Why Estate Architect
I Never Planned To Do This
After spending more than two decades helping families build wealth, I realised the greatest challenge wasn't creating it.
It was protecting it for future generations.
Ranjeet Singh BA MSc FCSI — Founder, Estate Architect
Meet Ranjeet Singh, Founder of Estate Architect
For more than 25 years, I've worked in the City of London helping individuals and families build, manage and protect their wealth.
My career has included roles with Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland, before founding and leading my own FCA-regulated wealth management firm for more than 16 years.
Over the course of my career, I've managed more than 1,000 client portfolios, working across investments, portfolio management, trading, compliance and wealth preservation.
I've appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg and the BBC, hold the CISI Level 7 Advanced Wealth Management qualification, and have published ten books, including four on investing and financial planning.
For a complete overview of my professional background and experience:
Discretion & Confidentiality
For more than 25 years, I've built my career and businesses the traditional way, through long-term relationships, personal recommendations and trust.
Estate planning involves some of the most personal aspects of a family's life, including wealth, inheritance, family relationships, succession planning and, at times, illness and bereavement.
I believe those conversations should remain private.
For that reason, I never expect clients to discuss their financial affairs publicly or disclose details they would prefer to keep private.
Where clients choose to share their experience of working with me, that is entirely their decision.
The same discretion I apply to my own business is the same discretion I apply to yours.
Your family's affairs remain exactly that — your family's affairs.
Career at a Glance
25+ Years in the City of London
Managing Director of FCA-regulated wealth management firm
Compliance Officer & MLRO
1,000+ client portfolios managed
100+ Probate cases witnessed
Founder of 'Dividend Income Plus' Strategy
Market Commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg for 10 Years
CISI Level 7 Advanced Wealth Management
Published Author of 10 books
Founder of a UK Children's Charity — 2014
MSc Business Finance - Brunel University
BA (Hons) Economics - University of Nottingham
My Role Had To Change
For years I focused on helping clients grow wealth.
Then I discovered they had a much bigger problem.
One Asset
£500,000 Portfolio
For most of my career, I focused on improving investment performance.
If I generated a 10% return on a £500,000 portfolio, I created £50,000 of additional value for my client.
A worthwhile result—but it only affected one part of their overall wealth.
The Whole Estate
£5 Million Estate
Many of my clients weren't simply investors.
They owned property, pensions, businesses and investments worth several million pounds, yet these assets were not seen as one connected estate.
That made me question whether I was focusing on the area where I could create the greatest value.
A Different Return
£200,000 Potential Tax Saving
Reducing inheritance tax exposure by £500,000 could potentially preserve £200,000 for the family at a 40% inheritance tax rate.
And unlike investing in the stock market — which can go up or down — certain estate planning outcomes can be identified before implementation.
That's when I realised there was a much bigger opportunity to create value for my clients.
That Was The Moment Everything Changed
My focus shifted from growing wealth to protecting it.
I Had Already Seen The Ending
By this point I had already seen something that I could not ignore.
Many of the people I worked with were retired investors, often later in life, and I had known some families for decades.
Over more than 25 years, it was inevitable that some clients would sadly pass away.
What made my experience different was that the relationship often did not end there.
I remained in contact with spouses and children.
I saw what happened afterwards. I saw the aftermath.
It felt like I had access to a time machine. I could see into the future and see where things ended up.
And what I saw worried me.
I watched families with estates worth millions of pounds suddenly lose enormous amounts of wealth.
What had taken a lifetime to build, and sometimes multiple generations to create, was disappearing surprisingly quickly. But the loss was not just financial.
Children fell out.
Assets had to be sold.
Families became overwhelmed.
Sometimes people made rushed decisions during already difficult periods because nobody knew where things were, what existed or what was supposed to happen next.
And this was not happening once.
It happened again and again. Dozens of times.
These were not careless people either.
They were intelligent, successful people with accountants, advisers and structures already in place.
People who, on paper, had done all the right things.
So I could not understand it.
What exactly was going wrong?
Then one day I came across a family where everything had gone almost perfectly.
Probate moved quickly, the tax bill was surprisingly low, assets did not need to be sold and the family seemed calm and organised.
I remember thinking: This is different. So I asked what they had done.
The answer surprised me.
They explained that somebody had taken responsibility for the estate as a whole.
Not an adviser. Not a solicitor. Not an accountant.
Just one person whose sole role was making sure everything worked together.
That was the moment everything clicked.
I finally understood what was missing: an Estate Architect.
The Realisation
I realised the problem was not a lack of professional advice.
Families already had solicitors, accountants and financial advisers. What they didn't have was someone responsible for bringing the entire estate together.
This level of oversight was usually reserved for the world's wealthiest families, where dedicated professionals coordinated every aspect of the estate.
That coordinated approach can create significant planning and tax efficiencies.
I simply couldn't understand why more families weren't following the same approach.
So I created Estate Architect — a coordinated approach for everyday UK families who may not be ultra-wealthy but are still exposed to substantial inheritance tax.
Over more than 25 years, I've witnessed more than 100 probate cases involving my own clients and their families.
Today, I share those first-hand lessons to help you avoid the same costly mistakes.
Estate Architect provides educational research and analysis relating to inheritance tax and estate planning concepts for UK residents. We do not provide regulated investment, tax, or legal advice and are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Where regulated advice is required, introductions may be made to authorised professionals.
© Estate Architect 2026