Soteria Trusts

Outstanding Enterprises

2

A SANCTUARY OF SAFETY AND DELIVERANCE

Over the last few years, the financial services industry has faced many challenges, not least of which was the pandemic. “The business arena froze during the pandemic, which has meant we’ve had to work especially hard to attract interest from clients and prospects, many of whom don’t know they have a tax problem,” said Mark Kirkham, Chief Distribution Officer at Soteria Trusts, who helps clients protect, manage and grow their assets through a range of trusts, international retirement solutions, and tax advisory services. Despite the challenges, the industry has shown extraordinary resilience in overcoming them. However, they are far from being over with more on the horizon for 2023 in the form of inflation, a likely recession, regulatory and compliance changes, as well as increasing competition. To overcome these hurdles, financial services companies must become more efficient and continue down the road of innovation whilst maintaining a focus on customer needs and a move to utilising technology more and more within their processes. The market will continue to develop and evolve with a range of simple products and solutions complemented by more sophisticated offerings that can serve the mass market, retail and high net worth segments.

Bringing the traditional and the modern together and endeavoring to simplify yet innovate their fiduciary solutions, is what Hong Kongbased Soteria Trusts has done. Named after the Greek goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm, Soteria’s initial mandate is to offer core services which focus on tax-efficient retirement and Inheritance Tax (IHT) mitigation for individuals with assets in the United Kingdom. “This year, we have expanded our proposition to include wider estate planning solutions with new services such as will writing, powers of attorney, and additional tax planning strategies, such as Family Investment Companies, a range of simplified discretionary trusts alongside the qualifying non-UK pension schemes (QNUPS),” said Kirkham, who is also the founding director of Business Class Group, who provide financial solutions to local and expatriate communities across Asia.

Despite being a relative new comer to the Business Class Groups operating brands, Soteria Trusts, which was established in 2016, has made its mark by offering unique products that help clients mitigate their inheritance tax liabilities. Noticing that clients often needed help with more broad estate planning issues, it initiated the offering of the very basics of estate planning, which includes will writing, guardianship nomination and Powers of Attorney. “Before, we focused on complex solutions,” relates Kirkham.

“Now we offer full estate planning solutions in one place. After 33 years of working in the financial services industry, I am more convinced than ever that there is a gap. There is an increasing number of people focusing on their future wellbeing and making investments yet the number of those who consider the correct structuring of those worldwide assets is disproportionally small. By a process of education and bringing genuine tax efficient structures to their attention, Soteria fills an underserved cross section of the investing public.

The Soteria Inheritance Tax Planning Service was developed to deal with IHT differently, and ultimately allowing those who subscribe to it, to pass on

PHILOSOPHY

Deliver excellent service at an affordable cost through honesty and transparency

FAST FACTS

• Save hundreds of thousands and in many cases millions in future estate related taxes • Protect assets from Creditors • No Probate following death • Increase awareness - Income or

Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax,

Inheritance Tax, Annual Tax on

Enveloped Dwellings & Stamp Duty • Receive thousands back in overpaid

Stamp Duty

This page: Estate Planning Benefits, Pension Solution

Opposite page: Mark Kirkham, Chief Distribution Officer at Soteria Trusts

more of their wealth to loved ones, he reiterated. He further explains that whilst the inheritance tax allowances remain frozen for at least another three years, the value of assets continue to increase. As a result, people end up with greater exposure to income, capital gains and inheritance taxes.

According to Kirkham, “Our IHT planning strategies save client’s and their family from the struggle of probate and, most importantly, on average, over £500,000 in future inheritance taxes. Whilst the service focuses on Inheritance Tax, if the clients decide to sell their assets within the structure, they will not be exposed to Capital Gains Tax, the threshold of which has just been reduced in the latest Autumn Budget.” Such benefits to the customer reinforce the company’s mission to offer them a degree of safety “knowing that their hard-earned money will stay and grow within the family and will not be diluted by taxes.” Today the company works with clients across its office network, helping them establish IHT-efficient structures and retirement schemes. Kirkham admits that Soteria’s IHT Planning is UK-centric but counters that its retirement planning and will-writing solutions “are for everyone, of all nationalities and in any country – not just Brits.”

On the Wings of Innovation

In acknowledgement of its innovation, Soteria has been recognised with the High Flyers Award, an annual honor given by Hong Kong Business Magazine which highlights the region’s most successful companies. Started in 2004, the awards programme formally attests to the excellence of top enterprises that offer innovative products and exceptional services. “We are delighted to be winning this award again! This shows that our work is being recognised and appreciated, which keeps us motivated!” said Kirkham.

Operating on the core values of knowledge, experience, support, and care, the company aims to advise clients “with excellence and a genuine care for their family affairs” and differentiates itself through unique, innovative solutions. Another distinguishing area for Soteria, is to assist clients obtain refunds from the UK tax man of up to 70% of the Stamp Duty Land tax they paid on UK property transactions that took place up to 4 years ago. According to the gov.uk website, current SDLT thresholds stand at £250,000 for residential properties, £425,000 for first-time buyers buying a residential property worth £625,000 or less, and £150,000 for non-residential land and properties. Above that threshold, buyers must pay up to 15% of the proportional property value in the form of Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Educational Marketing

To build its customer support and relationships, Soteria Trusts conducts regular monthly educational workshops and seminars where attendees can learn and get real-time responses to their questions. “During the pandemic, we started our bi-monthly webinars and focused more on social media and digital marketing to attract clients,” Kirkham recalled, enabling current and prospective clients to spark conversation. ‘A large part of our marketing activity is now spent delivering those online events, which were a subtle but significant change brought about by Covid, and as they became more popular and successful, they became our new norm,” Kirkham adds. These activities are part of more extensive marketing campaigns that offer free information guides around retirement planning, SDLT refunds, will and estate planning, and free tax assessments to clients.