Private Wealth

From entrepreneurs to royal families, VG has been appointed to structure and run cross-border wealth since 1982. Business interests, investments, property portfolios and other high-value assets, often spread across several countries. One structure rarely fits all of it. We work out the right mix with you and your lawyers and tax advisers, then run it day to day.

Advising a family? Bring us in early. Every enquiry goes to a director, and you'll deal with the same people from the first conversation onwards.

Being a trustee is a duty, not a title. Day to day, that means looking after the trust's assets, keeping accurate records and accounts, and making decisions in line with the trust deed, taking your wishes into account. Above all, it means acting in the beneficiaries' interests. We get to know the family, answer the questions and keep the paperwork right, so the trust works the way you meant it to.

As a Jersey trust company with roots going back to 1982, we work alongside your lawyers and tax advisers from the start. Every relationship is director-led, so you and your advisers deal directly with someone who can make decisions.

A trust is a relationship. A foundation is an entity. That often appeals to families from civil law countries, where trusts can feel unfamiliar. But a foundation isn't a straight swap for a trust in every case. The right choice depends on your family, your assets and where you live, so we work it through with your lawyers to understand your goals and what structure is right for you.

Every Jersey foundation has a charter, regulations, a council that runs it and a guardian who makes sure the council does its job. Jersey law requires at least one council member to be a regulated Jersey business. We can take on that role and handle the council's work, records and filings, we’ve been doing it for decades.

As regulation evolves, so does the scrutiny on the people running a structure. Trustees and directors are expected to show real oversight, not just provide a signature. We bring independent judgement to every decision. We ask the questions a good fiduciary should, and we record why each decision was made.

You always know who is responsible, and for what. Each relationship is director-led, so you deal directly with the people making the decisions. Lawyers and advisers get a fiduciary who understands the brief and responds quickly.

Getting the set-up right matters. The design of the PTC, who sits on its board and its regulatory position are all agreed with your legal and tax advisers before it is established. We work through each point with them, so nothing is left to chance.

Want to see how it works? Read our guide, Private Trust Companies: Bringing order to your ambitions, by Debbie Lumsden.

Why add one? Because good structures need a counterbalance. A protector or enforcer adds independent oversight inside the structure, without taking it over. It helps keep the structure true to its purpose and can head off disputes before they start.

Clear roles matter. Before we accept an appointment, we check for conflicts of interest and agree what the role covers, what it doesn't, and where our responsibilities stop. You, your trustees and your advisers know exactly where we stand.

Want to know more? Read our article on how independent protectors can help defuse and avoid conflicts and enforce a trust’s purpose.

No document can guarantee harmony. But clear rules make it easier to keep. They give the next generation a defined role before they need one and give everyone a fair process when views differ.

Good succession starts with understanding the family. We take time to learn how your family works, what your wealth is for and what you want it to achieve. Then we help put the right structure in place and run it as the generations change.

Inheritance tax, probate and foreign tax rules vary from country to country, and we don't promise outcomes on any of them. We work alongside your family's legal and tax advisers, so the structure reflects their advice and your wishes.

We plan for the long term because we intend to be there for it. We now look after the second generation of some of the families we first served.

Family investment company administration from VG covers setting up the company and running it properly: shareholder records, board meetings and minutes, accounts and filings. We work with your lawyers on the share classes, so the structure does what your family needs it to.

One point matters above all. The tax and legal treatment of a FIC depends on where family members live and who owns what. What works for one family may not work for another, so your tax and legal advisers should confirm it for your situation.

Weighing up a FIC against an offshore trust? Listen to our podcast, Family investment companies as an alternative to offshore trusts.

There are two ways in. With VG Integrated Family Office, we bring your trusts, companies, advisers and jurisdictions together into one connected view, and run it. With VG Family Office Services, your own team keeps the strategy, and we add support for transactions, funds, governance, corporate work and real estate.

Here's where the line sits. VG handles administration, reporting and governance across your structures. Investment management, tax advice and legal advice stay with the firms you choose. We work alongside your executives, lawyers, tax specialists, investment managers and banks. You decide where VG fits.

Both offerings are led by Sheena Huggett, Head of Family Office, within the Private Wealth team led by Wendy Inns. Every enquiry goes to a director.

Trusts, companies and foundations can all bring charitable goals to life. VG helps you set up the right structure for your giving and runs it, so your philanthropy has a clear framework behind it.

Good governance keeps giving on track. Clear objects. Proper records. Decisions made the way the structure says they should be. Many families are also applying environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles to their giving, and the structure can reflect that.

We work closely with your advisers from purchase through to sale. Along the way, we keep the structure in order through financing, tenancies and upkeep, so you have a clear picture of what the structure owns and owes.

Let's be clear about what we don't do. We administer the structure, not the building. We aren't property managers, and we don't give investment advice. Those stay with your property managers and investment advisers.

VG sets up and runs the structures that own them, using Jersey companies, trusts and foundations. Ownership stays clear, records stay accurate and the structure stays properly run.

Where an asset is registered, used and kept can change how it should be owned. So, specialist advice in each relevant jurisdiction comes first. We work alongside those advisers to put the right structure in place and keep it that way.

Thinking about a structure for a high-value asset? Talk to a director.

For family businesses and family offices, it means corporate governance stays in order without handing over the running of the company.

Want to understand your options? Read our guide, Understanding Limited Services for Jersey Companies, by Sheena Huggett.

Your family's Shariah advisers approve the structure. VG administers it. That split matters. You get Shariah sign-off from the people qualified to give it, and day-to-day administration from a team that has run Shariah-compliant structures for years.

VG was named Best Islamic Trust Formation Services Provider at the Global Islamic Finance Awards three years running, from 2016 to 2018. We understand that meeting different cultural requirements takes care, and that the detail has to be right.

Advising a family? We work alongside you and their Shariah advisers.