UK Wealth Cracks Widen as Family Offices Start Scaling Back
Family offices catering to the fortunes of wealthy clans had proven a resilient part of the UK's wealth management industry after recent tax changes. That's now changing.
Some UK family offices are scaling back UK operations and moving to cheaper premises.
Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg
For much of the past decade, shipping billionaire John Fredriksen ran his family office from London’s upmarket Chelsea neighborhood, surrounded by the area’s fancy restaurants, five-star hotels and luxury stores.
The 81-year-old recently downgraded to less tony digs above a post office in the City of London’s Eastcheap district, in premises that help to oversee his other businesses. And at least two executives at Seatankers, the investment firm that manages Fredriksen’s vast fortune, have resigned from UK management roles within the past six months.