The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) tonight launched its new Philanthropy Advisors Group at the BDO offices in central London.

The Philanthropy Advisors Group has been launched to build a community of professional philanthropy advisors to enhance the strategic nature of giving and social investing.

It will help establish, report on and promote the business case for philanthropy advisory services to raise the status of private client philanthropy advisory and help encourage further professionalism.

STEP has established this group, and the membership of the group is open to all professional philanthropy advisors including lawyers, accountants, consultants and wealth managers.

The group encourages best practice and, through seminars, technical papers and conferences, will train and educate existing and budding philanthropy advisors.

A further priority will be to measure changes in the growth of philanthropic advisory and measure changes in the attitudes and behaviour of high net worth individuals to philanthropy services.

Chair of the Philanthropy Advisors group, Clive Cutbill said: ‘The launch of this group is timely. The past decade has seen a significant rise in philanthropy, with more donors putting more money and effort into making the most of our giving. This has given rise to a relatively new phenomenon in the UK, and that is the Trusted Advisor who specialises in philanthropic advisory services.  Wealth structuring advisors – be they lawyers, accountants, bankers or investment managers- are ideally placed to reach and advise philanthropists.’

For more information
Contact Kim Hawkesworth at STEP on kim.hawkesworth@step.org