Asset Protection
"It takes a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune; and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it"
Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777 – 1836)
An asset protection strategy will always be bespoke and perfectly adapted to your current situation and the scenarios you and your family may encounter in the future. The strategy and associated structure will have to be evaluated and adapted as your personal circumstances or the legal framework changes.
Most asset protection structures will integrate at least one trust or foundation.
Trust
A trust can best be described as a legal arrangement (a legal form) through which the legal ownership of assets is transferred to the trustee in order to keep these assets for the benefit of others (the beneficiaries).
We see a great interest in Private Trust Companies which is set-up to manage one or several trusts from the same family and whereby family members may be on the Board and take part in the management.
Foundation
In some jurisdictions a foundation is known as a family foundation and in others as a private foundation. Foundations can be used in a similar way to trusts, such as for wealth protection, privacy and wealth planning, but originally only existed in civil-law countries.
The key advantage is that the foundation, while being operated similar to a company, does not have any shareholders.
Nowadays, some common-law countries also offer the option of setting up foundations, for example, Jersey and Guernsey, in addition to the more established alternatives from Liechtenstein, St. Vincent and Panama.