Trident Trust’s MD for APAC on Taking the Holistic Perspective to Estate & Legacy Structuring

Markus Grossmann is the Swiss, Zurich-based Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa of Trident Trust, a firm he first joined in 2010 to open its Singapore office, and which has powered ahead in the decade since. He is a trust expert, specialising in HNW and UHNW clients and aims to provide them with a comprehensive picture of the issues to overcome on their road to robust estate and legacy planning. He counsels clients to take the ‘big picture’ view of their estates and their family situations, and to work always with these multiple facets in mind. He also advises them to engage, if possible, a trusted advisor as a friendly coordinator to help pull all the different pieces together into a cohesive whole. This is because understanding how the various complex elements of estate and legacy planning fit together is, he believes, vital to optimising outcomes. Hubbis met with him recently to hear of the key trends that he sees playing out in the APAC markets, and to learn more about the new Trident Trust presence in India, where the firm sees immense opportunities for both inward and outward activities.

“My first advice to clients is that they need to be supported by somebody who keeps their big picture in mind – and not just trying to close a deal - and who takes in consideration the type of assets owned,  their locations, and the personal and business circumstances of each individual and family,” he says opening the conversation. “Too often individuals tell us they want to establish a particular structure in a pre-defined jurisdiction based on discussions they had with several other advisors who do not have access to the big picture or are not sufficiently qualified. This is because sometimes some advisors jump to conclusions too quickly and do not connect the dots, not giving proper consideration to all the tax, regulatory and other aspects which may be involved.”

Connecting the dots

Markus has extensive experience in these matters, in particular with regards to Asia Pacific, being the regional head of APAC, the Middle East and Africa at Trident Trust, a global independent provider of fiduciary and fund services. Founded in 1978, Trident Trust extended its operations and global reach to Asia with the opening of a Hong Kong office in 1992 and then a Singapore office in 2010. These two Asian hubs together employ over 170 staff.

The Singapore operation has been very successful in bringing North and South East Asian clients to Singapore, mainly being attracted by the tax incentives for funds and family offices. The Hong Kong office has grown very rapidly by providing a wide spectrum of structures for North Asian clients ranging from Discretionary Trusts, Private Trust Companies, pre-IPO planning through listed company services and pre-IPO trusts, EBTs and other tailor-made trust structures. More recently in 2021 Trident opened an office in Shanghai, China, to cater for the increased demand from Mainland Chinese clients. The firm has also recently opened an advisory office in New Delhi, India.

A more open dialogue

Markus highlights some of the key trends he has been witnessing globally and within the Asian region in particular. A key priority is succession planning, where many of the taboos in Asia around this subject have been swept away further by the pandemic.

“The discussion around succession planning and legacy has become considerably easier,” he reports. “We all know that Chinese, Indian and other cultures do not like to talk about heritage and succession plans, but today we are finding such clients increasingly engaging us in these conversations.”

Globalisation amongst the wealthy

Another trend is the internationalisation of wealthy families which has now become more complex due to the pandemic, lockdowns, travel restrictions or other obstacles. This, he says, has led families to consider alternative residence or citizenship around the world for a wide variety of reasons, from minor travel restrictions to different tax regimes or again better access to more comprehensive medical facilities.

Elevating the science of estate planning

“The opportunity for our firm is that many clients have not in place a well thought out estate plan, or perhaps they have been poorly advised,” he reports. “They often start out with advice from someone based in their country but they often receive advice that is not impartial, or which comes from advisors who do not know the matter and the implications well enough or again who do not have the relevant experience. ”

Early connectivity

Markus has clear and firm views on how to relate to these clients and handle their concerns. “We have to connect to these clients in their locations and engage them in discussions with a truly international perspective,” he reports. “And that is why we have established a local presence in our key markets; this is really important to us and our clients.”

Markus cites a hypothetical Indian family that is becoming increasingly international in terms of their assets and the location of different family members. He says they have many crucial issues to consider for robust and effective planning for their wealth, their domicile, where they or family members will end up living, where their businesses and other assets are and how those may be structured to be protected and preserved, and indeed how they might be passed on to other family members or beneficiaries in the future.

The great transition

“Much of the wealth in Asia, for example India, is still actually first generation, and these sorts of discussions are vital to the future of the families and their businesses,” he observes. “The bigger the family’s wealth and complexity, the more vital it is to address these matters. We see more and more discussions on these topics happening all the time across our markets. A vast portion of Asia private wealth was made since the liberalisation of the economies and financial markets in the mid-1990s, so a lot is still first generation, and in the next 5 to 10 years, a vast amount of wealth will transition to the second or third generation.”

Speaking from experience

Markus believes Trident is ideally positioned from both a historical and an operational perspective.

“We ourselves have gone through exactly the same inter-generational shift to the second-generation ownership, and have worked with numerous clients around the world that have faced these wide-ranging issues and challenges,” he reports.

He explains that Trident wants to be the partner to those customers for the long term as a trustee, “It is not only about setting up a trust and managing that as a trustee, but also providing advice and service consistently, building long-term relationships with the first as well as following generations,” he states. “We have proven to our clients that we always deliver on our promises.”

India – opportunity beckons

Markus zooms in further into the Indian market and its potential, focusing on non-resident wealth that is overseas but that in all or in part might want to return to India. He says there are thousands UHNW or upper HNW individuals - many of whom very successful entrepreneurs in technology or other fields - across the world looking to return to India.

“They get older and want to rediscover the roots, their families and many also see incredible opportunities at home that perhaps were not there when they left,” he explains. “And that all generates another whole segment of business, and it is essential that they establish the right structures.”

A two-way flow

Additionally, there is huge and growing activity in foreign investment from all types of investors into India using fund structures. “India, like China today, is one of the world’s most interesting markets for foreign investors,” he reports.

All these opportunities and challenges are why Trident Trust has established a new advisory office in India. “We do not provide local trustee services or local corporate services, but this is an office that will develop relationships with professional firms and clients, who want to use the services other Trident Trust offices around the world can provide, and we anticipate sharply higher activity as a result,” Markus explains.

The typical clients might, for example, be an UHNW Indian resident family intending to invest offshore and through the right vehicles and structures. Another typical client might be an Indian resident intending to move abroad, perhaps to Dubai, Singapore, the UK, or elsewhere. Some clients might want to invest domestically or bring money back home through fund structures, for which Trident is a major fund administrator. And then there are the NRIs who want to return to India and need help with the right structuring ahead of such a move.

Understanding the world we live in

Markus closes the discussion by observing that the world has changed rather dramatically in recent years and that Trident is well positioned to handle the challenges ahead. “As the world becomes more complex, increasingly global clients need international advice and solutions,” he says. “We provide this type of connectivity and multi-jurisdictional perspective to help these clients understand the challenges and address them with the right approaches, structures and, very importantly, consistent ongoing advice.”

Back to the future

His final word is that he is enjoying seeing the Trident teams back in their offices around their markets, engaging once again with each other and with clients. “There is a new energy returning since the travel and other restrictions have lifted,” he says. “I am loving being back travelling and meeting everyone again, and I feel like there is this pent-up interest and enthusiasm coming through. I am a believer in all this, we are in a people business and there is nothing like direct engagement for building better relationships and better outcomes.”

Trident Trust – Truly Committed to Asia

Global independent fiduciary and fund services firm Trident Trust began life in 1978, opened in Hong Kong in 1992 which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The Singapore office has been opened in 2010 and has also been in operation for more than 10 years. Together the two offices employ over 170 staff.

The 3 Pillars

The first of the three pillars of Trident’s service offering is their trustee services, which involve solutions and services for wealthy Asian families looking for the benefits a trust can deliver, typically asset protection, estate planning, inheritance deferment for their children, including the protection and preservation of family assets.

The second pillar is Trident’s fund administration business, which provides the infrastructure, administration and accounting for third-party asset managers, whether hedge funds, private equity, debt or real estate funds. This area is enjoying especially rapid growth, driven by accommodative legislation from Singapore in recent years (VCC – Variable Capital Company) to attract Asia super-wealthy families to use Singapore as their asset management hub.

The third pillar is corporate services, which Trident provide from a very wide range of jurisdictions, covering both offshore and onshore. Those include incorporation and registered office services, secretarial services and management representation.

Independence

Markus highlights the independence of the firm as a core feature of its long-term success. “We are one of the very few globally operating and privately-held businesses in our sector,” he reports.

Trident’s DNA is to achieve long-term sustainable growth and balance. There is no pressure for short term performance from the Group’s global management. This approach, together with our focus on growing our teams through organic hiring and having all the right people sitting in all the right seats, keeps our foundations strong, says Markus.

Now employing close to 1,000  staff worldwide the Trident Trust Group provides services to financial institutions, professional advisors, asset managers, family offices and international businesses. Both of the Group offices in Asia - Singapore and Hong Kong - provide the three core services.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have grown to over 80 staff each. Singapore has recently moved into a new and much bigger office to accommodate the growing team. Markus comments: “We are committed to our staff, clients and business partners and want to offer a place to share, connect and exchange. As a people’s business, we feel that in person meetings and in person face-to-face interactions are vital.”

Asia Pacific – a huge growth market

He highlights some key differences between Singapore and Hong Kong for Trident. “Back in 2010, the Hong Kong business predominantly focused on corporate services and the management of offshore companies, but when we opened our Singapore office, we decided to focus on trusts and succession planning as the market for offshore companies was already very well serviced. Hong Kong has continued its success based on the provision of onshore and offshore corporate services but has been particularly successful in expanding and growing the trust and fund business too with a key focus on China and is now a well-respected, established and leading player in the market.

He adds that Trident’s expansion in the fund administration arena has been buoyed by the remarkably attractive and forward-thinking regulatory environment Singapore has been creating and the many tax incentives available under the Singapore Income Tax Act and under which the rising tide of single-family offices operate.

The Singapore Variable Capital Company is another weapon in Singapore’s armoury to attract more assets to its shores. “While the VCC at the moment is not available for family offices, but only for commercial fund managers, the arrival has added further impetus to fund expansion here, and we have been assisting a number of asset managers in redomiciling their existing funds to Singapore,” Markus notes.

Meanwhile, he explains that Trident’s family office type clients are often utilising all three of the pillars that Trident offers. “They will come in, establish a trust, create the family office holding company through our corporate service team, and sometimes utilise our fund administration team for full fund administration, redemptions, subscriptions and administration,” he reports.

Markus also comments on the company plan for Asia Pacific, where he says the Group works collaboratively across Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. North Asia is handled largely through Hong Kong. China will have another two offices soon. Singapore covers Southeast Asia and India. The advisory office in Delhi has started operation and works closely with the other Trident offices.

Getting Personal with Markus Grossmann

Markus joined Trident Trust in 2010 to open the Singapore office, following a more than two-decade career in private banking. Initially Managing Director and Founder of the Singapore office, he is now Regional Managing Director for the Asia business, with responsibility for the offices in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Dubai, Mauritius and Singapore. He also oversees the Trident offices in Switzerland, Zurich and Geneva, where he is now based, and from where he looks after some of the key global partnerships Trident has established over many years.

He is Swiss, hailing from the famous tourist destination of Interlaken, where he also trained as a banker at the start of his career, before moving to Zurich, to train and work with UBS as a private banker. As from the mid-1990s he worked with UBS covering Asian clients, including a move to England for five years to head the Asia business of UBS out of the UK, before moving full-time to Singapore in 2008.

Trident was then able to have Markus joining them. “After a lot of consideration, I took the plunge,” he recalls, “I was in a great role with a great bank, but the banking industry changed so much during and after the Financial Crisis, I suddenly felt it was the right thing to do. Hence, I launched the Trident business in Singapore, and we have never looked back; it has been a very positive and amazing adventure.”

Married with a 21-year-old son, Grossmann is today based in Zurich from where he runs APAC, the Middle East and Africa businesses for Trident. Leisure time used to be spent playing a lot of squash and football, but as he has got a bit older, he prefers less orthopedically challenging activities. “I still play some squash, but it is really a younger person’s sport. I also love playing tennis, mountain biking and run as much as I can; I like to be active and keep fit.”

He is a keen traveller still, enjoying visiting the various Trident offices in Asia Pacific as well as partners and clients in many locations. “I may not be the smartest in our teams,” he jokes, modestly, “but I like people and have a vision, both of which help me in my role. I enjoy travelling to different places, learning about different cultures, and I think I work well as a people person overseeing many different markets, teams and partners.”