Paul Backhouse

Spear’s Review

Paul Backhouse, founder and director at Cogent in Guernsey, manages the wealth of a select group of international clients, specialising in portfolios that centre on property investment but offering services across a range of sectors.

‘Our expertise is in the area of real estate,’ he tells Spear’s. ‘Sometimes that generates an income and we might invest that in marketable securities and for that we will turn to a professional investment manager.’ 

Since the 1980s he has been advising and working closely with HNWs and their advisers from across the world and ‘has spent long periods in international finance centres’, from the Bahamas to Bermuda, Jersey and finally Guernsey. Today, the firm has developed into a leading financial services business which is proud of its reputation for technical capability and the quality of its client service.

Backhouse established Cogent on the back of a joint venture he negotiated with Fortis Group (now MeesPierson). This gave the firm an interest in Lighthouse Capital Insurance, which is an international insurer based in the Cayman Islands and now independent.