Caroline Garnham
When a multi-millionaire neighbour complained about the lack of multiple services for the ultra high net worth community, to Mayfair resident Caroline Garnham, this inspired her to create Family Bhive, an exclusive networking club that caters for the UK’s wealthiest. Now she’s looking after billionaires!
This month she talks to SYB about love lessons in the park, whether taxing the rich makes good economic sense, and shares her strong views on the flood of foreign investors pouring into London and Gordon Brown’s attempt to abolish tax avoidance.
Let’s start with your background... You used to be a lawyer to the ultra-high net worth community; what drew you to this audience? I started my career as a tax lawyer at Allen & Overy, working in their commercial department, analysing the VAT treatment of an interest rate swap and on unusual commercial deals. When Development Land Tax was introduced I became the team’s expert and through this tax I was introduced to the firm’s private client department. A client owned land on which planning permission had been granted for the development of a housing estate. We worked hard on this project for several months. Sadly before she was able to benefit, she was killed, thrown from her horse. Under her Will she left everything to charity. Her accident left a lasting impression on me. I realised that I preferred working with humans rather than companies, although I did not make the switch to private clients until several years later.
Now you run Family Bhive; what is the concept behind the business? UHNW individuals are people like everyone else. The only difference is that they are wealthy; they are also a minority. It is hard for them to source the information they need to make decisions concerning their wealth or to find advisors to assist them. Furthermore, as a minority, they are not well served by the national press. Here was a perfect imperfect market.
So what do you find higher net worth individuals are more commonly concerned with? Ultra high net worth individuals want to meet people like them, find advisors they can trust and good investment opportunities at a reasonable price. Most are sick of being treated as an ATM and are highly suspicious of anyone who is pushing their products.
Do you think you have competently bridged the gap between Trusted Advisors and UHNWIs? We have formed two communities, The Virtual Family Office™ which incorporates the UHNW Investor Club, and the Trusted Advisors Academy™. The website serves as a bridge between the two. It not only enables advisors to network efficiently and effectively both online and offline, but also enables our advisors to showcase what they do for their clients, direct to our 800+ UHNW members with net wealth verified as being in excess of £5million.
What sort of services do you offer and how do they differ to others on the market? We are a facilitation service; introducing UHNW to UHNW to co- invest or to invest directly. We also offer a General Counsel Service. There are so many specialists that it is hard for UHNW to
56 | The Entrepreneur | JULY 2014
know where to start. Imagine not being able to go to a doctor, who would you go to if you had a back ache; a surgeon will suggest an operation, an acupuncture will offer you needles, an osteopath manipulation, and a personal trainer exercise? Which specialist an UHNW sees will determine the nature of the solution.
So take us through the process, from the first moment a client enters the networking club... Our members want to meet people like them and investment opportunities they may not otherwise find. To be included they must join our UHNW Investors Club online. To be a member they need to have done the following, which is actioned through the website and is very easy:
Have their professional advisor; lawyer, accountant, banker or professional trustee verify their wealth as being in excess of £5 million, in excess of £20 million or in excess of £100 million, confirmed their acceptance of our Terms and Conditions, which includes the payment of a commission on any successful investment, and waived their rights to compensation under the FCA guidelines.
On becoming a member, they are then invited to our UHNW Investor Club meetings, at which they will hear about investment opportunities. For those members who have net worth in excess of £100 million and who like to co-invest, I host soirees at my home and make personal introductions. The deals that have been negotiated are extraordinary with a very clear emphasis on making the world a better place; not just on making more money.
How do you encourage your clients to spend more time with you so you can get to know more about them and their requirements? I get to know my members through our UHNW Investor Club meetings, or at our soirees. My business model does not rely solely on selling time. Only when a UHNW member wants me to be engaged on a specific project will I charge ‘on the clock’ or on a fixed fee. My counselling is general not specific, so does not usually take much time.
What’s the most important part about establishing and maintaining a steady, trustworthy client relationship? Providing a good service and finding a solution without being asked. A butler who hears his master say to his dog, ‘We’ll have a good afternoon, Rover’, anticipates that his master is going shooting in the afternoon and gets his gun ready for him. Providing a good service is at the root of my culture of care. Advisors should
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