Challenging wealth industry norms with two progressive powerhouses

Jess Hackett is a private wealth consultant and the coordinator of the Coalition for Impact:

“There's always an assumption that clients want to minimise tax and grow their wealth as much as possible. But we don't ask about their values. In law firms, there’s rarely space for asking, for example, what is the role of tax in society? How do we support clients to align their wealth with their values?

Now I coordinate a network of networks of impact-focused wealth holders. I'm seeing more wealth holders who are asking big questions: What is the purpose of my wealth? What is enough? How do I deploy it for a positive impact on society and the environment? Many struggle to find the advisors that can support them on

A key blocker is how fiduciary duty is interpreted. Often advisors or trustees will say, 'I have to invest to maximise returns, because your best interest is to get as much money as possible.' Whereas, for somebody who really cares about the environment, getting the maximum return at the cost of the environment may not be what they consider to be in their best interest. 

The law is often interpreted in too narrow a way and there’s a lot of risk aversion in the industry that reinforces old behaviours. Advisors feel a responsibility to protect their clients, so they avoid exploring what feels new or risky, even when clients might be open to it.

I wonder if, as lawyers, we just asked a few more questions, whether we might spark other people's curiosity. It’s not about telling clients what to do. It’s about creating space for reflection, and showing that other options are possible.”

Olivia Bowen is an APFS Chartered partner at Castlefield Investment Partners, with a focus on ethical investing and financial planning:

“I’ve always specialised in ethical investment so that makes it much easier to talk to clients about values and tax justice. I’m very aware that some advisers may want to have these conversations but it's harder for them if they work in more traditional firms.

My clients are very interested in the impact their money has in the world and they don't just want to make money for its own sake. They do want their investments to be profitable, but they care more about not profiting from other people’s misery or environmental damage.

Over the last couple of years, PAM has helped me develop how I talk about tax and wealth ethics. Together with the Good Ancestor Team, PAM members are developing a values questionnaire that will help industry professionals in their work with clients.

As advisors, we have such power to be gatekeepers. I've realised over time that once you're working with a client, they've bought into you. They like you and they trust you. So we have a responsibility to ask the right questions around tax and values. 

I'm very lucky, I think many clients of mine will be open to these conversations. But I also know the ones who won't be and that’s ok. With new clients, having a questionnaire to consistently assess their values from the outset would be so productive.

The way I describe it to people is that we're trying to influence our industries – financial services and legal services – to have a conversation with clients about how they feel about tax and not to just assume that everybody wants to pay as little as possible. 

Ideally, clients will one day say, ‘I paid loads of tax this year — great! I contributed to society.’ 

Hopefully we can change the culture so that’s not something weird and scary. I’d like to see us move away from phrases like ‘protecting your clients’ wealth,’ just like we now say ‘the Global South’, rather than ‘the developing world.’ There's quite a long way to go but a shift is happening.”

Key takeaways: How is tax framed by the private client industry?

In 2022, we collaborated with Kirstie Skates to complete a linguistic analysis of the private wealth industry. Here’s what we found:

• A single narrative about tax dominates the industry: tax is a burden, an obstacle and a threat. (Skates even noted that this level of homogeneity within an industry discourse is highly unusual.)

• The tax system is framed as an ever changing, punitive and dangerous environment. And the tax advisor? A specialist guide helping clients navigate these scary webs.

• The uncontested assumption in the industry is that the advisor’s expert role is to minimise the amount of tax paid by the client.

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