Benefits of Peer Groups

The London wealth peer group:

#Better terms
The banking crisis led to discussions and tips of fellow Peers members. One result for me personaly is that, as a result, I have changed banks onshore and offshore for better rates on cash.  The combined buying power of Peers members has led to discount offers from funds and preferential rates from banks. As soon as the economy stabilizes these offers can be combined to buy funds at discounts and to leverage them at prefential bank rates.
 
#Expert advice
Although based in London, Peers is not uniquely UK centric. Nevertheless it was extremely useful to have experts volunteering to be available on very short notice when Gordon Brown introduced tax changes on March 12 to become effective the following April the 5th.  Peers had arranged to have a tax consultant available on the 13th. Peers members have their own tax consultants, but whatever wealth they have, they cannot all manage to be first in line for advice.
 
In October we will present our first Insiders Guide to Wealth Management Seminar. Organized by and for HNWIs (the buy side), delivered by Scorpio Partnership.  Discussions with Scorpio about our needs already led to some eye openers. Used to seminars organized by the sell side I had not fully realized how to use individual and collective buying power to best advantage.  My discussions with banks, asset managers and the like will never be the same.
 

An expat retiree group in the Phlippines in 06/07:

#Strength in numbers
A survey amongst members of the peer group in the Philippines showed that many were uncertain about their civil rights, immigration status, and property rights. We organised a panel of lawyers to educate us on our legal rights. We soon learnt how to interpret notices, unreasonable demands and attempts to fine foreigners. A meeting with the Immigration Office together with a team of immigration lawyers was set up. Things improved dramatically within weeks. We finally asked a lawyer to set up a template for real estate transactions that would give us the rights and control that were missing in the usual contracts. Hence, problem solved. In the process a hundred isolated foreigners forged friendships and helped each other with the myriad of questions, that beset immigrants living in a foreign culture.

Wealth peer group in Belgium in the 90s:

#Saving costs
In the Belgian peer group we used to compare some of the advice different members received from their tax consultants. It became evident that there was little that was  "bespoke" about the advice given by most consultants. Clients of the same firm received the same advice. The essential content of reports could be compared word for word. It led to a sharp reduction in fees.
 
#Free to choose better alternatives
Advice from different firms on the same subjects tended to be the same. The 10% differentiation came down to different solutions for the same problem. It was liberating to see that what one firm considered absolutely necessary was not even mentioned by another. It helped liberate us from the dogmas our consultants imposed on us. It left us free to choose alternatives that suited us better.
 
#Profitable ideas
Investing was a regular theme in the Belgian peer group. Over the course of 10 years 80% of my investments were inspired one way or another by input from this peer group.
 
#Social Integration
Many of us came to Belgium with the idea of fully integrating into the Belgian social life. It was tough going. The experience was shared. However we found some Belgian social and cultural circles that did welcome foreigners. We also discovered many common interests shared by members. As a result we set up a men's golf group, a ladies tennis club and an annual sailing excursion. It added considerably to our quality of life in Begium.

Peer group in business in the US in the 80s:

#Trend spotting - ahead of the curve
As a member of the American Association of Outplacement Consulting Firms my fellow company owners operating in the same young, fast growing industry, my peers, were the most informative business source I would ever have. Many of their company growing pains, observations on industry developments and personal experiences mirrored my own. After 15 years of growth there was talk of consolidation. It influenced my decision to sell. The trends brought to my attention by my peers in the US helped me make one of the most important business decisions of my life. As it turned out I was just ahead of the European business curve.