BLACKHORN FAMILY OFFICE
A family office is a powerful arrangement for the preservation of family wealth through trusts and investments, family harmony through internal governance and education, as well as legacy and values planning through philanthropy and foundations. A large part of family wealth sustainability is a function of the stewardship and success of ensuing generations. The importance of financial literacy and wealth transfer discussions within the family is paramount to the success of building a successful multi-generational legacy. Every family has its own unique set of requirements, and Blackhorn Family Office will guide our families through all these discussions. A well-run family office successfully integrates strategies to ensure that they support the goals of the family as a whole.
Lifestyle Management
Many family offices act as a personal concierge for families, handling their personal affairs and catering to their lifestyle needs. This could include conducting background checks on personal and business staff, providing personal security for home and travel, aircraft and yacht management, travel planning and fulfilment, and streamlining business affairs. Families often also prioritise education and residency need of their children to improve family cohesion and generational transition. Blackhorn Family Office will assist our families to best manage all their family needs.
Family Trusts
A trust is set up by a trust deed between the settlor and the trustee and often accompanied by a letter of wishes. Once the assets are transferred into the trust, the trustee has control over the assets and will administer the trust and distribute trust assets in accordance with wishes of the Settlor stated in the trust deed and the letter of wishes. Trusts are often set up for the purpose of the welfare, education and well being of family, and assist with future generations' estate planning, privacy, tax planning and asset protection, in particular against bankruptcy and divorce.
Enduring Power of Attorney
Problems may arise when a person becomes mentally incapacitated and family members have no authority to manage the property and affairs of the mentally incapacitated person. With an enduring power of attorney, the donor can appoint and empower the attorney to manage his/her property and financial affairs when he/she becomes mentally incapable. This saves the need for family members having to make an application to court for an order under the Mental Health Ordinance which may be a lengthy and expensive process. However, the scope of enduring power of attorney does not extend to decisions relating to the donor’s health care. Enduring Power of Attorney Ordinance (Cap 501) lays down the prescribed form and specific requirement for the execution of an enduring power of attorney.
Will & Estate Planning
A will is a legal document that allows an individual to direct how the property to which he is beneficially entitled at the time of his death to be distributed after his death. Without a will, the assets of the deceased individual will be distributed in accordance with the Intestates’ Estates Ordinance (Cap 481). The benefits of having a will include appointing a trustworthy person to administer their estate, distributing the estate according to their wishes, avoiding a lengthy probate process, minimising estate tax duty, making gifts and donation and avoiding disputes among family members.
Philanthropy & Impact Investing
A majority of family offices engage in philanthropy and impact investing. Family offices facilitate philanthropic investments directly or through other, related mechanisms, such as a family foundation or donor advised funds. The main reason to explore this topic is to educate the next generation of wealth owners to build a lasting legacy. Philanthropy and impact investing provide valuable opportunities to engage and educate the next generation of the family and prepare them for the responsibility of wealth and to motive them to create a lasting impact on the world.
Advance Directive
An advance directive for health care is described as a statement, usually writing, in which a person indicates when mentally competent the form of health care he would like to have at a future time when he is no longer competent. Advance directive allows the individuals to decide their own health care, including whether he would like to receive life-sustaining treatments, and relieves such burden from their family members. It will be invoked after the person has become incompetent to make decisions. Although there is currently no legislation governing advance directive in Hong Kong, advance directive will be recognized as valid unless otherwise challenged.
OUR PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Peter Tsang
Co-Founder
Peter is a founding partner of a reputable local law firm and has been a practising lawyer for over the past 30 years. He specializes in will, trust and probate, estate planning, the law of succession and financial planning for mentally incapacitated person and presentation of family assets for future generation. He is currently a member of Probate Committee of The Law Society of Hong Kong and the Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Recently, he provides legal advisory services for Blackhorn Family Office to meet the wealth management needs of the clients.
Yugi Lee
Co-Founder
Yugi graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with Bachelor Degree of Business Administration in Economics. She joined UBS in 2015 and was one of the youngest bankers to be promoted as Director at UBS where she managed portfolios for ultra high net worth families and listed companies. Prior to UBS, in 2014, she worked in Credit Suisse providing investment and execution solutions to hedge funds and family offices. She was also one of the founding team members who set up the Hong Kong division of Bank of Shanghai and assisted the CEO in obtaining a restricted bank license with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Vincent Chow
Co-Founder
Vincent has more than 20 years of experience in financial management, financial control, internal control, corporate governance, operational auditing, M&A deal structuring and legal compliance of listed companies in Hong Kong and in China. He has served as the Senior Management (Finance) of New World (China) Development Company Limited, Shimao Real Estate Holdings Co., Ltd and Sino French Water Company Limited previously. Starting from 2010, he has been running Golden Wins CPA Limited and in committed for assisting cross-border transactions such as China WOFE formation, tax planning, project merger & acquisition, pre-IPO restructuring and legal litigation support. Vincent is the Co- founder of Greater Bay Area Business Services Alliance Co., Limited, the Founder of Golden Wins CPA Limited, Winson Business Consultancy Limited and GZ Wen Sheng Business Consultancy Limited. He is the Fellowship of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Tax Adviser (HK) and (UK), and he obtained the Master in Chinese & Comparative Law (LL.M), Bachelor of Laws (LLB, UK).
Andrew Lo
Advisor
Andrew graduated from University of Western Ontario (Canada) with a Bachelor Degree of Science. He is the founder and CEO of EFT Solutions Ltd (HKEX: 8062), which is specialised in providing solutions on electronic fund transfer at point-of-sale terminals and provision of system support services. In 2013, he also founded eft Payments (Asia) Limited where the company processed the first Alipay offline transaction in Hong Kong and have developed years of strategic relationship with major e-payment service providers in Hong Kong. Most recently, he works as Advisor of Blackhorn Family Office and shares his professional insight on business development and marketing strategy of the office.
Mary Chiu
Co-Founder
Mary is the founder of Blackhorn Group, a Multi Family Office which invests in traditional and alternative asset classes. Prior to Blackhorn, she worked at UBS AG expanding their Global Family Office offering in Greater China, providing investment solutions across the wealth management and institutional platform to prominent Hong Kong families. Mary started her banking career at Morgan Stanley, where she helped companies raise capital through IPOs and follow-on offerings and assisted Hong Kong listed companies in debt and equity capital issuances. Mary received an MBA with Distinction from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and holds a double major Honours BA in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Toronto.
Michelle Lo
Advisor
Dr. Michelle Ng graduated from University College London Medical School (UK) with a Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery and an Intercalated Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She is one of the founders of Empire Education Limited, a bespoke tutorial company in Hong Kong specialising in UK boarding school and university entrance. Michelle has over a decade of experience as a tutor and provides UK boarding schools and universities advice and academic preparation, with a focus on Year 9 entry and Dental and Medical School admissions. She also brings her experience to the Blackhorn Family Office as a mentor and is a board member of the Hong Kong Youth charity, The KELY Support Group.