Crypto, cross-border assets and business exits – top tips from Gloucestershire investment director on succession planning

Whether navigating the complexities of cross-border estates, preparing a family-run business for exit or safeguarding digital assets like crypto, modern succession planning demands more than just financial acumen.

TrinityBridge's senior investment director, Ed Mawle, shares how his team works with clients to create dynamic, future-ready succession plans, covering everything from intergenerational communication and tax mitigation to business transition strategy and the evolving regulatory landscape. For those yet to begin, the message is clear: start the conversation now.

How does TrinityBridge typically approach succession planning – especially when multiple generations and cross-border assets are involved?

Communication is absolutely key when making any decisions at all concerning generational wealth preservation and wealth transfer. It's our job to understand the purpose for anyone’s wealth before we can then determine what to do with it.

Having 'enough' wealth is a relative concept and will depend upon one’s background and material aspirations, amongst many other factors. Once we have identified the life objectives of our clients – their career goals, retirement plans, children’s schooling, hobbies and expenses – we can begin to formulate an overarching financial plan and day-to-day investment strategy that will evolve over time.

Oftentimes clients will want to make plans for generational wealth transfer, both to mitigate inheritance tax and also to maintain or enhance the lifestyle of their children and grandchildren. This has to start with an open conversation between parents and their children, to ensure that everyone is on the same page – if this proves difficult, we can be called in to facilitate these discussions. In terms of timing, the earlier you begin to talk openly with your children, the better, but inevitably some people end up leaving it too late, but the answer is always the same at any stage: talk!

When clients have relocated to the UK and have become residents, but different members of their family live in different countries and continents, as happens more frequently than you would think, it is essential that the right team of professionals is assembled that can work together for a better client outcome. We have done this recently for an American couple who had just relocated relocating to the UK but still had family members in the US. Putting together a team led by one of our own financial planners but also incorporating a specialist US/UK tax adviser, private client lawyers and our own investment management expertise we have aimed to deliver the right outcome for all members of the family.

What does a well-structured succession plan for a family-run business look like?

The best thing that any business owner can do is to recognise the limits of their sphere of competence. Such competencies may differ greatly from one generation to the next and so the most successful family businesses, in my experience, are those where external appointments are made to executive functions (where these necessary skills are not to be found amongst the family) and for these people to be incentivised and rewarded as in any other business that isn’t family-controlled.

Sometimes a founding CEO discovers that they are brilliant at the start-up stage, raising money and driving sales, but they are not the right person to lead the business forward when the organisation gets over a certain size in terms of employees, product lines, turnover or sales jurisdiction.

Family members may not want to work within the business and they may not be well suited to it. They should not feel obliged to work for the business to justify whatever equity stake they have acquired.

The flip-side of this to secure the long term health of the business is to employ great people and, if appropriate, to give them a route to acquiring some equity in the business themselves. Cultivating an ownership mentality and culture amongst the senior executive team will hopefully ensure better decisions in the long-term interest of the company and the founding family.

In your experience, what are the deeper strategic elements that make or break a successful exit?

Some business owners are reserved when talking to anyone about their long-term plans for fear of upsetting, worrying or demotivating staff that have been loyal to the family’s business for years. This is laudable but it must be balanced against making the right decisions for the business beyond the family’s involvement. This may involve giving away or selling equity to senior leaders in the business so that all the interests of the key stakeholders are aligned. If they are not, any potential exit deal could be off the cards.

TrinityBridge works with a select few local firms offering mergers and acquisitions and corporate advisory services very effectively and discretely on behalf of our business-owning clients and it may be that a sale to private equity is the best option.

In order to strike the best deal, all business owners would be well-advised to work closely with business advisers who can help them present the financials in as positive light as possible. Hopefully we ourselves will also be on this business exit journey with these clients, signing an NDA if required, so that we can sensibly advise on the feasibility of gifting or lifestyle ambitions, post-sale.

Digital assets and crypto are no longer niche. How are these handled in modern succession and exit planning and what are the risks?

Cryptocurrencies are legally recognised as property, meaning they can be included in wills and trusts like other assets. This allows for structured inheritance planning, but requires careful documentation and legal clarity.

Self-custody offers privacy and control but it poses risks if private keys are lost or not shared securely. Without access instructions, heirs may be unable to retrieve the assets. This is where qualified custodians can come in as they are regulated entities that can hold crypto in a secure, bankruptcy-remote manner and allow for clearer beneficiary designations.

It's important to note that crypto’s volatility and evolving tax treatment require proactive planning. Valuation at the time of death, capital gains implications and potential estate tax exposure must be considered, especially with the US estate tax exemption set to reduce at the end of 2025.

How do today's succession plans differ from those you were seeing five to 10 years ago?

Some of the biggest changes to succession planning more generally have occurred in the last 12 months with a major reversal of the pension freedoms introduced over 10 years ago. Personal pensions and SIPPs were previously a terrific means of passing on wealth to the next generation largely free of tax but from April 2027, most personal pensions will fall within the taxable estate of individuals upon death – and they will likely be taxed at 40 per cent.

Worth noting is the effective marginal rate of tax of 66 per cent on inherited pensions for beneficiaries who are higher rate taxpayers. The pension pot itself is taxed at 40 per cent and if the beneficiary wants to draw down on their inheritance (which must remain within a pension wrapper and subject to pension rules), they must pay income tax at their marginal rate on any disbursements.

The other significant recent changes made by the current labour government have affected the land-owning and farming community where the potential tax charges are potentially ruinous in some cases.

For many people, a strategy involving simple outright gifting might be advisable, but these measures together with any potential wealth tax which is being mooted in certain quarters, will cause significant problems for certain people who are asset rich and cash poor. As ever, good advice from a tax adviser and/or financial planner is essential in these circumstances.

What's the one piece of advice that you would give to business owners or high-net-worth families who haven't started thinking about succession or exit planning?

Start talking to your family and to each other about your own objectives and aspirations as well as theirs, both personally and for the family business, if relevant.

Only by talking can you begin to formulate a multi-generational wealth preservation strategy – and the earlier this can be implemented the better. In the case of a family business where the next generation of leaders isn’t clear, I would strongly suggest speaking to business advisers about the options for nurturing the next generation, incentivising and empowering emerging leaders within the business and/or recruiting necessary skills and exploring options for a full or partial business exit.