Alan Howard, founder of leading hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management, has joined the expat ranks.
Recent reports say Howard, who is swapping London for Geneva, is among a number of financial luminaries to have left the UK. And there are fears many more will follow, driven by concerns about rising tax rates, a less attractive business environment, and quality of life issues.
Certainly Geneva has its attractions. Low tax is an obvious one, especially for those wealthy City types. For example, alternative investment managers (i.e. those at hedge and private equity funds) can obtain a special tax status that enables them to discount chunks of their taxable income. Indeed, Switzerland as a whole offers many tax advantages.
Then there are the lifestyle benefits – the proximity of world-class ski resorts, sailing on the country’s many lakes, the beautiful scenery, its excellent environmental record, high quality health and education systems, etc, etc.
And that is backed up by Mercer’s 2010 Quality of Living survey, which put Geneva third in its global rankings, one place behind Zurich[1].
The flipside is that Geneva also ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world, coming in fifth in Mercer’s recently released Cost of Living survey[2].
With a reported fortune of £875 million that won’t faze Alan Howard. Still, it might give the rest of us pause for thought.
[1] Mercer 2010 Quality of Living survey, 26 May 2010 http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving
[2] Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living survey 2010 – City rankings, 29 June 2010, http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#City_rankings
Recent Comments