As Chair of STEP Worldwide I look forward to welcoming a large number of my fellow members to the inaugural STEP Global Congress

This event offers an opportunity for all STEP members from all 80 jurisdictions and all 105 branches and chapters to connect, share ideas and enlarge our personal networks.

Congress will serve as a platform for the discussion and development of the thought leadership that will drive the Society forward in the years ahead. It will offer superior technical learning in an environment geared towards productive and highly valuable networking opportunities for members across jurisdictions.

International political imperatives are proving to be enormously challenging to all professionals who practice in the wealth management and estate planning sector. The Global Congress therefore aims to offer a forum for interacting with the world’s foremost advocates for our professions. They have spent recent years interfacing with the European Parliament, EU Member States, the OECD, the FATF and the UK government in order to improve the implementation of measures aimed primarily at winning tax revenues for their constituencies; which so dramatically affect the business models and careers of STEP members around the world.

STEP’s Special Interest Groups, which now form an exciting part of our member service offering, will host several sessions on their separate specialisations and stage opportunities for recruiting new members while offering existing members the chance for face-to-face encounters — some for the first time. If you are passionate about an area of trust and estate practice covered by a Special Interest Group, I strongly encourage you to use the Global Congress as a chance to find out how you can benefit professionally and play a role shaping the field.

Our long-term objective is for the Congress to be firmly established as an important forum for STEP – held biannually and offering every worldwide member an opportunity to interact and be a part of the decision-making discussions that guide and inform STEP’s direction and policy.

What will you take away from Congress? I look forward to seeing you in Miami.