Michael Giraud
Michael Giraud
Head of Fiduciary Services, Jersey | Standard Bank Offshore Trust Company Jersey Limited
JURISDICTION
Jersey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Office
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Michael leads Standard Bank’s Jersey trust business managing bespoke dynastic structures with a diversified asset base. He has particular experience working with structures holding residential and commercial property, large complex investment portfolios, directly held private equity, multi-investor structures and family companies. Michael was educated in South Africa and England. He has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies, is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He has been named by eprivateclient as a Top 35 Under 35 on multiple occasions, as trustee of the year Channel Islands and IOM (2023) by Citywealth and he has been recommended as a trustee by the Private Client Global Elite Directory 2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. Michael is also a global committee member for the STEP International Client Special Interest Group. He speaks English and French.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Matthew Christensen
Matthew Christensen
Partner | Rawlinson & Hunter
JURISDICTION
Jersey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Governance and Business
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Matthew joined R&H, Jersey as a director in 2018 and became a partner in 2021. Matthew specialises in trust and company administration, bringing significant experience in working with ultra high net worth families, family offices and individuals. Matthew obtained a BA Hons from the University of York in History and qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, London. He has, subsequently, gained additional experience in management consultancy, corporate finance and restructuring. Prior to joining R&H, Matthew was a director at Intertrust, Jersey and previous to that worked at KPMG Channel Islands Limited which included a secondment to Jersey Finance. Matthew is a member of the executive committee of the Jersey Society of Chartered and Certified Accountants (JSCCA) and has served as a committee member of the Jersey Association of Trust Companies (JATCo).
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Wiltons
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The Wind in the Willows
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Mark Leale
Mark Leale
Head of Dubai Office | Quilter Cheviot
JURISDICTION
Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jersey, Guernsey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Asset Management
Office Location
United Arab Emirates
Short Biography
I started my private banking career with Lloyds Bank International in Guernsey in 1992. Following 3 years with the bank based in the Isle of Man, I relocated to Dubai in 2002. I now head the Dubai office for Quilter Cheviot, based in the DIFC and have been with the firm since 2016. I have a broad experience in working with private clients in the Middle East and globally, often in collaboration with other professional advisers. Quilter Cheviot specialises in the provision of discretionary portfolio management services. Portfolios can be held in our three booking centres; the UK mainland, Jersey or Dublin.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Roberto's, DIFC
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
To be curious
What was your first job?
Account Executive at Lloyds Private Banking in Guernsey
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
We expect that private clients will increasingly seek to appoint professional investment managers, moving away from advisory relationships
Lydia Emery
Lydia Emery
Senior Associate | Oben
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Dispute Resolution or Arbitration
Trusts & Trusteeship
Trusts: Contentious
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Lydia advises local and international financial services business, law firms and accountancy firms on a wide range of contentious matters. Her practice is centered on trust and funds disputes, fraud, asset tracing and recovery, regulatory investigations, insolvency, trustee applications, AML/CFT, sanctions and bribery/corruption issues, professional negligence and partnership and shareholder disputes. Lydia qualified as an English Solicitor in August 2017 and has since gained considerable experience in the offshore trust and corporate sectors. She previously worked at another Jersey law firm advising professional trustees, intermediaries and private clients on the establishment and ongoing operation of trusts, foundations, private trust companies, family companies and other private wealth structures. She is also experienced in related corporate law and regulatory matters affecting offshore structures and service providers.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Lucy Poignand
Lucy Poignand
Director | Ogier
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Office
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Lucy has over 20 years' experience in the offshore trust and company industry and joined Ogier Global in 2019 as an associate director. Lucy works closely with a global range of UHNW individuals and families, managing their structures which comprise of trusts, companies, foundations and private trust companies, with asset bases covering investments, property, aircrafts, yachts and works of art.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Samphire
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Always treat people as you would want to be treated
What was your first job?
Waitress at a beach cafe
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Anything written by Kathy Reichs
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Opportunities in new jurisdictions and a continuation of families restructuring or establishing their private wealth structures for succession/governance planning purposes.
Laura Parkes
Laura Parkes
Director | Crestbridge Family Office Services
JURISDICTION
Jersey, Cayman Islands, England and Wales, United States
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Office
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Laura has over 20 years’ experience in the private client trust industry dealing with multi-jurisdictional fiduciary and corporate structures holding various assets including externally and client managed private companies, investment portfolios, residential and commercial property, development projects and aviation. At Crestbridge Laura is the Client Service Director lead on several family office structures administered in Jersey for clients based in Americas, Canada and UK. Laura also supports business development efforts in the Americas including working with Crestbridge Fiduciary LLC, our US joint venture partner with Willow Street to help grow our fiduciary offering to both US domestic and international clients with an US focus. Laura holds a Certificate of Offshore Administration, CMI Certificate in Management and Leadership, a full STEP member and formed part of a select group of industry individuals to be part of the first Jersey based Build Back Better programme in Sustainable Finance
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
A good Japanese restaurant for Sushi
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Don't be afraid to fail, its how you learn and grow from it that counts
What was your first job?
A Saturday job at a locksmith working as a key cutter. I was 15 years old and wanted to save up for my first motorbike
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy - how to effectively manage time and stop procrastinating
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
With the support of intermediaries, we will continue to serve wealthy families with their structuring needs ultimately providing intergeneration planning and strong corporate governance.
Kelly Watson
Kelly Watson
Client Services Director | Accuro
JURISDICTION
Jersey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Trusts & Trusteeship
Trusts: Contentious
Trusts: Planning
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
I am a Client Services Director in Accuro's Jersey office. Having qualified as a non practising Barrister and a Solicitor of England and Wales, I spent five years in private practice in both England and Jersey. Thereafter i moved in to the offshore finance industry in 2009, completing the STEP diploma in International Offshore Administration. My legal background enables me to specialise in the administration of contentious, complex and / or distressed offshore structures, in particular those involved in litigation or under criminal or tax investigation. In my spare time, I am a keen cyclist and opera singer.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
It depends on the client or colleague and their location given that they are spread across the world. In Jersey, it would be Petchi - local produce cooked very well by a local chef.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Honesty is the best policy - most people, clients in particular, prefer an honest response even if it is an admission that I don't know the answer at that point but will find one.
What was your first job?
Working in a florist - from lavish bouquets to coffin sprays, what was intended to be a means to fund pocket money at school was an eye opener to dealing with people going through the best and worst of times.
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Captain Corelli's Mandolin - a wonderful book that defines love in a way like no other.
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
A continued move towards ESG investing within the investments we manage as the world continues to move towards carbon neutral and the younger generations find their voices.
Keith Dixon
Keith Dixon
Partner | Carey Olsen
JURISDICTION
TOP SPECIALISMS
Estates: Contentious
Estates: Planning
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
As a partner in the Carey Olsen Trusts & Private Wealth group, I advise a mix of global and institutional trustees, family offices and high net worth private clients on commercial and private trusts, foundations, charitable and not-for-profit organizations, succession, pension and estate planning issues as well as on associated regulatory and compliance matters. I write for several journals and frequently speak at seminars and conferences on trust law and private client matters.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
Petchi, Jersey
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Measure twice, cut once.
What was your first job?
Shop assistant
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
Barbarian Days, William Finnegan
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Gradual introduction of AI
Katrina Williams
Katrina Williams
Client Director | Accuro
JURISDICTION
Jersey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Office
Trusts & Trusteeship
Trusts: Planning
Office Location
Jersey
Short Biography
Katrina is a Client Services Director at Accuro in Jersey, leading a team servicing estate and inter-generational planning for UHNW international families, with a particular focus on those with a US and UK resident non-domiciled nexus. During her 15 years working in the Jersey financial services industry, Katrina has gained considerable experience, working closely with international families, entrepreneurs, PE executives and their trusted advisers. Katrina enjoys working with next generation US citizen beneficiaries and brings particular expertise in the implementation of complex estate planning advice and ongoing offshore planning relating to the generational transition from the pre to post grantor era. Katrina leads a portfolio comprising financial services and PE executives, and has significant experience in the set-up, structuring, and day to day administration relating to private equity. Prior to joining Accuro, Katrina was a Partner at another Jersey service provider, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG London.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
What was your first job?
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Katrina Drewer
Katrina Drewer
Client Director | ZEDRA
JURISDICTION
Jersey
TOP SPECIALISMS
Family Governance and Business
Fiduciary
Trusts & Trusteeship
Office Location
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Katrina passed her Diploma in Offshore Administration (ICSA) in 2010 and has been a Certified Accounting Technician since 2002. During 2021 she obtained a certificate in Islamic Commercial Law and certificate in Fund Administration. Katrina has over 20 years’ experience working in the financial services industry and acts as the Relationship Leader on a number of cases for HNW and UHNW clients working with both single and multi-family offices who have a focus in the Middle East. Her clients have a broad asset base which include Properties (commercial and residential), Super Yachts, Life Assurance Policies, Private Equity and Structured Investment Product and more recently private collective investment schemes for Single & Multi Family Offices. Katrina works with some of Jersey’s most prestigious Law Firms and Trust Companies on a wide range of matters from Simple Estates to Complex Family Structures for clients with a worldwide footprint.
What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?
https://annas.je/
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Your life is your responsibility
What was your first job?
Waveski surfer
What is the book you recommend to everyone?
The view from the dugout - Eric Harrison
What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?
Further investment in technology to ensure a sustainable future