Sam Instone is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AES International, which he established in 2004 with a mission to transform financial services in the Middle East through fiduciary, evidence-based financial life management.
After leaving the British Army’s Household Cavalry Regiment where he served as an Airborne Officer in operational and ceremonial squadrons, Sam recognised that traditional financial firms in the region prioritised product sales over client outcomes.
He built AES International to operate differently as the Middle East’s only CEFEX certified investment fiduciary and first Chartered, fee-based financial planning firm across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
A graduate in War Studies from King’s College London and The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Sam has aligned AES’s organisational structure to military principles of values, mission and operations—an approach that led The Economist to describe him as the “Field Marshal of Finance”.
Under his leadership, AES became the UK’s fastest-growing financial services business between 2008 and 2012 and winner of the Sunday Times/Virgin Fast Track United Kingdom’s Best Management Team Award.
Today, Sam counsels some of the world’s most globally mobile and accomplished families, bringing over 20 years of experience in delivering financial life management to international executives and families worldwide.