Sanlam buys stake in Summit Trust Geneva

Summit Trust International SA, a leading international trust group based in Geneva with subsidiaries in England, New Zealand and Cayman Islands, has sold a 65% interest in the company to Sanlam, the South African insurance group.

Summit Trust was originally incorporated in September 1999 as Close Trustees (Switzerland) SA when it was formed as a joint venture company between Close Brothers Group plc and the Geneva management team. The company changed its name to Summit Trust International when management bought out the remaining minority interest from Close Brothers Group earlier this year.

Sanlam Limited is a leading financial services group in South Africa listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with a market capital of €6 billion. In their over 90 years of existence Sanlam has shown themselves to be an innovator and leader in many aspects of financial services in South Africa. Over the last couple of years the group has also set up operations in Africa, Europe, India, Australia and the USA. Summit Trust International will become part of Sanlam Private Investments, the wealth management and private client business within the Sanlam Group, which currently operates in South Africa, the UK and Australia.

Daniël Kriel, CEO of SPI, says Summit was identified as an appropriate acquisition after an extensive search for the right partner to offer SPI clients offshore fiduciary services. “Summit Trust is an exceptional, owner-managed business with a reputation for excellence and a solid client base. Effective 1 November, this acquisition provides a critical building block in our total wealth management offering, a shortcoming until now.”

Kriel says he is excited about the increased opportunities Summit opens up for SPI’s clients. “The fiduciary and tax needs of high net worth individuals and their families are increasingly complex; we are confident the additional resources this business brings in terms of offshore capability will be of enormous relevance and advantage to our clients. Our expanded global wealth management proposition will serve our South African client base, and SPI clients in the UK and Australia.”

Daniel Martineau, Executive Chairman of Summit Trust International Group says he believes this to be a very exciting opportunity that has come at the right time for them and their international client base. “The management team who will retain a 35% stake in the business, is committed to the business in the longer term and will be looking for opportunities to sensibly expand our services and footprint into other jurisdictions. We are also looking forward to offering our well established services to SPI’s client base.”