Meet Ogier's philanthropy expert Josephine Howe

Based in Ogier's Jersey office, partner Josephine Howe acts for a wide range of professional trustees, high net worth families and charities on all issues concerning trusts and foundations.

Her principal areas of expertise include advising on the establishment, ongoing administration and restructuring of complex trust structures, family offices and private trust companies (together with all related company and commercial law issues) and on rectifying and mitigating breaches of trust. Josephine remains firmly at the top of the league and is listed in Private Client Global Elite's directory of the world's most highly regarded private client lawyers.

One of her particular specialisms within Ogier's multifaceted and award-winning Trusts Advisory Group is her ability to advise on charitable and philanthropic structures, including philanthropic trusts and foundations – from their establishment all the way through to the finer points of ensuring good governance and administration.

Putting the client at the centre of her practice, she helps settlors navigate the complex world of charitable giving and realise their philanthropic ambitions.

What encouraged her to specialise in this area? What structures does she help donors to establish? And what are the key trends and challenges shaping philanthropy at the moment?

Why do you specialise in advising on philanthropic structures?

Philanthropic structures are a positive way of involving and bringing together the different branches of high net worth families in a joined-up purpose outside their principal business or investment activities. That involvement and collaboration offers a means to prepare the next generation of family members for the responsibility of wealth and to pass on family values. I enjoy being a part of this transition and seeing families come together around a common goal.

One of my specialisms is advising trustees and high net worth settlors in relation to trust and asset holding structures that have been established for long-term wealth preservation and succession planning. Philanthropic structures will often sit alongside and complement such family wealth structures. Leaving a philanthropic legacy and ensuring the good governance and administration of philanthropic giving are often important considerations for settlors. It is incredibly satisfying to enable settlors to realise their philanthropic ambitions.

What are the key trends shaping philanthropy at the moment?

The great wealth transfer anticipates a massive shift of wealth over the next few decades from the so-called baby boomer generation to Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z. This transitional phase has already begun, and it is undoubtedly impacting philanthropy.

As part of their planning for this transition of wealth, donors are looking to set aside often a substantial part of their wealth for charity, generally or increasingly with a particular philanthropic aim in mind. In this respect, donors want to see evidence of value from their giving, and they often want to play an active role within the structure. A variety of structures are available to these donors due to the flexibility of Jersey law, but we do see a lot of interest in using non-charitable purpose trusts and foundations. With these, the donor can tailor the structure to their specific philanthropic aims.

Often these aims cannot be met using a more traditional, exclusively charitable structure. For example, the purpose of the structure might be impact investing in a particular investment with any longer term financial return to benefit a particular charity or philanthropic project. These structures can also be established with a mechanism that enables the donor or a committee of family members to be involved in deciding the giving strategy and selecting good causes.

Another area developing particularly in Jersey is venture philanthropy. For many high net worth investors, this is a natural extension of their business activities. Jersey Finance is a member of the European Venture Philanthropy Association. In addition to traditional philanthropic structures such as foundations and charitable trusts and non-charitable purpose trusts, Jersey has various fund, corporate and limited partnership vehicles through which to make such investments.

We are also seeing an increase in Middle Eastern families formalising their charitable giving through trust and foundation structures which are created to be compliant with Shariah principles.

What are the main challenges facing philanthropy?

An ongoing challenge is how to measure and evidence the impact of donations. Donors want to achieve real value and impact from their giving. At Ogier, one of our aims is always to ensure the good governance and administration of the structure so it can continue to support the chosen charitable causes for many years, even after the donor's death.

In addition, charitable and philanthropic structuring has recently been the focus of increased regulation. This has been primarily driven by Financial Action Task Force recommendations in relation to the prevention and detection of money-laundering, the countering of terrorist financing and the countering of proliferation financing (AML / CFT / CPF). This increased scrutiny only highlights the need for good governance and proper administration of philanthropic trusts and structures to ensure that they are compliant with AML / CFT / CPF and other regulatory regimes.

How Ogier can help

Ogier helps clients to achieve their philanthropic goals by advising on the creation and management of private philanthropic trusts and structures as well as the registration of entities as a Jersey charity. The Private Wealth team assists with establishing foundations, charitable trusts, non-charitable purpose trusts, and other philanthropic entities, and ensuring they stay current with the latest legal and regulatory developments. Ogier offers personal, professional, and discreet services.

Contact Josephine or another member of the team to see how the firm can support your vision.

About Ogier

Ogier is a professional services firm with the knowledge and expertise to handle the most demanding and complex transactions and provide expert, efficient and cost-effective services to all our clients. We regularly win awards for the quality of our client service, our work and our people.

Disclaimer

This client briefing has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Ogier. The information and expressions of opinion which it contains are not intended to be a comprehensive study or to provide legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice concerning individual situations.

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