Few advisors bring the combination of lived experience and technical expertise that Andrew Wood offers to returning expatriates and high-net-worth individuals navigating the complexities of UK financial planning. Having spent over 38 years as a career expatriate himself — the majority managing international businesses across Australasia and Southeast Asia — Andrew understands the unique challenges of repatriation not just as a practitioner, but as someone who has lived them.

Andrew began his professional career in senior management, overseeing the commercial operations of a number of international businesses across two continents over a period of 20 years. In 2004, he made the move into financial services, bringing with him a level of corporate discipline, strategic thinking, and client awareness that set him apart from the outset. He has since accumulated over 25 years of expertise in tax planning, wealth management, estate planning, and retirement solutions — becoming a widely respected authority among clients, colleagues, and industry peers alike.

Now based in the UK, Andrew’s focus at Soteria Trusts is firmly on the growing population of returning expatriates and internationally mobile individuals who are re-establishing their UK lives and need to ensure their financial affairs are structured correctly from day one. This is a uniquely complex transition. Returning expats often arrive with offshore pension arrangements, foreign-held assets, international trust structures, and UK property interests that require careful and coordinated planning to align with UK tax rules — particularly around inheritance tax, income tax on remittance, and estate succession.

Andrew’s three core areas of specialism at Soteria Trusts are UK inheritance tax mitigation, retirement planning for returning expats, and trust and succession planning for high-net-worth families. He also works closely with property investors seeking to structure their portfolios in a more tax-efficient way, and with UK business owners exploring expansion into Asian markets — an area where his decades of hands-on experience in the region gives him a perspective no textbook can replicate.

Andrew’s approach is built on complete honesty, absolute confidentiality, and advice that is always tailored to the individual. If you are returning to the UK after years abroad, or looking to protect and pass on your wealth in the most tax-efficient way possible, Andrew is ideally placed to help you plan your next chapter with confidence.