Service
Family Investment Company.
Whether a FIC genuinely fits, before anyone sets one up.
Who this is for
People who typically come to me about this.
Persona 1
Families planning generational transfer
Have meaningful investment assets and want a structured way to involve and provide for the next generation over time.
Persona 2
People pitched a FIC
Have been shown a family investment company by a promoter and want a conflict-free view of whether it genuinely fits.
Persona 3
Existing FIC holders reviewing cost
Already set one up and suspect the running cost is no longer matched by the benefit.
What's involved
How the work actually plays out.
A family investment company can be an effective way to hold and pass on wealth across generations, and it is also sold to people for whom it is expensive overhead with no benefit. The work is the honest assessment first, with formation handled by the appropriate professionals only if the structure earns its place.
Whether it fits, before it is built
A FIC suits a particular shape of estate: investment assets of meaningful size, a genuine succession objective, and a family willing to run a company properly over decades. Absent those, it is cost and complexity for nothing.
The cross-border angle matters: a FIC interacts with UK domicile, Thai residency and the tax position in each. That interaction is part of the assessment, not an afterthought.
Formation only on merit
If the structure is right, it is formed by the appropriate corporate and legal professionals on their own terms. You may ask what any recommendation pays me, and the answer is set out in writing before you decide.
Common mistakes
Where this most often goes sideways.
Setting one up because it was sold.
A FIC pitched as a product is often the wrong answer. The structure has to be justified by the estate, not by the promoter.
Underestimating the running burden.
A FIC is a company with accounts, filings and governance for the life of the plan. That ongoing cost has to be weighed before, not after.
How I work on this
The process, in three steps.
01
Assess the fit
The estate, the succession objective and the cross-border position set against what a FIC actually does.
02
Cost it over the long run
Formation and the decades of running cost shown in writing, against the benefit.
03
Form only if it earns it
If it is right, formed by the appropriate professionals; if it is not, that is the recommendation.
Fees and what to expect
Plain-English fee transparency.
I am paid through commission on the products arranged and an ongoing fee on the assets managed. Every cost, and what it pays, is set out in writing before you decide.
You may ask what any recommendation pays me, and the figures that apply are agreed in writing in the engagement letter before you proceed.
A first 30-minute consultation costs nothing and obliges you to nothing.
Client assets are held in your own name on FCA-regulated platforms or SEC-licensed brokers, never by me.
Questions
Questions about this.
Begin a conversation.
Thirty minutes, by Zoom or in person at the Bangkok, Hua Hin or Pattaya office. Free, and without obligation. You leave with a clearer view of what is in front of you, whether or not the work proceeds.
Book a meeting
Choose a time that suits you.
Thirty minutes with Richard Knight, ACSI directly. By video, phone, or in person. No obligation.
