AWARDS ENTRY
Q. Are there any tips for putting the submission together?
A. Yes, the Chair of the Presiding Judges Stella Mitchell-Voisin has some useful tips for entrants on how to build a strong submission. Details can be found You can watch her short video here.
Key points:
- Answer the question/criteria posed.
- Make sure the achievements referred to are from the within the timeframe stated in the criteria.
- Avoid making unsubstantiated claims: where making statements about the accomplishments or culture of the team, firm or individual, include evidence to demonstrate your points.
- Make sure you stand out: think about what you do differently or better than others.
- Keep to the wordcount: you have a strict wordcount that you cannot exceed. Each criteria is weighted equally by the Judges, so make sure you give equal consideration to each when you answer.
Q. Can non-members of STEP enter the Awards?
A. Yes, the Awards are open for both members of STEP and non-members. The judging process is robust and it makes no difference to your entry whether you are a member of STEP or not. The only Award not open to non-members is the Trusted Advisor of the Year Award; this is for full STEP members only.
Q. What countries do you accept entries from?
A. All categories are open internationally. The Presiding Judges Panel includes experts from Australia, Barbados, Canada, China, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Italy, Jersey, New Zealand, Panama, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
Q. Can URL links be included in the submission?
A. No, as of 2021, URL links are not permitted within the submission.
Q. Is there a fee to enter the STEP Private Client Awards?
A. An entry fee of GBP 150 + VAT per entry will apply, this will be charged via credit card on the Evessio platform. We are unable to accept any other method of payment.
Q. How do I enter the Awards?
A. Entrants will need to upload their submission via our Awards software provider, Evessio. Details can be found here.
Q. What is the word count?
A. The maximum word count is 1,200 words per entry. This is set at 400 words per criteria for categories with three questions and 600 words per criteria for categories with two questions.
Q. Can a firm enter the Awards if one of the Presiding Judges is a representative from the same firm?
A. Yes. Those firms that employ judges of the Awards may enter any category of the Awards; however, the judge involved will be excused from judging, or opining on, that category. Judges are not able to be nominated for individual Awards (i.e. Trusted Advisor, Rising Star, Lifetime Achievement, Outstanding Contribution).
Q. Can a firm win an Awards category two consecutive years running?
A. A firm/individual is eligible to win up to three consecutive years in a particular category; in the fourth year, those winners will be excluded from entering and will be eligible to enter again in the fifth year. This rule does not apply for subsidiary/affiliate firms or teams based in different jurisdictions.
Q. Can you enter the Awards as two joint-venture companies with different trading names?
A. The Private Client Awards do not currently accept entries from joint-venture companies with different trading names.
Q. Can a firm put forward multiple entries for the same category?
A. For larger organisations, entries may be made, and indeed are welcomed, from one particular office or region of a larger team. Multiple entries by difference offices, teams or regions within the same firm for the same category are not precluded. However, such entries will need to clearly explain why multiple entries are appropriate: experience shows that multiple entries from the same firm can count against that firm.
Q. What time on Friday 11 April do the Awards entries close?
A. The Awards entries close on midnight in the country in which the entrant is entering.
CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA
Q. What is the definition of 'Legal' and 'Non-legal' for the Boutique Firm of the Year (legal) and (non-legal) and Rising Star (legal) and (non-legal) categories?
A. Legal:
This refers to individuals, teams or firms whose primary focus is the provision of legal services within the private client sector. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Private client lawyers and solicitors
- Barristers and advocates
- Legal teams specialising in areas such as estate planning, succession, tax advisory (from a legal perspective), contentious trusts and probate, family law and wealth structuring
- Boutique legal firms or departments dedicated to private client legal work.
A. Non-legal:
This refers to individuals, teams or firms providing non-legal services within the private client sector. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Accountancy and tax advisory (not delivered as a legal service)
- Wealth management, investment advisory and financial planning
- Trust administration and fiduciary services
- Family office advisory, including governance, lifestyle, or succession planning
- Philanthropy advisory and strategic charitable planning
- Other professionals such as digital assets advisors, risk management specialists, or consultants supporting private clients.
Q. Some of the criteria for the awards refer to ethical issues, can you expand on what is expected here and how this could be approached?
A. Where there is a reference to ethics or ethical practice, you can comment on what that means to the firm and how it is demonstrated at as many levels as it applies e.g. client, trust, practitioner, team, firm and wider community locally, nationally and internationally.
If your firm has any potential conflicts of interest that the judges might pick up on, such as providing more than one of acting as a paid asset manager, acting as a paid advisor and acting as a paid fiduciary, you can make reference to this in your answer and describe how you monitor and manage those conflicts.
Q. We are looking to enter the Investment Team of the Year category, should the performance data be gross or net of fees?
A: Returns must be provided net of fees including third-party fund fees, transaction and custody costs, thus a fair approximation of the results experienced by a client. Some firms use a tiered fee scale, so lower % for higher investment amounts; in this case a sensible fee level should be applied that is comparable to the average/mean client portfolio in the selected strategy.
Q. We are looking to enter the Investment Team of the Year category. For the Quantitative Section it says your answers should refer to the past year, please can you confirm the dates.
A. The quantitative data should reflect from (1 April 2022 - 31 March 2025). The 1,200 word submission should reflect from 1 April 2024–31 March 2025.
Q. We are looking to enter the Investment Team of the Year Category, our firm is a provider of investments that qualify for Business Property Relief (UK). Can you confirm if the Award is aimed towards financial advisors or investment managers?
A. The Investment Team of the Year Award category is intended for investment managers rather than financial advisors. Specialist investment solutions, which largely seek to address a taxation aspect, are not strictly what is intended for this category.
Q. The Investment Team of the Year category states that details of a ‘medium risk’ strategy should be provided, but what does ‘medium risk’ mean in the context of the STEP Awards?
A. Please follow the methodology of a medium risk portfolio as used by the MPI Indices. This method focuses on maximum drawdown and volatility expectations of a portfolio over a full market cycle under ‘normal’ market conditions. By way of guidance, portfolios in the medium risk category typically experienced volatility of between 6% and 10% over the submission period.
Q. We already contribute our performance data to MPI; can you just use the same data?
A. Yes we can, please tell us the strategy/model you wish to submit and we will ask MPI to use that data for your submission.
Q. Please can you define what STEP classifies as a fee earner in order for us to better understand which category we qualify for?
A. A fee earner refers to a practitioner who takes on cases and charges a fee to the client for such work. A solicitor is a fee earner, a barrister is a fee earner, a legal executive is a fee earner. A legal secretary is not, on the face of it, a fee earner, neither is a Legal Cashier, a Practice Manager, a PA or a receptionist.
Q. Do you have more information or a steer on what is expected of applications for the Vulnerable Client Advisor of the Year Award?
A: For all categories, the full guidelines and criteria to follow can be found at categories. STEP are unable to offer any further guidance on an individual category basis, however we recommend using the three criteria as a header for each section of the submission and following these closely. We also recommend concentrating on what the advisor/team has achieved over the past year that makes them stand out as the best in the field.
Q. What is the definition of a ‘vulnerable client’?
A: A ‘vulnerable client’ for the purpose of the Awards is defined as:
- a client who has capacity to make decisions and provide you with instructions, but by reason of a range of mental and/or physical disabilities requires enhanced support to engage your services and give you instructions;
- a client who lacks mental capacity to make decisions and provide you with instructions, and for whom a range of statutory and other safeguards must be followed; and
- a client who is vulnerable to undue influence or duress and who may or may not have mental capacity to make decisions and provide you with instructions. Please click here to view the full criteria.
Q. Can a firm nominate more than one individual for the Rising Star Award (legal) (non-legal)?
A. Yes a firm can nominate more than one practitioner from the same firm. You would need to put forward an individual submission for each nominee.
Q. We are looking at entering the Private Client Legal Team of the Year Category, on criteria 1 it asks to highlight notable cases or achievements. Do the cases have to have started within the time period allocated of 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 or can they have started prior to this time and are completed within this time period?
A. A substantive part of the case you refer to must have taken place in the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The judges will be alive to cases where only a small part of the case is during that period (for instance some small post-completion wrapping up) and may mark down accordingly. Entrants should be wary of using the same case that they have used in previous years’ submissions as we want the awards to be ‘of the year’, so receiving credit more than once for the same case is not in the spirit of what we are judging. If entrants do wish to use the same case twice, then there should be some novel development in it (e.g. a subsequent court appeal that has reversed a previous judgment) otherwise the submission may be marked down by the Judges.
AWARDS CEREMONY
Q. How and when will the Awards Ceremony take place?
A. The awards ceremony will be held in- person on Thursday 18 September 2025 at London Hilton on Park Lane. We look forward to celebrating with you. Details on how to register for the ceremony will be available from the end of May.
