Q. Peers is so far a not-for-profit group. Are you planning to turn commercial and charge fees for “Premium membership” or some other reason in the future?
A. Peers is and stays not-for-profit. There is no commercial game plan.
Q. I assume you have expenses, who pays for them?
A. Peers operates on a low cost basis, but some expenses are unavoidable. We always have a glut of potential speakers from commercial service providers. We reduce those numbers by selecting on topics, novelty and charge a sponsorship fee. Members sometimes share the catering costs of meetings they attend.
Q. Does Peers sell my membership data to other organisations?
A. It is firm policy not to release individual membership details to anyone.
Q. Why would I want to talk about my money?
A. You will never be asked to reveal anything about your personal circumstances and amounts are rarely relevant in discussions. We encourage you from time to time to share your views, knowledge, questions and experiences around wealth management. If you feel to are too new to wealth management to contribute in this way you will anyway be contributing by adding buying power to our network.
Q. Do you endorse or recommend service providers?
A. Peers attempts to secure speakers and providers who have something of interest to say, but Peers does not endorse or recommend providers. It is up to individual members to do their own proper due diligence on all service providers and all investments.
Q. Are all Peers members sophisticated investors?
A. No. In fact Peers is most valuable for those who have recently had a liquidity event and do not want to depend solely on advisers and wealth management service providers who all have their limitations and often their own conflicting interests. That being said: we do have Peers members who are ex-bankers up to the level of Head of a Central Bank, lawyers, economists, a former Prime Minister, retired fund managers, etc. They have worlds of knowledge and experience but nevertheless find it useful to have a network of fellow wealth owners to compare notes with. The majority of members are entrepreneurs who have sold their companies, but we also have members with "old" inherited wealth and members who have earned wealth in successful careers or divorced wealth. PEERS meetings do not have a competitive edge. We seek to promote an atmosphere of informality and co-operation, not of competition or one-up-man-ship.
Q. Is there a dress code?
A. No, but if you want to play it safe, business attire is recommended.
