I help British expats and globally mobile families build, protect, and pass on wealth. Not by picking funds, but by doing the things around them that actually change outcomes.
If you are a British expat, these questions probably get swept aside in the day-to-day.
Is your wealth actually structured for your life?Or is it just sitting in products that made sense years ago, in a country you no longer live in?
Do you know how much is "enough"?Most people have never had someone sit down and show them the actual number they need. I can do that.
Will the people you love always be financially okay?If something happened to you tomorrow, would your family know what to do, and would there be enough?
AI can model a portfolio. It cannot negotiate the best terms across products, restructure your affairs before you move country, or sit with you during a market crash and say "we are not selling."
Structures that get wealth to the next generation earlier, not after a funeral.
Learn moreNever sell an asset when borrowing against it is the smarter move.
Learn moreWhen you move country, everything needs to move with you.
Learn moreEvidence-based investing with structured drawdown to keep as much as possible.
Learn moreI sit at the centre so nothing falls through the cracks between your advisers.
Learn morePrivate equity, preferential lending, specialist advisers. My network is part of your fee.
Learn moreNo obligation. We talk about where you are and whether I can genuinely help.
Not just numbers. What does the life you want actually look like, and how much does it cost?
I identify the gaps and the opportunities. A plan that goes beyond a document.
I manage the moving parts: the structures, the professionals, the lenders, the paperwork.
Your situation changes. So does my advice. Annual reviews and access whenever you need it.
A conversation about where you are financially and whether I can help. If we are a good fit, we will take it from there.
Each area below represents a place where a good adviser makes a material difference to your financial life. These are not products. They are outcomes.
Most wealth transfers happen after a funeral. That is not a plan. It is a default. The difference between giving someone money at 30 versus 60 is the difference between changing their life and giving them a windfall they were already fine without.
I help families build the structures, have the conversations, and put the legal and financial arrangements in place to move wealth intentionally, not accidentally.
Families with meaningful assets who want to be intentional about how and when wealth passes between generations, not just what happens by default.
Most people think of a mortgage as their only form of strategic borrowing. In reality, a well-structured portfolio gives you access to one of the most powerful tools in wealth management: a Lombard facility.
A Lombard loan or portfolio-backed credit facility lets you borrow against your investments without selling them. Used well, this preserves your compounding portfolio while freeing capital for property, business, or large expenditures. The difference in long-term outcomes versus selling assets can be substantial.
Clients with investment portfolios of $1m or more who want to access liquidity or leverage without triggering capital gains, losing exposure, or disrupting long-term plans.
Moving between countries is not just a lifestyle change. It triggers a cascade of financial decisions that, if handled incorrectly, can cost you significantly in tax, lost pension benefits, or structuring mistakes that take years to unwind.
I specialise in British expats navigating the intersection of UK tax law, Gulf income, offshore investment structures, and eventual repatriation. This is not theoretical knowledge. I have lived and advised across multiple jurisdictions for over a decade.
British nationals living abroad who are considering moving, have recently moved, or plan to return to the UK and need their entire financial picture to reflect where they are going, not just where they have been.
Most investment advice focuses on return. I focus on outcome. There is a difference. The question is not "how do I get the best return?" It is "how do I build enough, keep enough, and pass on enough?"
I use cashflow modelling to show you exactly where you are relative to where you want to be. That number is often more reassuring, or more motivating, than people expect.
Expats who are accumulating wealth and want to know they are doing so efficiently, as well as those approaching or in retirement who need a clear drawdown strategy.
A solicitor sees your will. An accountant sees your UK tax. A banker sees your mortgage. An insurer sees your policy. None of them sees the whole picture. That gap is where expensive mistakes happen.
I sit at the centre of your professional network, ensuring that every decision is made with full awareness of how it affects everything else. When you sell a property, I am speaking to your accountant before exchange. When you move country, I am briefing your solicitor on the pension implications before you land.
Clients whose financial lives span multiple countries and professional relationships, and who need someone to ensure those pieces are working together rather than independently.
Most financial products are available to anyone. The best ones are not. Preferential Lombard rates, institutional-grade custody, private equity co-investment opportunities, and specialist cross-border tax advisers are not things you find on a comparison website.
My network has been built over a decade of working in DIFC and advising clients across multiple jurisdictions. It is part of what you are paying for.
Clients with significant assets who want access to the professional and investment infrastructure that most individuals cannot reach independently.
Any of these sound relevant to your situation?
I am a Chartered Financial Planner from Glasgow. I have spent my life living and working across Malaysia, Egypt, and the UAE. I understand the expat experience not as a concept but as a daily reality.
I know what it feels like to have a UK pension you are not sure what to do with, income in dirhams, a property decision looming, and no single person who can see all of it at once. That is the gap I fill.
The investment part of financial planning has been straightforward for decades. A globally diversified, low-cost, evidence-based portfolio will outperform most active management over time. That is not a secret.
What is not straightforward is everything around it: the tax structure that saves you six figures over a decade, the Lombard facility that lets you buy the property without selling the portfolio, the conversation with your children about wealth before it becomes a source of conflict, the coordination between five professionals in three countries that ensures nothing falls through the cracks.
That is where I earn my fee. And that is what I focus on.
I charge fees, not commissions. I am independent in practice, even within a firm, because I believe an adviser who earns more when you buy a particular product has a conflict of interest that is impossible to fully eliminate.
I also believe in being direct. I will tell you if your current arrangements are expensive and poor value. I will tell you if I cannot help you. And I will tell you if a competitor could serve you better in a specific area. That directness is not common in this industry, which is part of why it matters.
I am based at GSB Capital in the DIFC, one of the most internationally recognised financial centres in the world. I hold the Chartered Financial Planner designation from the Chartered Insurance Institute, the highest level of qualification in UK financial planning.
I travel regularly to meet clients in the UK, Europe, and Asia. If you are not in Dubai, that is not a barrier.
A conversation about where you are financially and whether I can help. If we are a good fit, we will take it from there.
You fill in the form. I reply within 24 hours with a link to book a call at a time that suits you. We will have an honest conversation. If I think I can help, I will explain exactly how. If I cannot, I will tell you that too.
craig.ritchie@gsbglobal.com LinkedIn DIFC, Dubai. Visiting UK, Europe and Asia regularly."I want to be the number on the fridge. The second person your partner would call in the event of a disaster. I don't think there's a bigger compliment than that."