Top 25 Most Admired Companies - Appleby

top 25 most admired companiesMacfarlanesJonathan Conder,partner and headof private client,MacfarlanesLondon-based law firm Macfarlanes has ahistory dating back to 1875, but becameknown as Macfarlanes in 1962.Individual clients, business owners andfamilies, as well as international clients,have always been at the heart ofMacfarlanes’ practice. It has no officesoverseas, so services all of its clientsfrom London.Head of Macfarlanes’ private clientteam, Jonathan Conder recently toldeprivateclient that the team isexperiencing an increase in business fromnon doms who are moving to the UKagain, and the fact that it hasinternational experience without havingan international network, sometimescomes as an advantage.For instance, the team recently picked upa large client due to separate referrals by aSwiss lawyer and a US lawyer. If the firmhad been present in these markets, thelawyers may have been less eager to passwork to the team, suggested Mr Conder.Philip Le Cornu,head of privatewealth,OgierOgier Private Wealth is the trustbusiness of Channel Islandsheadquartered law firm Ogier.Phil Le Cornu, partner and head ofPrivate Wealth at Ogier said that “to berecognised by peers and intermediariesamongst such strong competition is atremendous compliment to OgierPrivate Wealth”.He added: “It is difficult to know withcertainty what others admire about thefirm, but we strive to be the leadingindependent provider of integrated legaland fiduciary services, and we providethose services to the major internationalfinance centres under the laws of theClive Mackintosh,tax partner andhead of privateclient,PwCFormally known asPricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC rebrandedin October 2010 and shortened its logo toits current form, in order to "strengthenand modernise" how it represents itsworldwide network to clients, its peopleand the communities in which it operates.The firm’s private client service isdedicated to providing integrated businesssolutions to entrepreneurs, ownermanagedand family businesses.“We invest in private clients as they areOgier Private Wealthmajor offshore jurisdictions. Thatpartner-led strategy and the peopledelivering the strategy is what I wouldlike to think people have admired.”Towards the end of 2010 the firmemployed Nick Wakefield to head up itsnew investment services offering, whichwill help trustees in assessing the riskswhen appointing investment managers.And according to Mr Le Cornu, thecompany plans to do even more in 2011.“The major initiatives will be to allowclients secure online access to agreeddocumentation and to bring an enhancedinvestment monitoringservice in-house. Also, we developeda dedicated family office team in2010 and we will be aiming todeliver a very bespoke service toa growing number of families throughthat team in 2011.”PwCan interesting and profitable client base towork with,” Clive Mackintosh, head ofUK private client practice at the firm toldeprivateclient.Mr Mackintosh believes that being partof the wider PwC group is “hugelybeneficial” to private clients as the firm isable to bring a range of “differentperspectives” to the client. It also enablesthem to access the firm’s internationalnetwork.He added that PwC is able to offerinternational advice to ensure clients arefully compliant with all their internationaltax requirements, but also that they donot pay more tax than they need to.6 Top25 Most Admired Companies Report 2011 | Private Client Practitionerwww.eprivateclient.com