Matthew Fleming

Spear’s Review

Matthew Fleming aids Stonehage Fleming’s clients in developing and implementing strategies for intergenerational success. ‘Our starting point is to help families understand and articulate to each other the purpose of their wealth,’ he tells Spear’s. ‘This gives them a framework for decision-making and a reference point for measuring whether decisions are good or bad.’

Fleming joined the firm following a career in the army and as a cricketer, playing for England and captaining Kent as a right-handed batsman.

Stonehage Fleming provides clients with advice on wealth, trusts, management of art and other assets, treasury, philanthropy and more. But, as Fleming revealed in a wide-ranging interview with Spear’s, the crux of the firm’s service is its ability to offer advice on the management of families themselves.

Conversations with clients revolve ‘around purpose, around family dynamics, around engaging the next generation, around roles and responsibilities, and thinking about the future in a broader way rather than just about wealth, which is obviously important but not the be-all and end-all’. 

‘We genuinely understand first-hand, from experience, what the issues and challenges are,’ said Fleming, whose experience as a partner of his own family business has shaped his approach. He believes that ‘family disputes, lack of leadership and failure to engage the next generation are the top risks to long-term success’.

Adviser Profile

Matthew, Partner and Head of Stonehage Fleming’s Family Governance & Succession division, is responsible for helping clients develop and implement plans for passing on their legacy to subsequent generations. A former army officer, he joined the family firm in 2012 after thirteen years as a professional cricketer. He has held various positions within the business, including Managing Partner of Fleming Media and Director of Ian Fleming Publications and James Bond Enterprises. Educated at Eton, he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1985. He has also had a number of non-executive appointments, including ten years as a Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board. He was President of the MCC in 2017.