BL Magazine

Interview
From its headquarters in the Isle of Man,
Sheila Dean, Global CEO of Equiom Group, has
overseen the company’s rapid expansion in
recent years, including into the Channel
Islands. So just what has she learned
from the experience and are the crown
dependencies at all alike?
Words:
Nick Kirby
You have one minute to tell us about Equiom – and
the clock starts now…
Equiom is a multijurisdictional trust and corporate
service provider, focused on delivering bespoke
ownership structures and professional tax advice
for a broad range of companies and clients, including
ultra-high-net-worth individuals, across a variety
of specialist markets.
Our history is something we’re very proud of.
We were part of the Ernst & Young Trust Company
up until 2002, when we were sold to Anglo Irish Bank.
We became an independent company in 2006, having
completed a management buyout, and we completed
our secondary management buyout in 2013.
Since 2011, we’ve completed 10 acquisitions, which
has led to us opening offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Malta
and Hong Kong.
We currently have 327 employees working across
our five offices in Europe and Asia. Our total assets
under management are in excess of US$23bn.
I believe you’ve effectively been with the company
since the start of your career?
Pretty much. I started working for Ernst & Young
straight after graduating. Along the way, I qualified as
an accountant and when E&Y was acquired by Anglo
Irish, I stayed with the company. When Anglo Irish
decided to sell the trust arm of the business, I led the
management buyout and Equiom was born. So this
really has been my entire career.
Jersey and Guernsey are often lumped together,
whereas the Isle of Man sits well outside, despite being
a crown dependency, and seems to plough its own
furrow. Is that a good or a bad thing?
The Isle of Man is bound to be viewed differently to
the Channel Islands to a certain extent. It has a very
different government system and there are differences
in the taxation and business rules across the islands
too. Also, to state the obvious, we’re geographically
quite a distance away – we certainly don’t benefit
from the same climate!
VAT is probably the main thing that differentiates
the Isle of Man from Jersey and Guernsey. In the Isle
of Man, VAT is charged and legislated almost exactly
the same as it is in the UK. This is because the island
has a VAT revenue-sharing agreement with the UK,
so it’s considered part of the common VAT area of
the European Union, giving it full access to the EU
for importation and EU trade. The Channel Islands,
on the other hand, are only part of the EU in terms
of customs, which can cause limitations with the
importation of goods.
That said, there are some massive similarities
between the islands. They are all crown dependencies;
corporate income tax rates are all zero per cent; and all
three islands now have a financial ombudsman. None
of the islands operates capital gains tax, and there’s no
denying they have all been affected by the recession.
All the islands benefit from the flexibility enabled
by their independent governments. This independence
from the UK has allowed them to proactively introduce
changes to their regulatory and legal systems to
embrace, for example, the Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (FATCA) and Tax Information
Exchange Agreements with a host of countries.
As a business, we’ve built very strong relationships
with the Isle of Man government over the years,
having worked closely on joint initiatives. We’d like to
replicate this with Jersey’s and Guernsey’s governments.
Is being private equity-backed – through Lloyds
Development Capital (LDC) – a help or hindrance?
Can PE be too short-term focused?
We wouldn’t be in the successful position we are in
without the backing of a private equity company.
We’ve worked with our current PE company, LDC,
for a number of years.
The LDC strapline is ‘Private Equity less ordinary.’
This is without a doubt our experience of them. Yann
Souillard [Managing Director] and his team at LDC
have exceeded our expectations – their support has
been all-embracing. With such a broad portfolio of
businesses under management, they have a network of
solutions at their fingertips, all of which we can dial
into and use to support Equiom.
LDC’s management style is very much relationship
driven, and this philosophy of putting relationships
first is mirrored at Equiom. As we have grown, our
relationship with LDC has strengthened. The team at
LDC has been incredibly supportive throughout and
they’ve delivered on everything they promised – and
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16 January/february 2016 www.blglobal.co.uk