With the 2026 STEP Private Client Awards approaching, we take a closer look at the independent judging process behind the awards and what being shortlisted for Boutique Firm of the Year (Non-Legal) means to Acquarius.
August 25, 2026
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Last month, we shared the news that Acquarius had been shortlisted for Boutique Firm of the Year (Non-Legal) at the 2026 STEP Private Client Awards.
With the awards ceremony approaching, we wanted to look more closely at what sits behind that recognition and why being named among this year’s finalists means so much to our team.
STEP is the global professional association for practitioners specialising in trusts, inheritance and estate planning. Its community brings together more than 23,000 members across 96 countries, including trustees, lawyers, accountants, tax advisers, financial advisers and other private client specialists.
The annual STEP Private Client Awards recognise excellence across this international profession, bringing together firms and practitioners operating at the highest levels of private wealth and fiduciary services.
For an independent Gibraltar firm such as Acquarius, being shortlisted alongside businesses from across this global community is a significant achievement.
Importantly, the shortlist is determined through an independent judging process.
Entries are considered objectively by STEP’s Presiding Judges, a hand-picked group of experienced practitioners and professionals from across the industry. Each submission is scored against the published criteria for its category before the judges review the finalists collectively and meet to reach their final decisions.
STEP also has safeguards to protect the impartiality of the process. Where a judge has a conflicting interest in, or employment connection with, an entrant within a particular category, they are required to declare that interest and withdraw from judging it.
This combination of independent assessment, professional experience and international competition gives the Private Client Awards their standing within the profession.
Our submission for Boutique Firm of the Year (Non-Legal) provided an opportunity to demonstrate the approach that has shaped Acquarius for more than 25 years.
As an independent, owner-managed Gibraltar fiduciary, we believe technical expertise must be matched by judgement, accountability and consistently high standards of client service.
We work closely with professional advisers and intermediaries across jurisdictions, providing the Gibraltar component of international private client, fiduciary and corporate structures while complementing the expertise that already surrounds the client.
Many of those professional and client relationships extend over decades. Being recognised by STEP is therefore particularly meaningful because the judging process considers the qualities that underpin our business and the standards expected across the international private client profession.
Our place on the shortlist also highlights the depth of private client expertise in Gibraltar.
We are joined among this year’s finalists by Adrian Pilcher TEP, Chair of STEP Gibraltar and Partner at ISOLAS, who has been shortlisted for Trusted Advisor of the Year.
Two Gibraltar nominations across the 2026 awards provide welcome international recognition for a jurisdiction with a long-established community of fiduciaries, lawyers, accountants and other private client professionals.
The winners of the 2026 STEP Private Client Awards will be announced in London on 17 September.
Naturally, we would be delighted to return to Gibraltar with the award. But reaching the final stage of an independent international judging process is already something our team is extremely proud of.
It recognises the people behind Acquarius, the professional standards we work hard to maintain, and the long-term confidence clients and advisers around the world place in us.
We look forward to representing Acquarius and Gibraltar in London next month.
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