Estate Planning Solutions for Private Clients

Caroline Bennett-Akkaya is a Partner at swisspartners Marcuard Heritage Ltd, offering estate planning solutions for private clients. Swisspartners sponsored the PCD Ladies event at the Hausler Contemporary in Zurich on Thursday 9 May 2019. To view this gallery click here. We caught up with Caroline Bennett-Akkaya to find out more about her working life in Switzerland and to tell us about what happened at the event.

Caroline, you have recently joined swisspartners in Zurich. Do tell us a bit about the firm and what you have discovered so far?

It's a really dynamic company with a friendly and professional culture. swisspartners is multi-faceted - I have joined swisspartners Marcuard Heritage Ltd which is the entity providing wealth planning and wealth structuring for private clients. We deal with many international entrepreneurs and their families, offering wealth planning, establishments of trusts, private investment companies, and their ongoing management and administration and we can also offer life insurance policies and private label funds through the swisspartners group. We also help clients with relocation, real estate acquisition and management and lifestyle management services. Our team is experienced and innovative and very international and we enjoy working with international clients who have complex cases.

We're really proud of the fact that our wealth planning team won the Swiss Wealth Briefing Awards for Wealth Planning Team for the second year running, and I'm delighted to be joining at a time where we are expanding globally.

Have you worked in Switzerland for a long time? What took you there in the first place?

I've worked in Switzerland for nearly 10 years! The initial move came about due to a job opportunity with Credit Suisse and also because my husband and I thought Switzerland seemed like a nice place to raise a family. I'm pleased to say professionally Switzerland has been a great experience and from a personal perspective too - my kids now speak French better than me and leave me behind on the ski slopes!

You sponsored the PCD Ladies event in Zurich on Thursday 9 May. Tell us a little more about the venue and setting?

We were delighted to be bring the PCD Ladies concept to Zurich for the first time. I know from being involved in other PCD Ladies events in the past that we get a great mix of like-minded professionals in the legal, banking and trustee sectors and the networking platform is informal and collaborative. The venue was a leading contemporary art gallery in Zurich, the Hausler Contemporary. We were lucky that there was an exhibition by the American artist, Judy Ledgerwood and we had the opportunity to view her paintings and ceramics. The exhibition is called "Beyond Beauty" and the works are particularly colourful, so it was a great backdrop for our networking cocktail!

Do think it is important the industry supports some women only events alongside other dates in the calendar?

I'm a fan of networking events in general, but sometimes there can be an under-representation of women in our industry, so female-only events help to address the imbalance, as well as providing a support network and mentoring for the younger generation.

In addition to a strong presence in Zurich, we are expanding selectively internationally as we believe international families more and more need a global approach since they have become more mobile.

What do you like to do outside the office? On a weekend, PCD members are most likely to find you...

Cheering on our kids in tennis tournaments all over Switzerland! It's a great way to discover the diverse cities on both sides of the "Rostigraben"!

To attend the PCD ladies event at the Hausler Contemporary in Zurich on Thursday 9 May click here.