Architect

Aligning Business Growth with Personal and Family Aspirations

Client Profile
Name: Confidential
Age: 47
Profession: Principal Architect, Founder of a boutique architecture firm
Location: London
Family: Married with two teenage children
Annual Business Revenue: ~£1.2M

Key Objectives:

  • Transition from hands-on leadership to strategic oversight within 5–7 years
  • Extract business value tax-efficiently
  • Ensure children’s education and financial independence
  • Protect and grow family wealth for future generations
Architect

Challenges

As the founder and Principal Architect of a successful boutique firm, the client was at a crossroads. While the business was thriving, the demands of daily operations left little time for long-term strategic planning—personally or professionally. Key concerns included:
  • Succession Planning: There was no clear path to gradually reduce operational involvement while retaining equity and income.
  • Tax Efficiency: High income and dividends were generating a substantial tax burden.
  • Wealth Protection: The client lacked a cohesive structure to ring-fence assets for family and mitigate inheritance tax (IHT) exposure.
  • Education and Gifting: The client wished to fund both children’s higher education abroad and provide early financial support without compromising business liquidity.

Aetas Partners' Approach

1. Strategic Business Alignment

Aetas facilitated strategic workshops to help the client:

  • Identify leadership talent within the firm for future succession
  • Introduce long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) to retain key staff
  • Establish a business continuity framework to de-risk operational dependency

2. Personal & Family Wellbeing

Aetas facilitated family involvement:

  • Involve the spouse in planning, ensuring alignment on retirement, lifestyle, and philanthropic goals

3. Integrated Financial Planning

Aetas Wealth designed a bespoke plan that connected the client’s business objectives with personal and family aspirations:

Business Value Extraction:

  • Re-structured drawings and distributions through a combination of salary, dividends, and employer pension contributions
  • Introduced a mechanism to allow future tax-efficient capital extraction

Wealth Preservation & IHT Planning:

  • Created a Family Investment Company (FIC) to consolidate surplus income and manage long-term investments outside the personal estate
  • Set up a Discretionary Trust funded through excess income, earmarked for future grandchildren
  • Utilised Business Relief-qualifying assets to reduce future IHT liability

Education Funding:

Set up Junior ISAs and a designated bare trust for education costs

The Outcome

  • Business succession strategy
  • Tax efficiency improved
  • Children’s education costs
  • Projected estate tax liability reduced
  • Family alignment achieved

Client Feedback

“Working with Aetas felt like having a boardroom advisor, family CFO, and life planner all in one. They brought clarity to my business and peace of mind to my family.”

Conclusion

This case demonstrates how Aetas goes beyond traditional financial advice—integrating business, personal, and family dynamics into a coherent, values-driven strategy. For entrepreneurial professionals like this Principal Architect, Aetas delivered not just a financial plan, but a roadmap to legacy.