News

Foreword: On November 23, 2017, 2017 China Wealth Management Forum, hosted by the Asian Private Bank and Wealth Management Content and Training Provider, Hubbis, was held in Shanghai. Zhou Youlan, Director of Family Office of Beijing DOCVIT Law Firm, was Invited to attend the Forum and delivered a keynote speech.

Over 176 senior experts and industrial professionals from asset management companies, trust and fund management companies, insurance companies, family offices, think tanks and law firms in China and other Asian regions attended the Forum, and conducted in-depth discussion around Chinese wealth management, wealth transfer strategy, overseas identity plan, private wealth management market, global insurance solution, overseas trust and other subjects.

At the special topic panel discussion of “Next Stage of Chinese wealth management”, Director Zhou Youlan delivered a speech with the theme of “Family Office Business of China’s Law Firms”. Director Zhou said that, “The functions of family office consulting service include integrated handling of the legal, financial, taxation and other relevant affairs of customer’s family, planning family governance, coordinating family relations and arranging family inheritance. Family office may also play a role of the tutor for the customer’s next generation, impart corporate operation and wealth management techniques and help it pursue and fulfill the dreams by means of various wealth and relational resources of the customer’s family.”

Director Zhou pointed out that, “the consulting service provided by the family office to individuals and families starts from the wealth obtained and accumulated for the cared customers, aids them in response to transitions at different stages of life, help them design and implement the wealth guarantee solutions, till assist them in accomplishing the whole process of transferring wealth to the next generation with the best taxation program.”

Regarding the important role of law firm for the development of family office, Director Zhou said that, “the advantages of family office established on the law firm platform lie in reliability, neutrality, comprehensiveness, privacy and proposal basis. The natural independence of law firms avoids the conflict of interest which links with the product performance when financial institutions set up the family offices. The law firms will assist customers in selecting external service providers and then conduct due diligence in order to ensure the solutions can be designed and operated in a safe and private way so as to achieve the optimization of investment and non-investment business of the customer’s families.”

In the meeting, Director Zhou briefed the featured core service fields of DOCVIT family office. Director Zhou said that, “in terms of inheritance plan, DOCVIT family office will not only assist the customer in setting up the testament and living trust, but also provide suggestions for customer of the complete wealth transfer strategy, including establishing the generation trust and specific asset trust (like life insurance, personal residence and other commercial rights and interests); in the heritage and trust administration, family office may provide services related to the heritage management, including complex assets, enterprise inheritance, inter-generation plan, cross-border affairs, and usually act as an agent of the trustee during hearing, mediation and arbitration; in terms of philanthropy plan, family office may provide the customer with the philanthropy plan, the establishment of philanthropy foundation, drafting and examining the legal documents of philanthropy foundation, management as well as relevant investment guidance of philanthropy foundation. In the family enterprise plan, family office may assist the customer in designing and structuring internal shareholding companies and investment entities to fulfill its long-term objective. DOCVIT’s family office may provide suggestions on the selection of asset entities, capital structure, governance and operation.”