By George Prior
High-net-worth individuals will increasingly be seeking to Corbyn-proof their finances, says the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations.
The assessment from Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, which has $12bn under advisement, comes as Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the UK’s official opposition party, Labour, confirms his party would campaign to remain in the EU should there be a second Brexit referendum under a Conservative government.
Mr Green affirms: “Although Mr Corbyn has still not confirmed what his party would do with Brexit should he become British Prime Minister, there seems to be a gradual transition towards Labour becoming an out-and-out Remain party.
“This will prove to be a popular step in the right direction for huge swathes of the UK electorate. As such, Mr Corbyn’s chance of sweeping into government in the – likely – event of a general election is greater.”
This, says the deVere CEO, will put wealthy Britons ‘on notice.’
In May, he noted: “Since the beginning of the year a large and growing number of clients are telling our advisers that for their wealth, they fear the damaging impact of a Jeremy Corbyn-led government more than Brexit.
“Should the Brexit turmoil continue, and the Conservatives keep losing ground to Corbyn’s Labour, it can be reasonably expected that a considerable amount of our clients will move their assets outside of the UK.”
Now, this trend will pick up pace.
He says: “Following Jeremy Corbyn’s apparent shift towards Labour becoming a full-blown Remain party – and therefore the perception that he is now more likely to secure the keys to Number 10 – an increasing number of high net worth clients will seek to Corbyn-proof their finances.
“There are real concerns from these individuals that a Corbyn-led government would increase inheritance taxes, income taxes, stamp duty and capital gains taxes, potentially even roll out capital controls, and slash other areas, such as pensions tax relief.
“To counteract the damaging effects of these policies on their wealth, I believe that over the next few months, more and more of them will be actively considering established, legitimate overseas opportunities to create, build, and importantly, protect their wealth.”
Mr Green concludes: “Rightly or wrongly, Mr Corbyn is seen as a bigger threat to high net worth individuals’ wealth and the UK’s economic outlook than even Brexit.
“And they can be expected to seek alternatives in greater and greater numbers as his shifts towards Remain develop.”
About:
deVere Group is one of the world’s largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients. It has a network of more than 70 offices across the world, over 80,000 clients and $12bn under advisement.
