Family Office Insight: In the spotlight – Kyra Motley

Private Wealth Partner, Kyra Motley speaks to The Wealth Net about everything from career advice to the key trends currently shaping family office services...

Kyra Motley is a Private Client and Tax Partner at Boodle Hatfield.

She specialises in multi-jurisdictional wealth planning, international tax and trusts, succession planning and family governance for high net worth (HNW) and ultra-high net worth (UHNW) clients, their families as well as related advice to family offices.

Kyra has experience in advising on wealth preservation and tax efficient structures in an international context, as well as in relation to complex cross-border tax and estate planning for UK and non-UK domiciled individuals and families.

What are the key trends shaping family office services at the moment?

Digital and cybercrime continue to be a threat, with many families facing new challenges in a digital world. Wealth generation and segregation of private wealth from business wealth is also a hot topic. It is something which has been discussed among families approaching their wealth planning in Europe for many years, but has become much more pertinent for families in the MENA and Far East regions within the last few years. Establishing a formal family office is also very much ‘on trend’ at the moment, with many facing a skills gap when finding the right staff to run the office – a challenge expected to persist as demand for family offices rises.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?

Act practically, commercially and responsively. Always communicate in plain English and deliver when you say you will. Rather like a nice meal, never deliver something half cooked, and ask if you need more time.

What are the main challenges facing family office services?

Larger families with multiple challenges and many family members need a long term and strategic succession plan. This is not a document which is written and gathers dust forever more, but a real commitment for the long term benefit of the family that takes into consideration the needs and demands of current and future family and business priorities. We are seeing an increase in interest for succession planning, particularly for family businesses, and family offices wanting to really invest in the process.

What are your favourite ways to relax/switch off from work?

Anyone who knows me will know I am a big dog lover. There is nothing better to switch off from a challenging day in the office than a cuddle with my two big Saarloos wolfdogs. I also have a smaller cocker spaniel who gets into the mix. I do a lot of landscape gardening work also in my spare time and seem to know almost as much about plants as I do about the law.

If you couldn’t do your current role what would your dream job be?

I would probably go into the Secret Service as I have always been interested in intelligence and security.

What was your student job?

I actually started my legal career as a legal secretary. I worked first in property law and moved into licencing. I think it’s always valuable in any business to understand it from the ground up, although legal secretarial work has changed a lot in the last 20 years from when I started off.

This article first appears in The Wealth Net in July 2023.