By Conrad Proud, Client Director & Richard Joynt, Head of Family Office
At the recent STEP Conference in Cayman, industry leaders gathered to discuss the evolving landscape of family offices and the factors influencing their choice of jurisdiction. Conrad Proud, Client Director representing HIGHVERN Cayman Islands and Richard Joynt, Head of Family Office at HIGHVERN, Jersey attended the conference.
Cayman has long been a preferred destination for family offices, and the reasons go beyond its well-known tax and regulatory framework. Conrad and Richard explore the various factors that make Cayman an attractive choice for many ultra-high-net-worth families when establishing their family office operations.
The Right Balance
When it comes to jurisdiction shopping, families are looking for a balance between robust yet straightforward regulations and enhanced net returns. Cayman has struck this balance well, offering a stable legal system, access to global markets, and a regulatory environment that promotes long-term wealth preservation. Unlike some other jurisdictions that can be overly bureaucratic, Cayman provides a flexible yet structured framework, making it comparatively simpler for family offices to operate efficiently.
Its proximity to the US and strong ties to the UK make it a leading domicile for offshore hedge funds and a hub for specialist structured financial services for both institutional and private clients. Cayman’s collaborative policymaking, modern legislation, and efficient, tax-neutral environment continue to attract the international business community.
The Role of Trustees
A key takeaway from the panel was the importance of effective governance in family office structures. While every family’s needs are unique—ranging from wealth preservation to succession planning—one common theme was the value of a trusted, experienced trustee to oversee long-term objectives.
A trustee’s role is not to provide investment advice but to ensure that the family’s intentions are carried out with stability, discretion, and long-term vision. This includes acting as a neutral party between generations, ensuring that governance structures remain relevant and adaptable to changing family dynamics.
Access to Expertise & Ecosystem
One of the biggest concerns for family offices is ensuring access to high-quality financial, legal, and regulatory expertise. Cayman has built a strong ecosystem of service providers that can support families without the need for them to establish large, costly in-house teams.
As many families are moving away from traditional investment houses and instead prefer to invest within their own networks or alongside other family offices. Trustees play a key role in facilitating these structures, ensuring proper oversight, governance, and administration.
Efficient Structures
Unlike some jurisdictions that require significant infrastructure investment, Cayman allows families to operate with leaner, more efficient structures. Many family offices benefit from outsourcing key functions, such as administration and compliance, while retaining strategic decision-making in-house.
Trust structures in Cayman provide a cost-effective solution for families who want to ensure long-term governance without the expense of building a full-scale operation from the ground up.
A Jurisdiction That Works for Families
Beyond regulatory and financial advantages, Cayman also provides a high quality of life, ease of doing business, and excellent connectivity to global financial markets. As one panellist put it, “It’s not just a Caribbean island; it’s an island that happens to be in the Caribbean.”
For families looking for a secure and friendly home Cayman Islands provides that with excellent beaches, schools and luxury housing and is why it continues to stand out as a leading choice.
At HIGHVERN, we work alongside families to provide tailored trust and fiduciary services accommodating all asset classes, designed and delivered for wealth preservation, privacy, planning and succession purposes. With over 50 years of experience in wealth planning and governance, we ensure your family’s legacy is secure.
