Building a lasting legacy isn’t always just about amassing wealth — it's about defining a clear purpose, making strategic investments and communicating openly with future generations. In today’s fast-changing world, TrinityBridge believes that founders and business leaders should think early about how they want to be remembered, both financially and culturally.
In this interview, senior investment director at TrinityBridge Cheltenham, Ed Mawle, sits down with SoGlos to explore why purposeful wealth planning is crucial, how to balance financial security with ambition and the key strategies that can help entrepreneurs create a legacy that endures — for their families, their businesses and the communities they serve.
Why is it important for business leaders and founders to think about their financial legacy early on and what role does strategic investment play in securing that legacy?
I've thought long and hard about this and I think it's about purpose — and you have to define your own purpose.
I think that this helps with your momentum in life and it provides strong leadership qualities to your team. The legacy that entrepreneurs and founders are going to want to leave is one of culture and purpose. Whatever that is, it will leave a stamp on the organisation — something that will live a life beyond them and I think that's quite important in terms of 'leaving a legacy'.
In terms of strategic financial legacy, there's a legacy left for the business itself and then there's a legacy for family. Speaking to some founders and entrepreneurs who are exiting a business, it's almost like a member of their family — they've invested so much of their energy into their business, their time and they feel bonded to the people who have worked for them. So they'll want to build a sustainable legacy for those individuals who have been loyal to them, as well as their families.
Many founders are hoping to become millionaires when they start a business, and they often do, but it's rare that every one of them is completely financially motivated. The first time they employ someone, they'll not only be thinking about the sustainable financial legacy of that business but also the impact it will have on the community and society it sits within.
When it eventually comes to exiting, that's where wealth planning comes in. It's very important that they're thinking about what they want to do with their money, at least two years before any sort of planned exit — that's where professional financial advice can help.
Trust funds and inheritance planning are important elements of legacy building. What are some key strategies that individuals should consider to make sure that their wealth is passed down efficiently while minimising tax burdens?
It's the age-old issue of wanting to make sure that clients have enough to see them out, so to speak. Anything over that, they can give away, but this is a personal decision that's totally up to the individual.
There's two things to consider, one is to make sure that your money is invested as well as possible for as long as possible. The other is to communicate — inheritance tax planning is on the agenda at every touch point that we have with our clients.
We'll identify assets and help establish how much a client can survive on for the rest of their life. Most people can survive on £5 million, so if you've got six, seven, eight, the best and simplest strategy is to give it away.
One strategy to employ is to pass money on to the next generation through a bare trust. Anyone under 18 can't legally own their own assets, so money needs to go into a bare trust, which can be used for educational purposes, such as funding a grandchild's private school fees.
Of course you've got the good old fashioned trust fund, those definitely still have their place but they tend to be more complex to administer.
Many high-net-worth individuals may be conscious that leaving money to family could remove their drive to succeed. How do you advise clients on striking the right balance between financial security for their family and encouraging ambition and independence?
This is so, so crucial. I've seen some people inherit money early on and do wonderfully well with it — it hasn't curtailed their ambition. I've seen others have too much, too soon, and it has.
There's no one-size-fits-all strategy but the main thing is, again, communication. We as British people are very, very bad at talking about money, especially to family. I've seen people in their 20s, 30s, even in their 60s not know how much their parents have saved or put away.
So I would say that the most important thing in terms of legacy wealth is talking to children and grandchildren, whoever you choose to leave money to, about money — about how to earn it, how to save it, how to invest it, how to treasure it, but also how to not be defined by it.
This is where purpose comes back into it, figure out your own personal purpose in life and marry those two pillars — money and purpose — to achieve what you want to do in life.
TrinityBridge is very keen to see the next generation thriving, even if that's not in entrepreneurship, we want them to be able to generate their own wealth. And these are all conversations we have with our clients.
The economy is unpredictable, with market crashes and global downturns happening throughout recent history. How does your experience and expertise help clients navigate these challenges while still protecting and growing wealth?
You know what? Having no hair to lose or go grey is always a benefit!
If only because you've hopefully been around long enough to see that you've made your own mistakes over time in your career and you know yourself better, you begin to be able to put things into perspective.
You begin to understand the economic cycle and what happens when interest rates go up, stocks fall, etc. But I do think that the particular time we're living in at the moment is absolutely fascinating, with a very capricious US government, or president, who is prepared to upturn the world order of the last 70 years or more.
This is more challenging but in terms of riding the ups and downs — like 9/11, the Iraq war, the Covid-19 pandemic, the global financial crisis in 2008 — with age and time comes experience, which allows you to be able to see what's coming earlier and to be bolder in decision making and calmer in the eye of the storm.
Finally – on a personal level – what does leaving a legacy mean to you? How has this shaped the way you work with your clients?
Beyond the financials, I will say that the older you get, the further you get in your career, you become more aware of your own wave in terms of the effects that your presence and utterances have on those around you, in a way that you're not aware of when you're in your 20s and 30s.
For me, it's holistic. I want to be aware of my influence on the people around me and be more patient.
It can sound self-aggrandising talking about your own legacy — and I had a boss that always said that everyone is replaceable, and it's true, but legacy is important because when someone does eventually replace me, they'll hopefully remember how I made a decision in a particular situation.
My children's inheritence from me will most importantly be a good start in life — that includes lots of love, alongside encouragement and a decent education. If there's anything to inherit financially then that's all the better!
