High-net-worth business owners look to UBS for personalised advice

Wealth management has never been a more important consideration for many entrepreneurs. As the Solent Deals Awards and Thames Valley Deals Awards demonstrate, dealmaking activity is at elevated levels with investors and lenders making significant financial commitments to support high-flying businesses – and their owners.

Business owners looking to make an exit from their companies can find themselves recipients of a significant wealth boost. And with that come plenty of financial, legal and tax questions.

Lifestyle choices

Timely conversations with the right group of experts could pay dividends – both immediately and for the longer term. Among the region’s network of professional advisors that businesses rely on is wealth manager UBS.

“We provide a holistic, bespoke service for individuals, their families and future generations at every stage of their wealth journey,” said Matthew Noyce (pictured above), a Client Advisor at UBS Global Wealth Management in the UK who covers the Solent, South, South West and Wales.

Noyce has worked with ultra-high net worth clients for over 15 years in the UK and Middle East, with the last 10 years focused on developing client relationships in Dorset and the surrounding area.

He added: “Our role is to help clients to achieve the lifestyles they want by making sure what needs to be put in place is there to achieve it.”

UBS also offers informal networking opportunities for business owners thinking about selling their companies, where they can meet others who have completed the process, while its Industry Leader Network and Growth Entrepreneur Network brings entrepreneurs together globally at each stage of their journey.

As the world’s largest wealth manager with over $2.8 trillion of invested assets, UBS aims to offer high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients broad choices. This includes access to investments usually available only to large institutional investors, such as private equity and hedge funds.

Sarah Allatt (pictured above), Head of Wealth Planning at UBS, gave an example: “Many of our clients look to non-traditional asset classes but sometimes might find that the minimum investment levels are too high. With our buying power, we can access investments like private equity and foreign exchange trading at a lower minimum entry level for individuals.”

Thinking ahead pays off

As well as choosing the right investment vehicles to meet their future goals, deciding when to act can make all the difference to those looking to build their personal wealth. For business owners, UBS recommends pre-planning a wealth strategy before deciding to exit a company along with having a post-exit wealth management plan in place.

“We like to work with business owners several years before they sell, so we can focus on their personal financial goals as well as the long-term objectives for their company and family,” said Noyce.

He outlined the five main areas of advice that UBS offers high net worth clients:

• Managing investments

• Lending services

• Wealth planning advice

• Philanthropy support

• Family advisory advice

Legacy planning

Wealth creators often turn their attention to giving something back to society. For example, by setting up charitable giving or a trust that meets their philanthropic goals. In this area, UBS’s Social Impact and Philanthropy team advises clients, including setting up tax-efficient charitable plans or a Donor Advised Foundation.

And it’s not just today’s successful entrepreneurs that the firm supports. A ‘next generation’ wealth management events assist with the education and support of young adults from families of clients.

Supporting local firms

For UBS, close working relationships with the region’s professional advisers are an essential component in its approach. Popular subjects on the table in wealth management discussions range from wills and powers of attorney to tax structures, inheritance plans and pre-nuptial arrangements.

A joined-up service combining lawyers, accountants and other professional service advisers is the secret to successful client relationships, says Noyce: “We establish a trusted team of experts for clients, delivering the best opportunities and solutions for our clients.”

Allatt concurred: “By working in partnership with other trusted advisors we make sure clients receive holistic advice that helps them to make better-informed decisions about their finances.”

The Solent dealmaking community thrives on this approach, says Noyce: “There is an energetic and supportive community here that works collaboratively. Our role is to support clients and local businesses in the best ways possible.”

To this end, the firm is a keen supporter of the region’s dealmaking network through its headline sponsorship of the Solent Deals Awards and the Thames Valley Deals Awards.

More information

Whether you’re looking for trusted advisors to guide a sale or succession conversation, or to connect with peers who have already walked the path, please contact [email protected] for more information.