Maximising the NEXT GEN opportunity

John Shoemaker is Senior Counsel with Butler Snow in their Singapore office. John has more than 30 years’ experience in tax, legal & regulatory compliance, and is a common law lawyer with educational emphasis on taxation, trusts & estate planning. He also has extensive experience in ensuring multi-jurisdictional compliance for fiduciary product offerings (working with multijurisdictional outside counsel & adapting products for sale in relevant jurisdictions), including product management skills to direct complex products from concept to fully operational status.

John is a Chartered Accountant and Executive Leader with strong international background in finance, operations and management consultancy within the Financial Services sector. He led a major Hong Kong Family Office whilst serving as CEO of substantial in-house Fund of Hedge Funds business. He is a Non-Executive Director of HKEX, one of the world's largest stock exchanges. 

Joanna is a qualified solicitor in New Zealand and Hong Kong. She practiced for 13 years and was previously a partner for international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. In July 2020 she made the career jump to be our managing director in Hong Kong. Joanna has spent her entire career helping clients protect and grow their assets, whether through on or offshore corporate, trust or foundation structures. She also has experience and expertise in pre-IPO planning, pension and other retirement planning, and philanthropy. Acting for individuals, families, single and multi-family offices, and intermediaries looking to assist their clients, Joanna is familiar with most Asian jurisdictions, as well as those further afield which are also of interest to her clients including the USA, Canada, UK, Europe and United Arab Emirates. Joanna is presently Deputy Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Planning in Hong Kong.

Kevin is the head of private wealth (Greater China) for Stephenson Harwood. He has been consistently ranked in top band by Chambers HNW and Legal 500 for Private Client lawyers in Hong Kong. He is one of the leading private wealth, tax and trust practitioners in Asia Pacific. Kevin also advises on family businesses, and has represented corporate clients on commercial transactions and establishing operations in Hong Kong. Qualified in Hong Kong and Canada, Kevin advises clients in respect of both jurisdictions. Kevin acts as counsel for major corporations headquartered in Hong Kong and elsewhere. He advises on the registration, corporate tax, intellectual property, employment and immigration aspects of doing business in Hong Kong as well as on cross-border transactions. Kevin also represents numerous high net worth clients from around the world on diverse matters including succession planning, family trust, tax advisory and compliance, wills and estate, asset preservation, family business succession and governance, private equity investments and philanthropy. Aside from representing trust settlors and beneficiaries, Kevin also advises trust companies on Hong Kong registration, licensing and regulatory compliance issues.

Howard Bilton is Chairman and founder of The Sovereign Group – one of the world’s largest privately owned consultancies specialising in the provision of offshore trusts and companies and associated international tax advice- www.SovereignGroup.com. Howard holds a joint honours BA degree in classics and law from the University of Keele and is qualified as a Barrister and called to the Bars of England/Wales and Gibraltar. He currently lives and works in Hong Kong. He is a regular contributor of articles to The Telegraph and Financial Times. He is a visiting non-resident professor at Texas A and M University where he assists with their LLM and Masters degrees in International Tax and Offshore Centres. In 2003 he formed The Sovereign Art Foundation Limited which is a charity registered in Hong Kong, Singapore, Guernsey, South Africa and the UK. SAF has raised over US$6 million which has been used to help many thousands of disadvantaged children using art as a means of rehabilitation and education. He is the principal of Hillvalley Limited which makes since 2005 has been making wine in Portugal which is sold throughout the world under the “Howard’s Folly” brand name.

John Shoemaker is Senior Counsel with Butler Snow in their Singapore office. John has more than 30 years’ experience in tax, legal & regulatory compliance, and is a common law lawyer with educational emphasis on taxation, trusts & estate planning. He also has extensive experience in ensuring multi-jurisdictional compliance for fiduciary product offerings (working with multijurisdictional outside counsel & adapting products for sale in relevant jurisdictions), including product management skills to direct complex products from concept to fully operational status.

John is a Chartered Accountant and Executive Leader with strong international background in finance, operations and management consultancy within the Financial Services sector. He led a major Hong Kong Family Office whilst serving as CEO of substantial in-house Fund of Hedge Funds business. He is a Non-Executive Director of HKEX, one of the world's largest stock exchanges. 

Kevin is the head of private wealth (Greater China) for Stephenson Harwood. He has been consistently ranked in top band by Chambers HNW and Legal 500 for Private Client lawyers in Hong Kong. He is one of the leading private wealth, tax and trust practitioners in Asia Pacific. Kevin also advises on family businesses, and has represented corporate clients on commercial transactions and establishing operations in Hong Kong. Qualified in Hong Kong and Canada, Kevin advises clients in respect of both jurisdictions. Kevin acts as counsel for major corporations headquartered in Hong Kong and elsewhere. He advises on the registration, corporate tax, intellectual property, employment and immigration aspects of doing business in Hong Kong as well as on cross-border transactions. Kevin also represents numerous high net worth clients from around the world on diverse matters including succession planning, family trust, tax advisory and compliance, wills and estate, asset preservation, family business succession and governance, private equity investments and philanthropy. Aside from representing trust settlors and beneficiaries, Kevin also advises trust companies on Hong Kong registration, licensing and regulatory compliance issues.

Howard Bilton is Chairman and founder of The Sovereign Group – one of the world’s largest privately owned consultancies specialising in the provision of offshore trusts and companies and associated international tax advice- www.SovereignGroup.com. Howard holds a joint honours BA degree in classics and law from the University of Keele and is qualified as a Barrister and called to the Bars of England/Wales and Gibraltar. He currently lives and works in Hong Kong. He is a regular contributor of articles to The Telegraph and Financial Times. He is a visiting non-resident professor at Texas A and M University where he assists with their LLM and Masters degrees in International Tax and Offshore Centres. In 2003 he formed The Sovereign Art Foundation Limited which is a charity registered in Hong Kong, Singapore, Guernsey, South Africa and the UK. SAF has raised over US$6 million which has been used to help many thousands of disadvantaged children using art as a means of rehabilitation and education. He is the principal of Hillvalley Limited which makes since 2005 has been making wine in Portugal which is sold throughout the world under the “Howard’s Folly” brand name.

Michael is a prominent figure in the financial services industry in Asia. He is the founder and CEO of Hubbis, a renowned provider of intelligence and connectivity for the Asian wealth management industry. With a depth of experience and expertise, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the industry for over 30 years, becoming a leading industry presence in the events, professional development, and publishing space in the region. Hubbis is a multi-generational family-owned and managed business.

He has been actively involved in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993. And has lived in Asia since 1995, holding positions in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Singapore. 

For over 14-years, Hubbis has established itself as the gold standard media and events brand in wealth management thought leadership in Asia. Each year providing a very large body of cutting-edge editorial and sponsored content, organizing top-flight events. During that time Hubbis has become the platform of choice for many high-profile C-suite leaders to communicate their vision of the Asian wealth management.

Before his involvement with Hubbis, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002, a financial services media company. Under his leadership, the company achieved significant success and was subsequently acquired by global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006. Michael continued to serve as the CEO of Pacific Prospect until October 2008. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Michael garnered 5 years of experience in financial markets publishing.

His career in this field began in 1993 when he joined Euromoney Publications as the publisher of the quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now owned by LSEG) and spearheaded the conception and launch of Finance Asia magazine. During his tenure as Managing Director of Finance Asia, he also initiated the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine, and the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, he founded FIA Limited, further expanding his contributions to the financial publishing industry.

Born in North Wales, Michael served as the head boy of St David's College Llandudno. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. Beyond his professional endeavours, Michael is a family-oriented individual and is happily married with three children: Reanna, Garett, and Tarryn.