Updated
GL-W-05
01 / In 30 seconds
The short answer
- What it is
- Comprehensive management of a family’s capital: investments, taxes, succession, structures
- How it is broader than investment
- It looks not only at returns but at taxes, risks and passing capital to children
- Who provides it
- Banks, independent managers, family offices
- When it is relevant
- Selling a business, relocation, changing tax residence
- Where we come in
- The immigration strategy must match the financial one, or one breaks the other
02 / In plain words
What Wealth management means
Wealth management is comprehensive work with a family’s money, not just an investment portfolio. Put simply: the question here is not “what to invest in” but “how to arrange the capital as a whole so that it grows, creates no tax surprises and passes smoothly to the children”.
The work usually covers four layers: investments and asset allocation, tax planning, the legal ownership structure (companies, trusts, foundations) and family matters — succession, provision for children, marital arrangements. These services are provided by private banks, independent managers and family offices.
For our clients there is an important point of contact: changing the country you live in also changes the tax picture. A portfolio that is optimal in one jurisdiction may become inefficient after a move, and sometimes create obligations no one thought about. That is why we try to build the immigration strategy and wealth management together, not separately.
A case from practice
A client moved to Europe keeping their previous business ownership structure. After the change of residence, part of their income fell under new rules. We worked through the situation together with a tax adviser: what could have been solved in advance in one step had to be put right more slowly and at greater cost.
When wealth management is needed
- Selling a business and placing the money
- Relocating the family to another country
- Changing tax residence
- Succession planning
- Diversifying assets across countries
- Provision for children and education
03 / What it covers
What wealth management consists of
Investments
- Asset allocation
- Currency structure
- Risk management
Taxes
- Tax residence
- CFC rules
- Reporting and CRS
Structures
- Companies and holdings
- Trusts and foundations
- Owning real estate
Family
- Inheritance
- Provision for children
- Coordination with immigration
04 / How it works
How the strategy is built
Inventory of assets and goals
The tax picture after the move
Ownership structure
Investment strategy
Regular review
05 / Key facts
What to take into account
01
A change of residence changes the taxes on the whole portfolio
02
CFC rules may catch your own companies
03
CRS reporting works automatically
04
Holding real estate through a structure is not always advantageous
05
Succession law in the country of residence may differ from what you are used to
Common mistakes
- Planning the move and the capital separately
- Keeping the old ownership structure after relocating
- Not checking the tax consequences of selling assets
- Assuming a passport changes tax residence
- Putting succession questions off “until later”
06 / Expert advice
How to prepare in advance
Before relocating, a full map of assets and liabilities is drawn up, and then it is modelled how they will be taxed in the new country. Some decisions — selling assets, restructuring ownership, realising gains — are better taken before the change of residence, not after. This is a case where a few months of preparation save years.
What we do for you. We do not look at immigration in a vacuum: before the move we check how the change of residence will affect your assets, companies and reporting, and bring in a tax adviser when needed. The programme should not create financial surprises for you.
Robert HaasHead of Company Formation
07 / Questions
Frequently asked questions
Investment is part of the work. Wealth management is broader: it includes taxes, the ownership structure, succession and coordination with the family’s plans.
Each provider has its own threshold. But the logic itself — coordinating investments, taxes and structure — is useful well before private banking levels.
A change of tax residence changes the rules on taxing income, dividends and capital gains, and sometimes brings CFC rules into play for your companies.
Not by itself. Tax residence is determined above all by where you actually live, not by citizenship.
Before the change of residence. After the move some decisions become more expensive or unavailable — the sale of assets, for example, is already taxed under the new rules.
No. We deal with immigration strategy and make sure it does not conflict with your financial picture, and where necessary we work together with your advisers.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
Tell us what outcome your family needs
We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.
