Navigating a cost of living crisis is about more than simply curbing your expenses in response to rising prices. How you respond to higher inflation will depend largely on your personal circumstances, so a solution that worked for someone else won’t necessarily be appropriate for you.

No one sets out on a car journey with the intention of crashing, and yet everyone puts on their seat belt before setting out. It pays to be prudent and so why would one take unnecessary risks if they can be easily avoided? This is as true in everyday life as it is in business, and even more so when establishing a trust structure that needs to contend with family dynamics, cross-border planning, and complex asset classes.

People sometimes joke that trustees are scared to make decisions and, as absurd as this may sound, many a truth is spoken in jest. The reality is that, on a daily basis, a trustee will make a myriad of informed decisions which may at some point in the future be challenged, no matter how innocuous or trivial they may seem at the time the decision is made.

There is no denying that ESG investing is a global trend. It is widely accepted that trustees are increasingly being asked to consider ESG-centric investments by the next generation of beneficiaries, while Forbes recently reported that flows into ESG funds doubled from 2020 to 2021.

Many of the worlds’ most successful companies are instantly recognisable by their brands. Brands which have been built up and very carefully maintained, in some instances, for generations. They are not only recognisable, but they also provide customers and clients with instant peace of mind when the brand has a good reputation. Company brands and reputations are intrinsically linked and for a company to succeed it is important to have both a strong brand and a good reputation.