Member Profile

In transit in Munich Airport recently I ran into an old colleague (investment advisor) with whom I had partnered twenty years ago but had fallen out with (I refused to refer a certain client). When he asked what I was up to today, I explained that I am acting as a trustee since 2005. “That is absolutely you” he replied. For trustees and fiduciaries client interest always come first. It is an attitude. Being a fiduciary is simple. It requires adopting a servant mentality and acting as the vigilant protector of the client. Being a trustee is similar but comes with more stringent obligations and liabilities.

Cross border tax and estate planning is a passion since almost 30 years now. That passion drove me to Georgetown Law School for its U.S. international tax courses and was key to all other career choices made since. Right after law school I chose for an internship in Jersey (Channel Islands). I have been working in the Netherlands Antilles (curious about so-called Dutch sandwiches in tax planning), joined a private bank in Luxembourg. Especially the step to the world of private banking was an important one. I decided to focus on private clients. In order to attract clients, I asked life insurance companies to develop products tailored to where the clients lived. In order to add more value to the clients I became a trustee. Being a trustee (and foundation administrator) equals providing substance in tax planning, allows flexible estate planning and opens a world of solutions simply not available otherwise.

Drop me a line when foreign trusts with U.S. beneficiaries or U.S. trusts with foreign beneficiaries are on your radar. Or when your client is looking to structure his investments in the U.S. in his personal name or via a local company. Or when you are simply looking for an insurance trustee. Especially when your clients are non-residents of the U.S. I may be able to add value.

I have been active as a family officer in Luxembourg and Switzerland since 1998 and as a trustee and company service provider in Malta since 2005. My firm has a presence in New York since then also where I am registered with the Department of Financial Services since 2013.

Being a trustee implies a duty of confidentiality so I cannot disclose any names. What I can say is that I am sincerely proud of who all has become a client and that the clients are resident in all 5 continents of the world. Some are sportsmen, others are in the world of fashion and music, most are international entrepreneurs and their families. I started as a junior tax counsel in Brussels in the early nineties (with Tiberghien in 1990 and Ernst & Young in 1992). After, a brief experience in trust services in Sint Maarten (1994-1995), I became active in private banking in Luxembourg (1995-1997). Thereafter I set-up my own practice.

I hold degrees in law from the Universities of Ghent (magna cum laude, 1988) and Georgetown Law School (Washington, D.C., 1991), am certified as a European Financial Planner (2004) and hold certificates in trust disputes and as a New York resident life broker.

In the early stages of my career I have been a correspondent of Tax Notes International and IBFD’s Tax News Service on a series of news stories on Belgium and the Netherlands Antilles. At the library of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam you will find a 200-page overview of mine on Belgian case law and income tax treaties. I have also been writing on holding companies in Europe and on Liechtenstein foundations in specialized Belgian legal reviews. One of my favorite weekend activities today is the making of my own private newsletters (since 2009). You will find all (25) issues on the Aver Associates website.

I have engaged in public speaking at universities (at VLEKHO Brussels and the Luxembourg School of Finance), at private and EFE conferences in Switzerland and a few STEP and ITPA meetings on various topics (Switzerland in estate planning, taxation of Luxembourg life insurance, Malta trusts and estate planning via U.S. life insurance, etc.). A transcript of my presentation at the ITPA Cyprus meeting on US life insurance was published in the ITPA Journal of April 2008.

I am a member of the International Tax Planning Association (ITPA) since 1998 and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) since 2008.

Having left my country of origin 25 years ago and having lived in 6 countries, I feel like a fish in water when it comes to meeting and dealing with people from different cultures and jurisdictions. I am not sure what exactly the percentage of Belgian national there is left in me. Whatever it is, my preferred way of communication is direct (Dutch-style), with a touch of Flemish (I was taught to speak with two words at least). I am a Dutch native speaker as you will have guessed and having lived in Luxembourg for twenty years (and still travelling back there frequently) I am still fluent in French also.