Oak is proud to announce Mark has been awarded the WealthBriefing lifetime achievement award, 2022.

Headquartered in Guernsey, Oak Group is a private client, corporate services, and fund administration business with offices in Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and Luxembourg.

Mark founded Oak in 1999, with the aim to create a business with a family ethos, building and mentoring his team to provide high quality client service. Mark’s people-first approach forms the DNA of Oak’s culture, putting people at the centre of everything we do.

The growth and success of the business have been built on his passion and ability not only to provide exceptional service to private clients around the world, but also in his ability to engage with and encourage others.

Our people provide the strength and depth of expertise needed to deliver prompt and considered services to our clients, and our purpose of People – Planet – Value is at the core of everything we do, be it our relationships with our stakeholders, to how we undertake the management of wealth. It inspires our approach and influences our clients for a better, braver, and more transparent service.

Mark worked incredibly hard to become the first member of his family to go to university. He subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant. After establishing a liquidation company in Johannesburg in 1989, he moved to the Channel Islands in 1997 and founded Oak in 1999 with a loan of £10,000 from a family member.

Mark says “The Private Wealth industry is an exciting industry and I enjoy the people it involves. I surround myself with the best people, and I am honoured to work with Oak’s dedicated employees, some of whom have worked with me for ten or twenty years.”

Mark has created personal relationships with many clients from around the world which has meant some degree of sacrifice on Mark’s part in terms of the time he was able to spend with his young family but was key to the success that Oak has become today.

Mark is heavily involved in various charities and groups outside of Oak, including Male Uprising Guernsey (MUG), the establishment of I61 in Mauritius, the Guernsey Protea Society (GPS) and he is serving his second term as EMEA representative of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). As a result of Oak’s success, he is pleased to be able to contribute and give back to society in a meaningful way.

Mark is proud to have won the WealthBriefing Lifetime Achievement Award and is grateful to be recognised for the hard work he has devoted to Oak, his clients and the wider population linked to his charitable endeavours. He can reflect on previous decades and be proud of where Oak is today with the wonderful staff, opportunity for the future and a business he is happy to be part of.

Mark added: “If you work hard, set your mind to getting things done anything is achievable. I hope this award will inspire others and encourage creativity and entrepreneurship”