David Frier

Capital Trustees Limited, the owner-managed Gibraltar trust company led by managing director David Frier, has been named Trust & Estate Service Provider of the Year in Gibraltar at the 2024 Corporate INTL Global Awards. The recognition reflects the firm's standing as an independent, professionally run provider of trustee and fiduciary services to affluent individuals and corporations, and its reputation for delivering considered, director-led administration in one of Europe's established finance centres.

Capital Trustees is an owner-managed firm based in Gibraltar, offering a wide range of trustee and fiduciary administration services to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. A defining characteristic of the firm is its independence: it operates separately from financial institutions and law firms, a structure it regards as central to the flexibility it can offer in client relationships. Because it is not tied to any particular bank, investment manager or professional adviser, the firm is able to work alongside a client's chosen external professionals, including tax advisers, banks, lawyers and investment managers, and to support what it describes as the optimal choice of investment strategies.

The firm's engagements are director-led, an approach intended to provide effective oversight and sound decision-making at the most senior level. For clients establishing and administering trusts and fiduciary structures, this means their affairs are handled by experienced principals rather than being passed down through layers of administration. Capital Trustees places particular emphasis on understanding each client's needs and on maintaining transparent fee structures, qualities that matter a great deal to those entrusting the stewardship of family and corporate wealth to a fiduciary over the long term.

Under the leadership of David Frier as managing director, the firm combines the personal service of an owner-managed practice with the disciplines expected of a regulated professional trustee. Capital Trustees is authorised as a Professional Trustee by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and complies with the relevant international standards set by the European Union, the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD. This regulatory grounding provides clients with the assurance that their structures are administered to recognised standards of governance and transparency, an increasingly important consideration in cross-border wealth planning.

Gibraltar's position as a well-regulated jurisdiction with a long history in financial and fiduciary services makes it a natural home for a firm of this character, and Capital Trustees has positioned itself to serve internationally minded clients who value independence, oversight and clarity. The Corporate INTL Global Awards recognise providers that demonstrate specialist excellence and a clear command of their field within a jurisdiction, and in naming Capital Trustees Limited Trust & Estate Service Provider of the Year in Gibraltar for 2024, the awards affirm the firm's reputation for professional, independent and client-focused trustee and estate services.