Summit Group

Sovereign first became involved in what is now known as Summit Group in December 2020 when it backed the MBO of Aquitaine Group, a Guernsey-based private client trust and corporate services provider.

Aquitaine was established in 2008 and quickly built up a strong reputation for providing fiduciary and corporate services to ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This is a highly fragmented market, and both Aquitaine’s management team and Sovereign identified a significant opportunity to establish a leading multi-jurisdictional fiduciary business.

Expanded the Group's range of services and global footprint

Appointed a new CEO, Matt Claxton, former Global Head of Corporate and Private Client Solutions at Apex Group, to succeed founder Adrian Pickering

Recruited Andrew Fisher, former CEO of Coutts & Co and CEO of Towry Group, as Non-Executive Chair

Further strengthened the management team with the hire of a CFO, CTO and CRO

Invested in new technology to enhance Summit Group's capability to work with multi-jurisdictional clients

Supported the creation of a new corporate brand and identity

Our specialist research team continuously identifies strategic acquisition opportunities across global markets. Following our investment in Aquitaine, we quickly recognised Summit Trust International as an ideal partner to broaden the multi‐jurisdictional reach and add scale to the company, and also acquired Federal Trust to strengthen Aquitaine's Guernsey operations - both transactions completed in 2021.

Following the creation of a unified Summit Group corporate identity, the Buy & Build strategy continued with Jersey-based Garfield-Bennett joining the Group in 2023, and Dubai-headquartered Sanctuary joining in January 2024. Most recently, Summit acquired R&H Jersey in August 2025, further strengthening the Channel Islands presence and creating a scalable Jersey fund services platform.

These strategic acquisitions have hugely expanded Summit Group's global footprint to include offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia, with planned expansion into additional key jurisdictions.

We have also supported the leadership team, facilitating the appointments of a Non-Executive Chair, Group CFO, CTO, and CRO. We oversaw a comprehensive succession plan where founder CEO Adrian Pickering transitioned to a Non-Executive Director role, while Matt Claxton - former Global Head of Corporate and Private Client Solutions at Apex Group and CEO of Corporate and Private Clients at Link Asset Services and Capita - assumed the CEO position in November 2022.

Beyond leadership changes, there has also been significant investment into a new company-wide software system to further develop its ability to work with clients across the world.