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Former HSBC executive Ewen Stevenson has been appointed chair of wealth manager Progeny as it looks to grow internationally and serve non-doms seeking to leave the UK in the wake of the Labour government’s Budget.
Stevenson joins Progeny two years after he left his position as chief financial officer of HSBC, having previously held the same role at NatWest.
Progeny, which is backed by private equity firm Further Global, was created in 2016 and offers financial planning, legal services, tax, and investment management to wealthy clients with assets of about £1mn.
The wealth manager has made more than 20 acquisitions, buying businesses such as financial planning firms, and has grown internationally, expanding into the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong and Belgium.
Neil Moles, chief executive, said Stevenson’s appointment comes after a period of rapid growth and as the wealth manager seeks to expand further overseas.
“We have international client offerings with overseas offices where we look after British expats — with the changes in the Budget around inheritance tax, we see that as a large growth area,” Moles said.
The UK government announced in October’s Budget that it would end the use of trusts to shelter assets from UK inheritance tax. Government analysis suggested that 1,200 non-doms out of a total of 74,000 were likely to leave because of the changes to the non-dom regime.
“I do think we will see more people leave the UK now in that wealth segment,” Moles said. “The inheritance tax changes were the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Stevenson, who has worked at Credit Suisse where he crossed paths with Further Global’s founder and managing partner Olivier Sarkozy, said: “With Credit Suisse, HSBC and NatWest, they’ve all had big wealth management franchises, so it’s a sector that I’m highly familiar with. I wanted to get involved with a company where I feel I can have a real impact.
“Any change in the Budget creates opportunity — the changes in the non-dom rules, for example, are going to cause a lot of wealthy people to reconsider the UK as a long-term destination.
“We feel pretty well-positioned for that, as we have offices overseas to serve UK expats. Any change like that creates the need for people to review their financial planning.”
In addition to Progeny, Stevenson chairs Singapore-based technology-focused venture capital fund Serendipity and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.
Further Global became a controlling shareholder of Progeny in 2021.
Additional reporting by Kaye Wiggins in Hong Kong