Nicco Bautista, JD, MPP*

Nicco is a Manila-born wealth management lawyer who is a key advisor to international family offices, charities, and business owners.

Upon completing his dual law and public policy degree at the University of British Columbia, which included an exchange to the University of Manchester, and working in national law firms in Singapore and Malaysia, Nicco summered, articled, and practiced  in the wealth management law division of a preeminent Canadian national law firm. Here, he practiced for  several years as both an estate litigator and solicitor, and particularly enjoyed serving multigenerational business owners and offshore family offices.

He then spent over 5 years at the director level of a Canadian national bank providing estate planning advice to investor clients. This experience enhanced his strong finance background within the lending landscape and provided greater insight into how to support the practices of  investment advisors, private bankers, and insurance advisors.

Nicco sits on the boards of several private equity real estate companies, not-for-profit organizations, and family businesses.

In addition to this, he advises members and boards of schools, foundations and not-for-profit organizations on compliance, planned donations and governance issues.

In a past life, Nicco considered being a professor and enjoys providing public legal education and mentorship to the next generation of lawyers.  Nicco is often asked to comment on common estate planning questions by the UBC Law Students Legal Advice Program, the People’s Law School, and retirement publications. 

One can often find him at the University of British Columbia, where he is a frequent speaker or guest lecturer at the graduate level and law school, and where he serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council. In addition to this, he advises members and boards of schools, foundations and not-for-profit organizations on compliance, planned donations and governance issues.

As an immigrant to Canada, Nicco believes in the importance of inclusion and diversity of culture and opinion.  

Together with his wife, Maria, they have established a perpetual scholarship at UBC Law to benefit Asian law students who are the first in their family to attend law school. 

Conversant in Mandarin, Hokkien, and Tagalog, while helping raise a daughter to speak Korean, Nicco helps families achieve their estate and succession planning goals in cross-cultural environments.