The Clermont Trust Group and Rock Trustees Ltd are pleased to announce that Clermont has agreed to acquire Rock’s Guernsey-based trust and corporate services business through its newly incorporated entity, Clermont Trust (Guernsey) Ltd. The acquisition is structured to ensure continuity for Rock’s management and client service team and remains subject to approval by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Completion is expected in Q2 2023.
Clermont Trust is an independent, owner-managed business, providing bespoke multi-jurisdictional structures and fiduciary services to private clients, family offices, and corporate clients from its offices in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Cyprus, and the United States. Rock is an owner-managed trust and corporate services business with a focus on high-quality personal service, operating out of Guernsey and Sark.
The merger will provide Rock’s clients with access to a wider global range of structures and services and expand Clermont Trust’s existing service and jurisdictional offering to include Guernsey, an internationally renowned financial centre with a long-established tradition of providing specialist wealth management services to sophisticated clients and their families.
Commenting on the announcement, Martin Chesler, Group CEO of Clermont Trust, highlighted the importance of cultural alignment and the value Guernsey adds to the group’s offering.
“The most important element in any successful acquisition is cultural alignment, and we have been impressed with the Rock team’s client centric, relationship focused approach which so closely aligns with Clermont’s ethos and culture. We are delighted to have the Rock team join our growing group which, notwithstanding our multiple jurisdictions, functions as a single organisation collaborating daily across our offices so that our collective clients benefit from the best of our diverse team’s skill and experience, wherever they or we may be. Guernsey has distinguished itself as a centre of fiduciary service excellence and we are confident that Clermont Guernsey will be an increasingly valuable addition to our clients and our group”, said Martin Chesler, Group CEO of Clermont Trust.
Lauren Ker, Managing Director of Rock, reflected on Rock’s client-first ethos and the opportunities this creates to extend services across key international jurisdictions.
“At Rock Trustees, we pride ourselves on the personal service we provide to our clients and this is testament to the long-standing relationships we have with them. Clermont Trust has a similar culture with its relationship-focussed approach. We are now looking forward to offering our clients cross-border services by being part of a group that has a presence in a variety of key financial jurisdictions. We are excited to be joining the Clermont Trust Group and working with our new colleagues. Their knowledge and expertise will be of great value to our clients and our team”, stated Lauren Ker, Managing Director of Rock.
Following completion, Clermont Trust Guernsey Ltd will continue to provide Rock’s clients with the same high-quality service, supported by the wider Clermont Trust Group’s international expertise.
The Clermont Trust Group is an owner-managed fiduciary services business providing bespoke wealth solutions for private clients, families, investors, institutions and entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1996, we are independent, with no commercial or institutional alliances that could constrain our advice or approach. We are strongly client-focused, aiming to deliver pragmatic, genuinely useful and cost-saving solutions. This approach has supported significant growth in recent years, driven largely by client referrals.
While many of our people are professionally qualified, we do not provide formal legal or tax advice. Instead, we draw on the expertise of our teams and trusted professional networks to provide intelligent, informed and well-considered solutions for the families we serve. Likewise, we do not offer direct investment advice or asset management services; rather, our independence allows us to work with the banks, custodians, and professional asset managers best suited to the needs and objectives of the entities we administer.
