet under the desk as CEO of wealth at £100 billion AuM behemoth Rathbones. In April, Kim Jenson was appointed interim CEO of Charles Stanley, with £40 billion in AuM. Annabel Spring moved from CEO of HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth to another top role at B2B WealthTech Allfunds in June. Finally, J.P. Morgan UK has unveiled its new head of private banking: Maricé Brown.
Meanwhile, Sasha Wiggins is at the helm of Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management, which boasts £183 billion in client assets and liabilities, while Kate Leppard and Helen Watson have long filled pivotal leadership positions at Cazenove and Rothschild & Co respectively. For its part, C. Hoare and Co has had an equal number of male and female partners since appointing Abigail Malortie last year, while Diana Brightmore-Armour has been in post as CEO since 2021.
So what’s going on? In May, McKinsey noted that women control around a third of all retail financial assets in the European Union and United States – a share expected to reach 40-45 per cent within five years.
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‘The women have got the money,’ explains Hedgehog’s seasoned (and male) wealth industry insider. ‘If you want to grow your book, you need to go where the money is.’
Oodles more Boodles
News that luxury jeweller Boodles is to open a new seven-storey, 13,000 sq ft flagship store, the Boodles Townhouse, in the site currently occupied by Stella McCartney on Old Bond Street – recently recrowned Europe’s most expensive shopping street – will warm the cockles of Spear’s readers.
The sixth-generation family firm, run by joint managing directors and cousins James Amos and Jody Wainwright, is moving from smaller premises on New Bond Street and hopes the bigger outlet will herald a new chapter for the Liverpool-headquartered business, which was founded in 1798.
Investing in ‘the best location in the UK and arguably in the world’ will put the firm on the map, says Amos, who tells Hedgehog: ‘We think it will be important not just for business but for our brand. It will further help to establish Boodles as – I would hope – a leading British luxury brand in the heart of Bond Street. The jeweller has a reputation as favourite among the most glamorous denizens of the social scene. Until recently it boasted Earl Spencer’s daughters, Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia Spencer, as brand representatives.
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Now the brand is seeking to build on its standing and double turnover in 10 years by expanding internationally, beyond its single overseas branch in Dublin. ‘We’ve got ambitious plans, declares Amos. Having had ‘pop-ups’ in Quinta do Lago in Portugal and Marbella in Spain this summer and been at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition earlier in the year to see ‘what’s happening in the Middle East’, Amos recently visited Barbados, while his joint MD Wainwright went to Texas to take the temperature of the Lone Star state as a possible destination.
‘We don’t want to declare our hand yet, but we are looking at doing interesting things,’ Amos assures me. ‘We’re not going to do the obvious “let’s open in New York, Dubai and Hong Kong”. I think our international presence may be a bit more strategic and focused.’ If the plans come to fruition, Boodles business could soon be booming.
Hot Leeds
Hot on the heels of opening its glitzy £5 million ‘wealth centre’ in St James’s in London in the summer, HSBC has now unveiled its second shiny UK wealthcentre, in Leeds – all part of its ambition to reach £100 billion in assets under management by 2029.
Rebecca Boardman, who runs its private bank in the North and Midlands, is delighted with the new premises and declares: ‘You might think, why Yorkshire? It’s obvious to me because I’m Yorkshire born and bred… Yorkshire’s a thriving hub full of entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals and families, and business owners – all of which are looking for bespoke financial advice and really good solutions. Fancy that. Ranked by GDP, Leeds is the fourth biggest British city, after London, Manchester and Birmingham.
Royal touch
Hedgehog hears that the writs are flying following the publication of royal biographer Andrew Lownie’s new book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York (described by the Daily Mail as ‘the most devastating royal biography ever written’). But they aren’t giving the author sleepless nights.
‘It’s just an attempt to change the narrative and to intimidate us,’ Lownie tells Hedgehog. ‘The last thing he [Prince Andrew] wants to do is stand up in court.’
Having written a coruscating biography of the duke, what does Lownie think should be done with the eighth in line to the throne? ‘Who knows what other scandals are still to come out?’ declares Lownie. ‘They need to deal with it ruthlessly, cut him off totally. Otherwise the infected limb will infect the whole body.’
Golden postcodes
With London super-prime property prices reportedly languishing 13 per cent down on values year on year, where can the world’s ultra-wealthy get a residential property deal thats, er, as safe as houses? One answer is on the sun-kissed private island of Mustique in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The 1,400-acre paradise is a favourite of everyone from the Prince and Princess of Wales to Margot Robbie, who attended their Barbie-themed New Year’s Eve party not so long ago. What’s more, Hedgehog hears that Mustique just happens to have a sparkly five-bedroom, two-pool villa, named “Tortuga’, up for grabs – yours for aweighty $24 million.
Roger Pritchard from the Mustique Company purrs: ‘We have been lucky enough to have enjoyed a buoyant property market over the past five years. This seems to reflect an increasing number of families exploring alternatives to living in Europe, and more specifically London. Ahouse on Mustique offers security and enjoyment in their lifetime and a rock-solid asset that is tax-efficient for generations to come.’
You’re also more than 4,000 miles from Rachel Reeves – and did you know a St Vincent and Grenadines passport offers visa-free access to the Schengen area? Cheap at twice the price…
Labour’s war on health
Everybody knows the UKs changing tax regime spells danger for non-doms’ wallets. But recent developments have an additional cost that’s less well documented, says psychiatrist Dr Stephen Pereira, whose patients have included former Loyds boss Anténio Horta-Osério, ITV news anchor Tom Bradby and the Princess of Wales’s brother, James Middleton.
‘People’s stress levels have gone up significantly,’ Dr Pereira tells Spear’s. ‘It’s making a lot of people feel anxious, more stressed, and it is impacting on sleep. It is also impacting relationships because families, communities and neighbourhoods are getting fractured.’ How so? ‘There’s a certain section of Chelsea I look after where half of the people have gone because of the non-dom changes and inheritance tax changes.’
If the net result turns out to be reduced receipts for the exchequer, it could turn out to be a burden everyone in society is forced to bear.
