4,000 LinkedIn connections!
2022 has been an awful year, for most humble people, in terms of the cost of living crisis, which has been made dramatically worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We thought 2020 and 2021 were bad, thanks to the pandemic, but at least we could keep ourselves warm and put food on the table.
Nevertheless, in the UK, Crown Dependencies, and British Overseas Territories, we have something to celebrate with the British Queen’s Platinum jubilee to mark her unprecented 70 years on the throne. May I say that she has been a truly gracious monarch, who has rarely put a foot wrong, even though I am sure that she has been sorely troubled by the antics of some of her children and grandchildren, (plus their spouses), as they have often proved to be a right royal pain in the butt.
In the Isle of Man (IOM), we are also celebrating the return of Tourist Trophy (TT) racing for the first time in 3 years. I hope that proves to be a boost to the economy that the island sorely needs. Plus it’s nice to see all the bikes and bikers back on the Rock, which is a locals’ nickname for the IOM.
It’s also a time for celebration, for yours truly, as I have just accepted my 4,000 LinkedIn (LI) connection,
It has become a tradition that I post an article whenever I reach another 500 contacts milestone, which comments on how things have changed in the world, (since the last 500 contacts accumulated), and also how things have changed in my small business world, as the self-employed owner of the OCSL Group, which specializes in wealth planning.
I’m also now the CEO of the Professional Protector Group (“PPG”), which finally launched in 2022. (I had mentioned it previously, as the lead company was formed in September 2020). ?PPG delivers corporate protector services to trusts and private foundations, as I have experienced many problems with individual protectors and even if they act in a professional capacity. (Although we can deliver an individual protector if a client insists on same).
The first thing to note is that the rate at which I am gathering new connections appears to have slowed, as I reached 3,000 LI contacts, in February 2020, and 3,500 LI contacts in December 2020. So, almost 18 months have passed since the last milestone. ?
Although they have been a truly remarkable 18 months in terms of world events and also for yours truly in terms of business growth and personal well-being.
Even if I still accept all connections requests from “Bitcoin Bandits”, “Forex Fraudsters” and other scammers, I obviously don’t appeal to LinkedIn members as much as I used to in terms of connection requests. Is that because I refuse to do video posts or engage in mind-numbing questionnaires, as so many other LI influencers do??
I also don’t deliver many articles or posts, as I prefer to comment on other LI members' posts or articles whenever I feel the need, (which is quite often), although I try to keep my comments light-hearted in so far as it is possible. If I do deliver an article, it tends to be business-related and my business world deals mostly with fiduciary entities, tax-efficient wealth planning, trust administration, tax & compliance reporting, and the delivery of professional protector services to fiduciary entities. Not exactly riveting stuff for the casual reader!
In the political world, there has been a sea change as Trump exited stage left still bitterly complaining that the POTUS election was stolen from him and it still amazes that so many of his MAGA minions totally accept the “big lie” as the Democrats call it.?I’m not a Trump lover, but I wasn’t convinced that Biden would make a good POTUS as it seemed that he got elected by the “anything but Trump” voters, rather than on his own merits, and it has proved to be the case that Biden has bumbled his way from one unfortunate event until the next and has even slept through some of them! Is Biden as truly "woke”, as he seems now, or is he just pandering to likely Democrat voters?
In the UK, Boris Johnson (aka “Bojo”) apparently “partied” his way through the pandemic but with only one fixed penalty notice to show for it (to date)! Trump’s nickname is “Teflon Don”, and maybe we should call Bojo “non-stick Boris” as he appears to nonchalantly shrug off the “barbs and arrows” that are frequently slung his way. If Trump delivered a masterclass in “effortless lying”, Bojo may have turned it into a science! There are many calls for Bojo to step down, of course, but who would step into his shoes, as there seems to be a dearth of good PM material within the Conservative party? (Who wants “Fishy Rishy” or “Gormless Gove”?)
Within the EU, President Macron successfully fended off the presidential challenge of the right-wing Marie Le Penn and that election also appeared to be a “Hobson’s choice”, for French voters, much like the POTUS election was for US voters. (“Let’s pick the lesser of two evils”!!). Nevertheless, the other powerhouse EU country, Germany, does have a new chancellor as the much-respected Angela Merkel (AM) finally stepped down to be replaced by Olaf Scholz (OS). OS is from the same party as AM and hasn’t said or done any remarkable, so far, apart from his unequivocal support of Ukraine, including shipping in munitions, which was effectively a U-turn on German foreign policy since the end of World War II. (More on the Ukraine war later).
The US, the UK and most of the EU seem to have successfully weathered the worst of the pandemic even though COVID is still causing havoc in many poorer parts of the world. Thus, we were all looking forward to an economic recovery before “Putrid Putin” launched his ill-fated invasion of Ukraine, which has precipitated the worst cost of living crisis since the 1970s.
For those of us who were brought up in the Cold War era, when there was a saying “better dead than Red”, because of the fears of an overwhelming Soviet invasion, it has been a big surprise as to how ineptly the Russian military forces have performed in retrospect. Sending columns of armored vehicles into urban territory without infantry support is almost an invitation for the Ukrainians to engage in “duck shooting within a barrel”. Nevertheless, armchair strategists talk “tactics” while generals are obsessed with logistics and Russian logistical support was farcical in the early days of the war. In the Donbas, the Russians are now performing much better and that’s partly because their supply lines are short.
What has become evident, however, is that Russia no longer has the military might to take the whole of Ukraine, so may have to settle for up to 20% of Ukraine’s former territory if the Ukrainians will settle for a ceasefire that permits Russia to retain what it has hard-fought won. If not, then the war is likely to drag on for years rather than months and the cost in lives is already immense on both sides.
The economic impact of the war is also being felt by billions as Russia was a prime supplier of oil and gas products to much of Europe as well as other parts of the world. In addition, Ukraine was effectively the breadbasket of Europe and supplied the World Food Programme with 50% of its grain pre-invasion. So, there are millions living in impoverished countries who now face possible starvation while we in the West struggle to cope with soaring energy costs and hugely rising prices on everyday staples. It is noted that inflation hasn’t been this bad for almost 50 years!
The pandemic changed my life as I used to enjoy a global lifestyle with an apartment in the Philippines and a house in the USA, as well as a home base in the IOM, where I am now domiciled. The apartment went in March 2020 and the house was sold in June 2021, so my world has very much shrunk. Although who wants to long-distance travel, while wearing a mask, and where your business-class champagne is delivered in a plastic water beaker, so there is no glassware to be washed?!!
That was my last long-distance experience anyway, back in June 2021, and I haven’t flown since, which is kind of amazing for a guy who used to rack up 70+ flights a year in the late noughties. If I have needed to get off the Rock, for whatever reason, I have taken a ferry so that I can also take my car. ?
To top it all off, I also caught COVID, in January 2022, and within 24 hours of receiving the Pfizer booster shot. (My pre-booster vaccines were AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson). Although the experience was fairly mild and I also became COVID negative within 8 days, I seem to be one of the unfortunate small percentage of the population that has been left with long-COVID.
I was previously quite comfortable doing a 45-minute walk, on a Saturday or Sunday, but now I struggle with more than 20 minutes (and it used to be only 5 in the early recovery days). I also wasn’t on any meds, pre-COVID, but now I am on a bunch that alleviate high blood pressure etc. I have a CT scan booked for Wednesday, so as a cardiologist can hopefully diagnose what is actually wrong with me?!
Even if COVID didn’t quite kill me it seems to have “terminated” my travel bug, as I no longer have much desire to travel to far-flung places, which is rather surprising for a man who once went to 23 countries, in just one year, and also claims to have lived in 21. I also have lifetime Platinum status on American Airlines for flying more than 2M miles with them and mostly long-haul. ?Nevertheless, I haven’t been on a plane even once this year. (I was supposed to go to London, in early May, but British Airways screwed up my reservation and refused to change it). Although I might go to London for the STEP Global Congress in July.
The mention of STEP brings to mind that I first qualified as a TEP, back in 1999, when I was living in the British Virgin Islands little knowing that trusts would come to dominate my future career and still do. I have held Head of Trust Services roles for two multi-office groups, in the intervening years, and now act as a Fiduciary Services Consultant (FSC) to trust service providers in various jurisdictions.
As an FSC, I often draft or review trust documents, including trust deeds, as well as legal documents relating to private foundations too. I will also advise on technical legal matters, trust administration issues, trust accounting and also tax issues. I estimate that I have dealt with at least 2,000 trusts, during my lengthy career, and across multiple jurisdictions, as well, including US trusts that can function quite differently to common law trusts that are based on the English Trustee Act of 1925. (Who prefers a “directed” trust to a “discretionary” trust?). I also recently had the interesting experience of reviewing my first ADGM trust, as ADGM didn’t exist when I lived in the UAE during 2012 to 2013. (ADGM law is based on English law, which is why I felt comfortable performing the review).
US trusts were the catalyst for the formation of PPG, as a US trust with a US trustee but with a foreign controlling person, (such as a Protector who has the power to remove and appoint trustees), is a foreign trust for US tax purposes. Depending on the structuring, such a trust can also be exempt from CRS and FATCA reporting. These “foreign trusts” are called “hybrid trusts” to distinguish them from US domestic trusts, which can be US tax-paying entities if non-grantor. (This week, an affiliated US citizen formed a fully owned LLC called Protector Group (USA) LLC, which means that we can now deliver professional protector services to domestic US trusts too).
One of the other PPG entities is a Dutch foundation called Stichting Protector Group and I became a director of that foundation in late March. As a consequence, the Netherlands is now the 17th jurisdiction where I have held a senior-level role. (I first started dealing with Dutch foundations, back in 2005, when I was the only Brit in an 85-person Curacao office). ?The nice thing about the Netherlands is that is an onshore jurisdiction and doesn’t have the “offshore” stigma that many competing jurisdictions suffer from.
Curacao was probably the hottest Caribbean island that I lived on (5 in total) and it was also chockful of “hot” young ladies. Although, I was a middle-aged married man, by the time I got there, so my younger male colleagues were out having fun while I had to settle for an Amstel or six! Every Friday night, there was an after-work party where the office offered coolers of free beer plus there was other booze on offer too. (Good times that are somewhat hazily recalled!).
Singapore was also very humid and there were even more attractive women per capita imho although I was even older and greyer by the time I got there. With the encouragement of female colleagues, I dyed my hair, during my “Sing Bling” days, but gave up when my eyebrows also turned grey. (Hair dye in the eyes is not a recommended experience!). With dyed hair, the girls thought I looked like Tom Cruise although I couldn’t see much resemblance apart from being the same height!
It was in those days that another colleague suggested that I joined LinkedIn (LI), so I thought “why not”, as I was a high-income consultant, at the time, and stupidly believed that if more people were aware of yours truly then I might get an even higher income through an “offer that I couldn’t refuse” if someone was dumb enough to make such an offer! So, I estimate that I have been on the LI platform for close to 15 years, now, and I have yet to receive even one interesting work offer let alone an offer that paid me more than I used to earn. I say “used to” because my income has shrunk by approximately 90%, in the intervening years, although that’s partly because I don’t take a salary from any of my companies. It’s more tax-efficient to live off my savings and tax-efficiency is now my main game! (For most of my high-income days I was a globe-trotting tax nomad!).
My other senior-lever roles included General Manager, Director, and Managing Director, but it was in Mauritius, in 2014, that I was appointed to my first Wealth Planner role. It was only a temporary 3-month assignment, but the experience inspired yours truly to reinvent himself as an International Wealth Planner (IWP), which is a self-employed role that I have held ever since.
Many other IWPs focus on investments but I focus on tax-efficient structuring that facilitates investments. What’s the point of making huge gains on your investments if you have to pay 25% or more to the taxman and especially if those gains are attributed gains? Even if you eventually have to make the taxman very happy, try to do it on a tax deferral basis. I like to encourage clients to only pay tax on what they receive into their own hands but if there is a deferral then it should be a legal deferral. You are not really going to enjoy your ill-gotten gains if you are behind bars!
I don’t ignore investments as I also own a passive investment company (PIC) that has a couple of high-value investment portfolios. However, the PIC’s portfolios are traditional equity, bond and funds investments while I find alternative investments to be more interesting. I like an investment that I can get into and out off within a year, which might be something to do with my advanced age. (I might not be alive to collect on a long-term investment). It should be noted that I don’t invest in my own name, now, as it is more tax-efficient to invest through my PIC or another of my companies.
If any reader is very interested in “tax-efficient” investing, then please send a direct message request for our PowerPoint presentation entitled “Tax Efficiency for HNWIs”.
There are many LI members who offer short-term investment opportunities too although they are likely to enjoy the investment experience more than you do, as a high proportion are scammers. I am referring, of course, to the “netizens” such as the “Bitcoin Bandits” and “Forex Fraudsters”. For those without the investment experience to know a Ponzi scheme from a soundly performing investment, then please bear in mind the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is”!
When it comes to investing, I only tend to work with people who are experts in their investment field and also people that I know personally. How can you trust somebody you have never met even by way of a Zoom call or other video conference meeting. (Still no substitute for a F2F meeting if possible). Most scammers don’t want you to see his or her face, because the profile picture on the screen bears no resemblance to the scammer’s real appearance. (It’s often the case that the beautiful blonde American woman is actually a Nigerian man (or a team of them)! If you suspect that the investment could be a scam try to get a certified copy of ID and proof of address for the promoter. (If he/she won’t deliver same then why do you want to do business with him /her??).
Being an IWP is definitely a feast and famine life. So, with a downturn in business, during the pandemic, I actually considered giving up my day job, in late 2020, to concentrate on investments. Thus, I paid a considerable sum for an online investment course, as I don’t believe in taking up a new business opportunity unless it is reasonably well researched. However, it proved to be a relatively bad investment, (excuse the pun), as I got busy again and have continued to be busy ever since. ?So, I never found the time to exercise my newfound knowledge.
Just as well, in retrospect, as working as an unregulated IWP is always interesting even if not always highly paid. I get to deal with potential clients from all over the world but the majority come from the US, Central America, the UK, the EU, Switzerland, the UAE and South Africa. Most of my clients are corporate entities because I often deliver support services to fiduciary organizations but I also deal with wealthy individuals too and especially when they are engaged in complicated trading ventures and/or high-risk investments such as crypto trading.
Even though based in the IOM, I have spent quite some time working overseas, during the past 8 years, even if I no longer welcome foreign assignments. I am now domiciled in the IOM and expect to be here for the rest of my life. Sadly, I don’t really use IOM entities, in my IWP business, as they don’t offer much “bang for buck” to my international clients.
Nevertheless, I am a fan of the IOM trust because it provides for a better asset-protection trust than the other Crown dependencies (due to an exemption from the statute of Elizabeth). Although the only IOM law trust, which I have dealt with recently, was drafted more than 30 years ago by a US attorney since deceased. On the other hand, I am constantly reviewing Jersey and Guernsey law trust deeds.
However, I am keen to develop a business partner relationship, with an IOM fiduciary, if I can find one who is a little less provincial than the rest?! Those who have US clients or who may encounter US tax and reporting issues are particularly welcome. Also, those who have clients requiring professional protector services.
I close on that note as I have droned on long enough. If another 18 months or so shall pass before I accumulate another 500 LI connections, then I will be nearly 65 before I post a similar article. I know I won’t be ready to retire, by then, and it’s no longer the mandatory retirement age in any case. Although I am also praying that the long COVID doesn’t develop into something that forces retirement, on medical grounds, as I dread the thought of long hours spent in front of the TV in my carpet slippers!
Best wishes to all readers in the interim. ??
Ed Rogers, CEO of the OCSL Group – 29th May 2022
CEO of the Professional Protector Group