After a busy year in the offshore world, several trends appeared: the ongoing divestment of fiduciary businesses, the move into more jurisdictions, and a hot recruitment market. In responses gathered as part of our annual offshore survey, the world’s biggest offshore firms give their thoughts on the key issues affecting their businesses.
Fiduciaries
Last year saw Appleby become the latest firm to offload its fiduciary business in a trend that sharply divides the offshore market.
Q: As more firms offload their fiduciary businesses, do you think this is an ongoing trend that will eventually affect the whole offshore sector – or is each firm merely making its own decision based on its individual business needs?
Appleby: Yes, but the window will not be open for ever. The fiduciary market is becoming increasingly consolidated with greater regulation.
Firms will, of course, make their decision based on their own strategic aims, but the consolidation trend is making it more important than ever to create a competitive advantage and combined firms will no doubt assess this very carefully.
Campbells: Each firm is making its own decision, although it is more likely to be driven by the personal financial interests of the equity owners than the business needs of the related law firm.
We, perhaps uniquely, feel that law firms should not provide fiduciary services because of the inherent conflicts of interest in acting as both fiduciary and legal adviser, and that it benefits the client for the law firm to provide basic administrative services. Those service lines tend to have been sold along with fiduciary businesses to maximise the sale price.
Collas Crill: It is clear that the burden of regulation and compliance is, in some cases, driving consolidation in the fiduciary sector. This means that now has been a good time for some law firms to offload their fiduciary businesses. Some had got so big that they dwarfed the law firms – it was not clear whether they were law firms or fiduciary businesses with a law firm attached.
The decision to sell such businesses may, equally, have been driven by the personal objectives of partners or partner groups within those firms. There are still plenty of opportunities for solid businesses to flourish without the need for private equity backing – provided that they can adapt their business model to their position in the marketplace and their current strategy.
DQ Advocates: In the general fiduciary sector (not just those owned by law firms), we continue to see significant consolidation in the market in many offshore jurisdictions. The reasons relate to increasing challenges for such businesses based on cost of compliance, increased regulation and a reducing amount of tax planning-related business as onshore and supranational body initiatives continue to attack offshore.
We expect to see many of the major offshore law firms that have large fiduciary businesses to continue with this model. Those offshore firms that have hived off their fiduciary businesses have done so, in our view, based partly on the challenges listed above, partly due to conflict issues and, frankly, partly because they were offered a bumper payday and chose the exit.
Forbes Hare: Each firm makes its own decision, depending on its business model and particular circumstances. A number of the larger offshore firms have disposed of their fiduciary businesses to private equity groups, built them up again, sold them … repeat to fade. More sophisticated clients are aware of the significant impact this has on service levels, relationship continuity and – not least – service costs.
As a relationship-driven firm, we believe clients appreciate and prefer dealing with owner-managed services operations where the client relationship is valued over the long term. We want to retain our relationships, and we are happy and privileged now to provide services to a number of refugees from changes elsewhere in the market.
Harneys: While we see disposals by law firms as likely to continue, the dislocation this causes to the retained law firm businesses – itself a consequence of the massive synergies between the two sides of the business that caused them to develop in tandem originally – means it is unlikely to become the only option. We continue to view the relationship between Harneys Fiduciary and the law firm as a key factor in our success.
The most important trends in these markets are not really around law firm disposals, but around bank retreat from the market and that creates vast opportunity for those independent fiduciary service providers that understand the market and have the brand, people and systems to take advantage of the opportunity.
That doesn’t have to mean unchanged ownership structures, but suggests that a change requires something more strategic than simply sale to the highest bidder.
“We expect to see many of the major offshore law firms that have large fiduciary businesses to continue with this model” – DQ Advocates
Maples and Calder: We believe it is the latter. We have always strongly believed in the value of having synergistic fiduciary and corporate services within one group and our continued growth both as a law firm and on the fiduciary and fund services side of the business is testament to this.
Ogier: Yes, we believe it will be an ongoing trend. As those businesses reach a certain size, it is likely that the need for investment will become so great that it is difficult to achieve within a partnership structure.
In our case, Ogier Fiduciary Services had reached a stage where a management buy-out made perfect sense given the additional investment needed to achieve its significant growth plans. The Ogier Group had provided a solid foundation and enabled it to grow in size, reach and scale, but the decision was made to accelerate that growth through the additional investment and support of an MBO.
Travers Thorp Alberga: It is difficult to conclude that the determination to sell affiliated fiduciary businesses is driven by anything other than the financial interests of the owning partners.
Given that many law firms had previously generated up to 70 per cent of their gross revenues from the related fiduciary service provider, it is hard to conclude that the sale of that service provider has been in the long-term best interests of the law firm.
Indeed, there has been considerable instability evidenced in a number of law firms where the sale has been undertaken.
Bermuda
Both Harneys and Walkers announced they were moving into Bermuda last year. They were the first firms from ‘off-island’ to open there, with Harneys finding a merger partner and Walkers looking for greenfield growth.
Q: Last year, Bermuda was the hot market to enter into. What will be the jurisdiction of choice in 2016?
Appleby: This is very dependent on the sector and cultural preferences. Bermuda and the Caribbean jurisdictions will continue to track the improved economy in the US. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) continues to be a target for Chinese/Asian investors. The Crown dependencies are buoyant as the funds market and banking restructurings continue to surge.
There are also a number of developing jurisdictions being targeted where we see improving flows of work. Mauritius and the Seychelles are burgeoning as gateways and means of access to Africa where it is widely predicted that so-called ‘megatrends’ – social and demographic change, rapid urbanisation, shifts in economic power and technological breakthroughs – will coincide and act as a catalyst to a rapid and widespread transformation of the business environment.
Bedell Cristin: We believe there are opportunities for growth in several key regions. Clients, too, are increasingly global and not from any particular geographic location, so firms must consider this in their business development plans.
Certainly, Asia has remained a priority, with clients demanding a range of cross-border services and we continue to invest further in the region. Equally, while we expect increasing demand for structuring investment vehicles in the major finance centres, the BVI is likely to remain a key location for structuring business, with a corresponding demand for BVI legal services.
Cains: Given, among other things, international initiatives and banking-related factors, we believe each of the Crown dependencies will increase in attractiveness in the next 12 months, probably at the expense of certain Caribbean jurisdictions.
Campbells: The presences established in Bermuda by firms from other jurisdictions have been quite limited. The Cayman Islands remains the jurisdiction that has attracted the most foreign law firms, reflecting its position as the jurisdiction of choice for many key financial services products.
Collas Crill: Clearly, Bermuda has been hot for the Caribbean. Equally, we have seen a lot more competition in Singapore as firms look to expand their footprint in Asia or to start their Asian presence there. The true impact of AIFMD [the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive] has yet to be felt and it will be interesting to see how firms react to the potential need to have a presence in Europe.
Forbes Hare: Bermuda is an interesting market with some excellent service providers. Time will tell, but we suspect the perceived warming of its approach to new market entrants may be more of a relative thaw than as a result of the jurisdiction being “so hot right now”.
In our view, the market continues to divide between the established, well-regulated and reputable tax-neutral offshore jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands and the BVI, “midshore” jurisdictions that offer varying degrees of regulation and taxation (and costs), and the less well-known jurisdictions whose attractions are more focused on cost and light touch (perhaps even “delicate touch”) regulation.
Harneys: New jurisdictions don’t just emerge as a place to be in a vacuum. Bermuda has been a massively significant jurisdiction for a very long time – 2015 was simply a year when opportunities for entry became compelling. There remains a mix of five or six places – offshore, onshore and midshore – in which we are significantly invested or wish to be. Whether to open there comes down to quite fine margins and definitely depends on being comfortable that we can find people who share our ethos.
HSM Chambers: We anticipate that Bermuda will continue to see new entrants into its market place, in a similar way that offshore firms have continued to be established in Cayman between 2004 (when the move started) and today.
“The most important trends are not really around law firm disposals, but around bank retreat from the market” – Harneys
Marshall Diel & Myers: While we have seen an increase in business in Bermuda, it has been slow, unsteady growth. We believe Bermuda will continue to be a “hot market” to enter into. However, we know we face stiff competition from places such as Singapore where the growing population, overall wealth and increasing proportion of high net worth individuals will drive large international firms to expand into those jurisdictions, as well as the fact that it is far easier to establish substance in a developed commercial hub or established ‘international finance centre’ like Singapore.
Bermuda has responded, and will continue to respond, by diversifying markets and drafting new, creative legislation to attract more business and create niche areas of business.
Walkers: Hard to say. The “offshore magic circle” are already in many jurisdictions with overlapping footprints. Bermuda was probably the exception, with only two of the international offshore firms represented before 2015. Cayman remains the most significant jurisdiction, so we would expect to see those few firms that do not have a Cayman Islands presence already seek to add this capability to their footprint in 2016.
Referrals
Offshore firms have close, symbiotic relationships with their onshore counterparts. Nevertheless, the referral market is changing as work becomes more international and clients more powerful.
Q: How do you see your relationships developing with onshore firms and other clients? Are referrals coming from a wider range of firms, a wider range of jurisdictions, or are you getting more instructions directly from clients than you used to?
AO Hall: We are continuing to see growth in instructions from regional firms in the UK, which reflects those firms’ continued growth.
Appleby: We are not seeing any material change in the pattern of instructions from onshore referrers and those directly from clients. We continue to see a large percentage of referrals from onshore firms emanating from the international financial centres of London, Hong Kong, New York and other principal markets.
These instructions cover all the magic circle, major US internationals and silver circle firms, as well as specialist firms. Also, we continue to grow the level of instructions directly from clients and this is heavily influenced by the insurance, finance and property clients we have based in offshore.
Bedell Cristin: The relationship between law firms in the offshore markets and those in the major financial centres, particularly London in respect of the British Crown dependencies, remains a key route for doing business. As firms embrace new markets in response to the increasing globalisation of financial services and extend their presence in key locations, the relationship with international law firms will continue to take on added significance.
With the increasing numbers of HNWIs [high-net-worth individuals], especially evident in the growth economies in the Far East, India and the Gulf, we would also expect to continue to see increasing collaboration with intermediaries and advisers from those regions. New business will also be generated in the private client sector directly from HNWIs who are increasingly aware of the importance of asset protection, and cross-border estate and succession planning.
Cains: Business as usual, we believe, with instructions coming from a wide variety of sources, but with these emanating from the major international firms continuing to be key.
Campbells: Referrals from onshore firms will remain the largest source of instructions. However, clients are definitely making more in-depth enquiries of both onshore and offshore legal counsel to ensure they obtain the best service at the most competitive price. That means involvement with a wider range of onshore firms and clients looking for input on the selection of offshore counsel, as opposed to simply relying on the recommendation of onshore counsel.
Collas Crill: The diversity of our sources of work continues to increase – it has gone way beyond the traditional centres of London and New York and work is increasingly coming directly from clients from a diverse range of jurisdictions. Whether this is from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam into our Singapore office or from Brazil into our Cayman and Channel Islands offices, the traditional method of instructions just coming from the onshore firms is on the wane.
DQ: Our relationship-building with onshore firms and other clients remains key to our success. The ability to understand the market in which your client operates and offer innovative, practical solutions is what drives the increasing number of instructions from a growing number of introducers (principally law firms).
We continue to see strong referral work from London firms, but are increasingly being instructed by law firms in Dublin (which seems to be booming with international work), Dubai and the Far East. Work in aviation, shipping and e-business is showing very strong growth.
Forbes Hare: Geographically, we are seeing less work out of the CIS and more work out of China and South East Asia, but that may just be us rather than a trend.
Harneys: The Asian market remains strong for us as a source of new instructions and existing clients, and we have fostered this in the past year with our expansion into Tokyo and Shanghai. North America is a growth area for the firm, especially now that we have added Bermuda to our existing BVI-Cayman axis.
The days of instructions coming only from law firms and banks passed a while back, but both remain key relationships.
Hassans: The 80/20 rule still applies in terms of work acquisition and law firm referrals; regulatory and tax changes are not changing the way business is done between onshore and offshore firms. Firms that continue to deliver value will continue to ensure client retention.
Maples and Calder: In a phrase, relationships are continuing to deepen. We have historically viewed both onshore firms with whom we have a great relationship as well as other clients, such as financial institutions, corporates and investment managers, as equally important. Teamwork has always been a core value for us and this extends to working closely and efficiently with our onshore colleagues. I expect this balance to continue.
Marshall Diel & Myers: We have seen an increase in the range of jurisdictions and firms instructing us, but also an increase in instructions directly from clients, especially from places like India, Mauritius and China. We believe this is connected to an increase in work in certain areas of practice, such as liquidation and insolvency.
Mourant Ozannes: Yes, we are seeing referrals from a wider range of onshore law firms and jurisdictions. This is driven in part by the success of our strategy, which has seen us building market share in new markets, and in part by changes in the onshore legal services market.
We have seen an increase in instructions from the growing number of boutique litigation firms, a significant increase in instructions from US firms in the US, London and Asia, and strong growth in referrals from the global elite. We continue to receive instructions directly from our clients, and in those cases we often work alongside the world’s leading onshore law firms.
Recruitment
The number of lawyers employed by the offshore top 30 rose between 2014 and 2015. However, it is not always easy to recruit the right type of people prepared to move offshore.
Q: What is the recruitment market like at the moment for offshore? Where are you recruiting from, and is moving offshore an easy sell?
Appleby: The offshore recruitment market is gaining momentum, and in some parts of the world it is fairly aggressive. The war for talent is building again as the market improves.
We are recruiting across all offshore jurisdictions from both offshore and onshore sources.
We are committed to improving our ability to recruit, on-board and retain talent. The fact that we are offshore is just another dynamic to attracting high-calibre talent and one that depends on where an individual is in relation to their personal and professional aspirations.
Bedell Cristin: Competition to secure candidates has increased in the past year, in part as a result of the improved climate giving candidates a wider range of career options. For this reason, it has been necessary to explore further afield and consider candidates from New Zealand and Australia, as well as widely across the UK and Ireland.
Although the key selling points for a career offshore (quality of work/life) remain as a positive sales message, we are seeing a higher level of competition among offshore firms to attract the best candidates, leading to hikes in salary levels, particularly for those with experience in corporate, banking and commercial litigation.
Cains: We have not encountered significant issues in recruiting at any levels and have been able to attract lawyers from other offshore locations and metropolitan backgrounds. Moving offshore is a lifestyle decision in part and we have found it easier to recruit people in, say, their 30s with families to move to the Isle of Man as opposed to young single people for whom the long hours and commutes have yet to become difficult to tolerate. Most (but not all) of our significant hires are made from sources off, rather than on, the Isle of Man.
Campbells: We have seen an increase in the level of enquiries from lawyers looking to move offshore, as well as an increase in the number of lawyers who have identified it as a specific path early in their careers. This is likely to reflect onshore lawyers becoming more informed about offshore work, and many onshore attorneys knowing someone they studied or worked with who has already moved offshore.
Carey Olsen: The market for talent in the offshore legal jurisdictions is increasingly competitive. We are seeing more people sounding out moves between offshore firms, along with a significant increase in the number of onshore lawyers who are exploring the idea of developing their careers in one of the leading offshore centres.
There is greater interest from top-class lawyers in regional cities as well as in our traditional recruiting ground of London. British lawyers in Russia and Eastern Europe are keen to explore offshore moves and are also showing increasing interest in a move to Asia.
Collas Crill: Recruiting into the offshore world depends on the role and the location. As the global markets have improved, so recruitment into the financial services sector has got tougher. For the right role with flexibility, improved standards of living and better quality of life, getting the right people is still what recruiting offshore is all about.
Conyers Dill & Pearman: There was a resurgence in the various offshore markets in 2015. Our offshore jurisdictions experienced an uptick in activity and growth throughout the year. Given the quality of the work, offshore is an easy sell.
We recruit candidates globally from those qualified in the UK and the Commonwealth.
There are natural advantages to moving offshore, location being one of them. Also, the interesting international nature of the work is attractive to lawyers at all levels. There are many facets to the work itself that are sophisticated and innovative, and require distinct knowledge and expertise.
DQ: The recruitment market for offshore firms remains a challenge. Historically, we have recruited from the local market, but as firms grow in size and new firms arrive, the local pool of available talent is shrinking. We are now looking more widely both towards Ireland (north and south) and the UK, but the requirement both for work permits and for requalification (in certain sectors) as an Isle of Man advocate add hurdles to the recruitment process.
“It has been necessary to explore further afield and consider candidates from New Zealand and Australia” – Bedell Cristin
Forbes Hare: More people are looking to come offshore for the quality of life, and because of a range of factors in the onshore jurisdictions, particularly in London. We suspect that firms are becoming increasingly discerning in their recruitment choices because of the increasing costs and hurdles involved in moving and employing people on-island.
The recent statutory changes affecting legal practitioners may have an effect on recruitment in the BVI.
Harneys: Recruiting offshore has always been a relatively easy sell. I think we have found it relatively easy to recruit recently because lawyers recognise and are attracted to momentum. Also, the perception of Harneys as a firm expanding fast and in interesting ways has become well entrenched. The UK remains important, but we recruit and will continue to recruit from wherever we see talent and experience that will drive us forward.
Hassans: Hassans endeavours to recruit home-grown talent where possible, and we have plenty of it, so we don’t suffer in this area. Equally, when we do need to extend our recruitment overseas, for a specialist in a particular are of work or industry, Gibraltar is not a difficult jurisdiction to sell to potential recruits.
Hatstone: Recruitment still remains very expensive. We would recommend that lawyers contact law firms direct if they are looking for a move. We are seeing an increase in lawyers looking to move from the Caribbean jurisdictions to Jersey.
HSM Chambers: Still a fairly easily sell to new recruits. We have grown rapidly in the past three years and have only made limited use of recruitment agencies. Recruitment of attorneys has mainly been from the UK and Canada.
Marshall Diel & Myers: Our priority is to recruit young Bermudians who will be the future of our firm. We have, however, looked overseas to recruit mid-level to senior associates who can help develop young Bermudians, but we tend to be approached by recruiters or candidates directly rather than having to advertise offshore. From our experience, offshore is attractive due to the low tax environment and the perception that there will be a better work-life balance.
Mourant Ozannes: The recruitment market is highly competitive at the moment, but this has more to do with strong demand in the legal services market generally. The combination of top-quality work for blue-chip clients and a more relaxed lifestyle mean the offshore proposition remains highly attractive, particularly for those seeking a better work-life balance.
We continue to recruit primarily in London and Hong Kong.
Ogier: We have seen a general uplift in recruitment activity both onshore and offshore, with more firms hiring on a regular basis again.
Traditionally, we would have looked primarily to the London market to recruit. However, we have had a number of new starters from the UK regions. They come from good-quality firms and don’t want to move to London, but do want the London-style work and clients that we can offer at Ogier.
Offshore may not necessarily be where UK and US lawyers look in the first instance but, as soon as you give them the details of the work we undertake, the infrastructure we have in place and the lifestyle they could enjoy, the “sell” is much easier.
We are also seeing more offshore firms seeking on-island candidates.
We have bolstered the number of paralegal roles across the firm with recruitment into the Channel Islands from the UK, where we can offer support for LPC [Legal Practice Course] studies, bursary schemes and an England and Wales training contract offshore. Again, the number of paralegal roles appears to be increasing generally across the offshore market.
For salaries, the legal market is very competitive and offshore salaries are much closer to London salaries than they have been for a while – I would say generally much higher than regional salary levels, which is why we have had real success recruiting from those markets.
We have revised our recruitment strategy as the market has changed and our brand refresh has given us a fantastic platform to help define our employer brand. Our use of social media has increased, which helps raise awareness of the firm.
The relationship with recruitment agencies is so important that investing time to help them get to know your business is critical and the candidate on-boarding experience will often influence which firm they ultimately choose.
“Offshore salaries are much closer to London salaries than they have been for a while” – Ogier
Travers Thorp Alberga: The offshore recruitment market is over-supplied as contraction affects a number of onshore firms that are subject to the same competitive pressures and for similar reasons to those in the offshore world.
Walkers: Restrictions in each jurisdiction limit most recruitment to commonwealth jurisdictions. London remains the largest source of potential employees – the combination of top-class work and a great lifestyle with little or no commute makes offshore a relatively easy sell to many
candidates.
Strategy
After a year of change in the offshore world, how do the big firms see the year ahead, and what areas of business will they be focusing on?
Q: What are your firm’s strategic aims for 2016?
AO Hall: We have identified that new businesses focusing on digital and financial innovations (including fintech) are continuing to be attracted to Guernsey as a potential base for international operations to access new markets and to establish corporate structures for the aggregation of investment into those businesses.
Appleby: Post-completion of the MBO of our fiduciary arm, we will be focusing on a growth strategy for the independent law firm, using the capital investment to push forward our ‘client-first’ strategy in a number of areas.
Bedell Cristin: Our strategy this year is to continue with our partner-led approach to premium client service, while deepening our capabilities in the key markets where clients increasingly require our services.
Cains: Following a series of senior recruitments in the legal, fiduciary and accounting areas of the group in 2015, further hires at all levels are expected to occur during 2016.
Additional investment of capital and revenue in fiduciary and accounting services is anticipated in the Isle of Man. In addition, the Jersey fiduciary services offering has exceeded expectation and we intend to expand the number of its client structures significantly in 2016, particularly in the commercial property sector.
IT, risk and compliance functions will also be the subject of further investment and development this year.
We will continue to support the Isle of Man offering through our connections with governmental and regulatory authorities in the Isle of Man and elsewhere and high participation in a variety of business development and marketing initiatives.
Carey Olsen: Our aim is to be the law firm of choice in the jurisdictions in which we operate and this is demonstrated by our market-leading position in Guernsey and Jersey, where our credentials speak for themselves.
Our BVI and Cayman offices continue to grow rapidly, with particular emphasis on corporate, funds and complex litigation work. Our BVI and Cayman offices will also benefit significantly from the launch of our Singapore office last October.
“We will continue to expand with a focus on the Cayman market in 2016” – HSM Chambers
“We will continue to expand with a focus on the Cayman market in 2016” – HSM ChambersCollas Crill: In 2016, we will continue to serve our clients’ interests and look to predict what they will want now and in five years’ time – making sure we work with them more closely across all our offices, making sure we deliver excellent service every time that we work with them and making sure we add value to their businesses.
That is easy to say and more difficult to execute every time. Firms that have historically spread themselves too thinly and no longer have the security blanket of fiduciary revenue to cushion partner profits will struggle to do this consistently and in a culturally aligned way. This presents great opportunities for us because there are lots of clients, partners and people associated with those businesses who have had the rug pulled out from under their feet.
Conyers Dill & Pearman: Overall, our strategic aim in the year ahead will be to monitor growth within our practice areas as highlighted below, and take the necessary steps to add resources as required.
Our work volumes are expected to increase in several areas throughout the firm.
DQ: We will officially open our new office extension in the early part of 2016, which gives us plenty of capacity to carry on with our strategy of continued organic growth.
We continue to invest heavily in growing our aviation, shipping and e-business practices and expect continued growth in those sectors. While we do not have any plans in relation to specific acquisitions, we continue to remain responsive to market trends and opportunities that may arise.
Forbes Hare: Our focus is squarely on the continued delivery of excellent service to our clients. If expansion is a corollary of this, then we would probably seek to do it organically. However, we certainly do not see expansion as an end in itself.
Harneys: Last year saw unprecedented growth for Harneys. We launched new offices in Bermuda, Shanghai and Tokyo, but flag-planting is not especially interesting and we simply intend to build towards dominance in every area in which we practice and create a business that becomes more resilient and sustainable every year.
Hatstone: There is a huge interest in Africa and this is having a positive knock-on effect for our team in South Africa. We expect to continue to see this being a growth area for the firm in 2016.
HSM Chambers: We will continue to expand with a focus on the Cayman market in 2016. Our corporate services offering is relative new and we see opportunity for growth in this area. We also see scope to develop our corporate/commercial practice area further as, since our inception in October 2012, some have perceived us a litigation-focused firm.
Maples and Calder: We remain focused on our core practice areas and jurisdictions and continue to recruit and develop new business within those areas, in particular developing the synergies between our Cayman/BVI and Irish offerings. We will continue to look at developing our entity and fiduciary services across the key jurisdictions for our major fund, corporate and finance clients.
Marshall Diel & Myers: Our firm’s focus for 2016 is growing our business both in existing practice areas and in new ones through recruiting young Bermudians, who will be the future of our firm. We will also continue to strengthen our reputation as one of the go-to firms in Bermuda for commercial dispute resolution.
“There is a hug
e interest in Africa and this is having a positive knock-on effect for our team in South Africa” – Hatstone
e interest in Africa and this is having a positive knock-on effect for our team in South Africa” – HatstoneMourant Ozannes: In 2016, we will continue to focus on building our global Cayman and BVI capability through our network of offices in the Caribbean, London and Hong Kong and, in response to strong demand from our clients, developing our new corporate services business.
At the same time, we are aiming to complete the work we started two years ago in building a globally integrated business services function which is client-focused and delivers a competitive advantage in and of itself.
Solomon Harris: We remain cautious given the global economic challenges and the current challenges of the fund industry. Our firm has increased its funds department, however, and is more robust than ever in competing in this market. M&A is also a growing area, as well as the captive insurance industry. We have no plans to open any more offices.
Travers Thorp Alberga: Having just completed a merger with a BVI law firm, we are intending to ensure full and seamless systems integration and to consider new recruitment, but only of the highest-calibre attorneys.
Walkers: With Walkers Professional Services having been established in 2015 and the Walkers brand expanding into Bermuda at the start of 2016, both will be a significant focus during 2016.
As ever, we will be looking at other opportunities for the firm, led very much by feedback from our clients as to where they would like us to be and the services they would like us to provide.