We recently had the opportunity to speak with Stein Johnsen, Founder and Director of Westmoore Wealth. Adept at tax planning and wealth management, Stein Johnsen has helped clients globally achieve wealth planning goals for several decades now, establishing itself as a trusted partner guiding through financial complexities. He is also a prominent speaker at international conferences in London and Hong Kong. With Westmoore Wealth, Stein assists businesses and individuals navigate through the complexities of wealth creation, management, and protection with bespoke solutions, ensuring each client receives equally dedicated attention and top-notch services.
The Beginning
We started the session by asking, “Can you walk us through your career path and what led you to establish Westmoore Wealth?”
Stein shared, “I had a keen interest in wealth management and tax optimization already when I did my studies in France and had a great interest in tax planning. After working for corporate service providers and trust companies for many years, I wanted to establish a boutique wealth management alternative to the larger corporations. Today, we have a successful corporate services and company formation business as well as a private client advisory established in key jurisdictions.”
Navigating Through The Challenges
We asked Stein Johnsen to share his biggest challenges in building his wealth management firm.
He mentioned, “It takes a lot of hard work and patience to build a business generally and when you operate in wealth management it takes even longer as developing a relationship with your prospective clients and their advisors takes time. Our corporate services business has been far easier to develop and these days we form companies in key jurisdictions daily. Not all these companies will be part of a more sophisticated structure, but for some clients, it is a way to get to know us.”
Leveraging Experience In Action
We further asked, “How has your experience in private client wealth management and international tax shaped your approach to financial advisory?”
“A broad international experience is an important asset when advising clients. We can see challenges or indeed opportunities that the client had not envisaged and thereby improve the structure we are considering or reviewing. Once a structure has been established, it should be revisited often to make sure it is optimal for the current legal framework and does respond to the aspirations of the client, like if the client is thinking about relocating to a different country or whether there are any family related events that need to be considered.” Stein responded.
Potential Trends Of The Tax Planning Landscape
Interested to learn more about the upcoming trends in Stein Johnsen’s industry, we asked, “What trends do you see shaping the future of wealth management and international tax planning?
“Our world has become even more transparent, and you need to demonstrate substance in a corporate structure. In addition, our clients are used to having the relevant information at hand, and we need to be accessible online without compromising the confidentiality and security of our clients and their data. We do travel more easily and after COVID working remotely is even more common than before. This offers great opportunities for relocating and continuing to work for your company in a new and more tax-friendly country. Some clients may choose to travel and not spend the standard 183 days in one country. This may pose a problem when it comes to tax residency, and I believe more countries will adapt to welcome these entrepreneur nomads.” Stein added.
Triumphs At Stein Johnsen’s Professional Path
We requested Stein to share a success story where his firm made a significant impact on a client’s financial strategy.
He mentioned, “I like client cases where we are involved quite early in the establishment of the structure. For some clients, we have established a private trust company as trustee of a trust that owns the client’s holding company. Correctly structured, it can allow huge savings both on the receipt of dividends from the various subsidiaries but also on capital gains from the sale of entities. In addition, the trust structure itself offers protection against potential threats and as well as flexibility when it comes to generational planning.
For some clients, the flexibility in terms of management of a private trust company is of great value. With a private trust company, you can make changes in the management without the legal burden of changing trustees.”
Staying Ahead Of The Competition
In a dynamic industry, it is crucial to ensure staying adaptable. We were interested to learn Stein’s approach in this aspect. So, we asked, “As a leader, how do you ensure your firm stays ahead in such a dynamic industry?”
He replied, “We are always trying to improve our processes and develop our geographical presence so that we can be close to our clients. You can say a lot about virtual meetings but meeting in person does still have value. We constantly try to improve our services and will always be proactive and contact clients when we see a development that may affect them.”
Values Guiding Westmoore Wealth
We inquired, “What values drive your work, and how do they reflect in your company’s mission?”
“We do have an honest and friendly approach to our clients and their advisors. We take great pride in being able to contribute to our clients’ success.” Stein added.
Envisioning The Future
Lastly, we asked, “Looking ahead, what’s your vision for Westmoore Wealth in the next 5-10 years?”
“I want us to retain the boutique firm feeling we provide our clients as we grow and develop our key offices further.” Stein concluded.
Follow Stein Johnsen on LinkedIn
Find Westmoore Wealth on LinkedIn and visit their website http://www.westmoore-wealth.com
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