Ex-Tory Treasurer Fink Backs Wealth Venture

The former Conservative Party treasurer whose comments about tax avoidance sparked a pre-election row is to back a new wealth management venture being assembled by one of the City's most prominent figures.

Sky News has learnt that Lord Fink, who built his fortune from a successful career running hedge fund managers, has agreed to invest in and advise a business being set up by Nathalie Dauriac-Stoebe.

Plans for the venture are at an early stage, although Ms Dauriac-Stoebe is understood to have lined up a quartet of big-name backers.

The new wealth firm has yet to be formally named, although one source suggested that it may adopt the name Hay Hill when it is launched in the coming months.

Lord Fink's backing for Ms Dauriac-Stoebe comes several months after Ed Miliband, the then Labour leader, accused David Cameron of surrounding himself with "dodgy donors" after Mr Fink had said that "everyone does tax avoidance at some level".

Senior (Other OTC: SNIRF - news) figures in the City were outraged by Mr Miliband's reference to Lord Fink, who insisted that he had eschewed more aggressive tax avoidance measures that would have saved him and his family vast sums of money.

Lord Fink has donated substantial sums to a number of charities and has worked for a range of philanthropic causes after amassing a big fortune from roles, including running Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) , the quoted hedge fund.

The parameters of Ms Dauriac-Stoebe's new venture were unclear on Wednesday, although it is thought to be likely to focus on managing the wealth of high net-worth clients.

A former partner at Coutts, she founded Signia Wealth in 2010, building it into a firm managing more than £2bn of clients' assets.

The firm counted John Caudwell, the Phones 4U founder, and Jon Moulton, the veteran investor, among its backers.

However, Ms Dauriac-Stoebe left Signia abruptly just before Christmas in circumstances which are now understood to be the subject of legal proceedings.

Sources said at the time that there had been tensions between Ms Dauriac-Stoebe and senior colleagues, despite the success of Signia.

Ms Dauriac-Stoebe is often labelled one of the rising stars of the City and named in lists of the financial sector's leading women executives.

Her plans to launch another firm come amid a shake-up in the regulation of the wealth management sector following the implementation of a framework called the Retail Distribution Review, which is designed to improve advice and transparency around client fees.

Meanwhile, the private banking arms of lenders such as Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) , which owns Coutts, have been experiencing a significant period of upheaval amid broader restructuring of their parent companies.

Signia is chaired by Paul Lester, an industrialist whose other roles include chairing the John Laing Infrastructure Fund.

A spokesman for Ms Dauriac-Stoebe declined to comment, while Lord Fink could not be reached for comment.