FOXCast: Recent Episodes
Family Office Exchange
The issues that come up in a family office or family enterprise are unique to each family and are rarely discussed in a public forum. In this Podcast, Family Office Exchange reveals some of these issues in discussions with Family-Office subject-matter experts, family members, and trusted advisors. The podcast gives the listener a taste of how having a FOX membership can transform the way families and their trusted advisors approach ideas like philanthropy, governance, investing, and more.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Sherri Helmond, Accounting & Financial Outsourcing Director, Equine Industry Leader at Dean Dorton. With more than 30 years of executive management experience, Sherri brings a unique blend of operational leadership, financial expertise, and industry insight to her role as Dean Dorton's Equine Industry Leader. As Equine Industry Leader, she works closely with clients to align financial strategies with the unique demands of the industry.
Sherri's areas of expertise include business planning, financial analysis, forecasting, and outsourced accounting. She is particularly skilled in implementing technology solutions, including Sage Intacct, to streamline financial processes, enhance reporting, and deliver actionable insights that support sustainable growth. Since joining Dean Dorton in 2019, Sherri has specialized in serving equine clients, leveraging her CFO-level expertise to help farm owners, trainers, and equine businesses strengthen operations, improve profitability, and plan strategically for long-term success.
Sherri and her firm, Dean Dorton, are an Advisor Member of FOX, and we are thrilled to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community.
We start with Sherri's views on where equine ownership sits in the bigger picture of an enterprise family's life and investment portfolio. She describes the different reasons and models for a family and their family office to be involved with breeding and owning horses.
There are many segments within the equine industry. Shery elaborates on how a family should evaluate and select the right segment, and how they should engage with all the industry players within their chosen segment of equine ownership.
One practical consideration for families who are passionate about owning or investing in horses is all the specialized expertise they need to be successful in this niche endeavor. Sherri offers her advice on how families and their family offices should assemble the right team of advisors with deep and relevant expertise in the equine space.
Do not miss this illuminating conversation with one of the foremost equine experts serving UHNW families and their family offices.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Edward Marshall, Founder and CEO of Presage Global, an intelligence-powered risk and business advisory firm serving C-suites and boards, family offices, and investors. Eddy is a family office insider and a leading family office researcher, advisor, and author. He is also a risk and threat management specialist, working with families to reduce their cyber, physical, financial, operational, and reputational risk profiles.
Eddy is a member of the Advisory Board and co-heads the Family Office Initiative at the UHNW Institute. He co-authored the book, The Family Office: A Comprehensive Guide for Advisers, Practitioners, and Students. Prior to founding Presage Global, Eddy held leading family office roles at Dentons, Credit Suisse, Citibank, and Boston Private.
Eddy has been in the family office industry for a while now and recently released a joint study with Nines on the state of the family office estate security. He shares his view on what's happening in the family office security space and what's changed in the past decade or so.
Eddy provides a synthesis of the overall risk situation facing most family offices, explaining why family offices at risk and what are the major risks they face. He offers his thoughts on whether most family offices are being proactive or are reacting to risks only after a major threat or failure.
Eddy talks about risk management as a cross-domain field and one practical tool he and his firm have put forth is the Ten Domains of Risk framework, which includes elaborate checklists for family offices across multiple risk areas. He describes the framework and shares how family office leaders can apply it in their everyday work.
Eddy works with many family offices and as he looks across all these different cases he has assessed in the past few years, he summarizes the top three things he believes family offices can change to improve their risk management posture and capabilities.
Enjoy this highly relevant conversation with a family office industry veteran and risk management expert serving UHNW families and their complex enterprises.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Tony McChrystal, Founder & Managing Director of Pavesen, a specialist digital reputation management firm working exclusively with high-profile individuals, family offices, and private clients. With over 15 years in online reputation management, executive privacy, and sensitive-issue consultancy, Tony is one of the UK's leading authorities on digital reputation strategy. He has worked directly with hundreds of UHNW individuals, family offices, entrepreneurs, C-suite leaders, and politicians across the UK, US, and Middle East.
Prior to founding Pavesen, Tony served as Managing Director of ReputationDefender's UK & European private client practice and subsequently as EMEA Director of Sales and Service at Gen Digital, the parent company of Norton, Avast, and LifeLock. He has been featured by the BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and other international outlets.
Tony shares his opinion on how families feel about online reputation today and describes some of the challenges and realizations faced by families and family offices on this topic over the past decade or so.
Privacy and obscurity have been the go-to approach in the past, but how Tony shines a light on how families' views and preferences have been evolving recently. He outlines best practices that are emerging among family offices regarding reputation management and even pro-active public relations.
Tony shares his views on the various channels and tools for families and their family offices to stay on top of and monitor reputation risks, manage their public image proactively, and deploy their long-term social capital strategies. He opines on how families and family offices should collaborate with or engage the services of outside experts and service providers in the field of reputation management.
Don't miss this highly illuminating conversation with an experienced practitioner specializing in the niche field of UHNW family reputation management.
Today, I'm excited to speak with Sarah Walker, Founder and Principal Designer of Nuance, a legacy estate interior design & wellness advisory firm that helps families and family offices create homes that feel deeply personal, wellness-centered, and effortless to live in. Over 20 years, she has delivered more than 50 multi-million-dollar estates and compounds, specializing in homes that feel like private retreats while remaining straightforward for staff to operate.
Born and raised in Dubai and educated in interior design, art, and construction management, Sarah combines a global design perspective with a strong technical foundation. Prior to Nuance, she led interior design across Nordstrom stores, spas, and restaurants nationwide, aligning large teams around an elevated experience and making complex environments intuitive to use. Sarah has been featured in Architectural Digest, Luxe Interiors + Design, Forbes, The Seattle Times, Homes & Gardens, and many other publications.
We kick off the conversation with Sarah's explanation of what wellbeing-centered design means. She offers her definition of the concept and describes what it takes to design and build living spaces that embody the family's values and help both individual family members and the family as a whole flourish.
Sarah describes the connection between family governance and the design of the family home and talks about instituting an "operating system for the home" and explains how that operating system can support the family across multiple generations.
Sarah offers some practical tips to families and their offices related to designing homes and personal spaces that support and advance the physical health of family members. She touches on key practical and technical aspects, such as air quality and water purity, that families need to consider and incorporate into the design of their living spaces.
Sarah also touches on the practicalities of designing a home that facilitates and promotes interpersonal connection, mental health, and personal happiness of the family members and describes how family leaders can achieve the objective of building a wellness-centric home.
Enjoy this instructive conversation with a leading player in the world of wellbeing-centered design for UHNW families.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Christopher Hill, founder of luxury philanthropic travel brands Hands Up Holidays and Impact Destinations. Christopher was working in finance in London when in 2002, he took a trip to South Africa which changed his life. He founded Hands Up Holidays in 2006 and in 2018 launched Impact Destinations, in response to demand from clients seeking transformational experiences, using their philanthropic donations to make an impact. Christopher serves his majority US-based clients from New Zealand where he lives with his family.
Christopher provides his definition of impact travel and describes the concept and purpose of luxury philanthropic vacations and experiences. He explains why families are engaging in philanthropic travel, what they are looking to activate, and why they are responding with such enthusiasm to the opportunity to enjoy worldwide destinations while also doing good and making a positive impact.
For families interested in impact tourism, Christopher outlines the different options and projects to choose from and explains how they decide which projects to pursue and how best to align these choices with their family objectives.
Christopher elaborates on whether families tend to engage in impact travel as a one-off adventure or it becomes an ongoing approach to how they vacation together. He also talks about how families cultivate a lasting engagement with and interest in philanthropic tourism among their family members, especially different generations with different preferences and styles of travel.
Enjoy this informative dialogue with a leading innovator and practitioner in the philanthropic travel industry.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Ty Allen, founder of LastingMind, an AI-powered platform that helps families preserve a loved one's voice, stories, memories, and wisdom through interactive conversation. A rising-gen member of an enterprise family himself, Ty initially built LastingMind to solve a need for his own family. LastingMind allows future generations to continue learning from and engaging with the people who matter most – creating a deeply personal digital legacy that families can return to forever.
Before founding LastingMind, Ty built AI-powered chatbot and conversational applications for startups and Fortune 500 companies, with a focus on creating natural, human-centered AI experiences. Ty earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees from MIT, where he specialized in Artificial Intelligence.
Ty is a tech entrepreneur and a G2 member of an enterprise family, and he shares his views on the importance of family knowledge and shared intellectual capital, highlighting why it is important to preserve the voice and wisdom of past generations.
Ty first set out to build LastingMind as a tool to preserve his own father's knowledge and wisdom. There are many applications and services that help families accomplish this goal, but Ty shares what he believes was missing in the marketplace for him and his family and catalogs the different unmet needs he aimed to address and what incremental value he built LantingMind to provide.
Ty offers an overview of how family can go about, from a practical standpoint, inventorying and capturing their collective knowledge and their shared intellectual capital.
Collecting and encapsulating the knowledge and voice of living or deceased family members is not always comfortable. Ty talks about how a family can create engagement with a shared knowledge collection project and how do they can overcome the inhibitions or discomfort that many family members may feel.
Don't miss this fascinating conversation with an enterprising G2 family leader who developed an AI-powered solution for his family and is now making it available to other families to help them capture and memorialize their family's intellectual capital.
Today, I am excited to speak with Stephan Roche, a Partner at BanyanGlobal, a family enterprise advisory firm. Stephan joined the firm after more than a decade as a family office and investment executive. Most recently, he was CEO of Walton Enterprises, the family office for the Walton family. He also served as COO for Cascade Asset Management, the private investment office for Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation.
An inaugural member of the UChicago Booth School's Family Office Initiative advisory board, Stephan also serves on the boards of Silver Ventures, a family-owned enterprise based in San Antonio, TX, and Guidant Financial Group, a closely held small business financial services firm based in Boise, Idaho. Stephan's expertise is in family enterprise governance, family office strategy, and family wealth stewardship.
Stephan worked with some of the most successful and influential families in the world and has had the opportunity to analyze the ingredients of their enduring success. He shares his experience on what it takes to create a durable family enterprise.
Stephan points out that durable family enterprises need to strike the right balance between their focus on financial capital vs. human capital. He talks about the importance of this balance, and especially the significance of human capital for the long-term success of family offices and enterprises.
An important dimension for families in their quest for a durable enterprise is their philosophical and practical stance towards technology. Stephan explains how technology plays into the professionalization and sustainability of the family enterprise and family office and how families can best align their adoption of frontier technologies, such as AI, with their shared values and purpose.
Another important practical dimension that each family enterprise must deal with almost constantly is leadership succession. Stephan provides important leadership succession tips and lessons he would offer families who are striving to build a durable family enterprise.
Do not miss this deeply informative conversation with one of the veteran operators, leading advisors, and prominent thought leaders in the enterprise family wealth and family office space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Pete Walther, President and CEO of Marsh McLennan Agency Private Client Services, a Marsh business dedicated to serving the unique needs of family offices. Pete also leads the strategy for Marsh Global Family Office Solutions, which extends beyond traditional insurance solutions to include investment solutions, wealth and tax optimization solutions, executive liability and extortion solutions, and risk advisory services, all aimed at addressing the most pressing matters of family offices.
Beginning his career in banking, Pete spent seven years structuring and managing a senior debt portfolio of highly leveraged commercial clients. He joined Marsh in 1995 to help launch its Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions (PEMA) practice. Over the subsequent 15 years, he has led several businesses within the firm, including PEMA North America, Global Alternative Risk Solutions, Marsh Midwest Zone, and PEMA Asia-Pacific based out of Australia.
Pete, and his firm Marsh, are valued long-term members of the FOX Industry Leaders Council and we are very proud to have their expertise as part of the FOX membership community.
Nowadays, families – even those at the top of the wealth pyramid – are facing significant disruptions with the insurability of many of their assets. Pete describes the challenges families and their family offices are experiencing with insurability and what difficulties that creates for them.
Pete outlines the main factors driving these insurability challenges and shares his overview of the major trends that are driving these disruptions.
One important practical consideration Pete emphasizes to families is to develop and maintain a "prevention vs. recovery mindset". He explains what that means and postulates the key principles of a strong and healthy prevention mindset.
Another important practical tip Pete has for families and family offices is to invest in grassroots literacy, education, and design thinking. He elaborates on that and shares what other opportunities and trends are giving him personally hope for the future resilience of families and their family offices.
Do not miss this highly instructive conversation with one of the top thought leaders and practitioners in the risk management and insurance industry serving top UHNW families, their enterprises, and their family offices.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Sarah Thorpe Scott, an executive coach and advisor working at the intersection of leadership, capital, and family enterprise systems. She supports executives, investors, and multigenerational families navigating the moments that matter, including succession, wealth transfer, leadership transitions, governance decisions, and spouses marrying into family systems. Her work focuses on the emotional and relational dynamics that often sit beneath these moments, helping families prepare the next generation for leadership and stewardship while strengthening the dialogue and trust required for long-term success across generations.
Sarah is the Founder of Thorpe Scott Coaching & Advisory, Coach-in-Residence at Bedrock, a global multi-family office with offices in Geneva, London, and Monaco, and a Special Advisor to Horizons, a member network of millennial next-generation leaders and investors. Sarah began her career in investment banking at Credit Suisse in New York and later worked across leading media organizations including CNBC and Forbes. She went on to hold senior leadership roles at The New York Times, where she became Managing Director, EMEA, leading global teams and executing dozens of complex, multi-million-dollar partnerships with multinational organizations across virtually every major industry.
Married into a fifth-generation family enterprise herself, Sarah brings both professional rigor and lived experience to her work with family offices, next-generation leaders, and the executives and advisors who work alongside them. She has served as Chair of the Young Vic Development Board and the Duke UK Alumni Board.
We delve into the topic of spousal integration into UHNW families and the experiences of spouses within the broader family enterprise. We start by having Sarah sharing her observations on how family structures see and treat spouses today, and how enterprise family systems are organized to receive and engage spouses and in-laws.
Sarah describes how spousal integration works presently, outlining the typical experience of a spouse joining a multigenerational family of wealth. She highlights some of the common challenges faced by spouses entering these sometimes-complex family systems.
One common, and often controversial, practical tool that is part of the spousal integration process is the prenuptial agreement. Sarah shares her thoughts and lived experiences on how well prenups work and offers her views on where there may be room to improve and enhance the experience of the soon-to-be-married couple going through the process.
Finally, Sarah lays out her vision and roadmap for a better spousal integration process, including the elements, the approach, and the spirit that can provide a more positive, engaging, and pleasant experience for spouses and the entire family.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with a highly regarded family member-turned-practitioner providing thought leadership in the spousal integration topic that impacts every enterprising family.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Deborah Goldstein, founder of Enlightened Philanthropy, and advisory firm dedicated to guiding philanthropists across their giving journeys. Drawing from more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit field, Deborah helps clients align their values with their giving so they can give with clarity and confidence. She is the creator of Philanthropy Camp for Women, an opportunity for women to explore their giving and learn in community.
Deborah has worked for Oregon State University, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She is a 21/64-certified consultant and co-Dean of Philanthropy for the Purposeful Planning Institute.
Philanthropy is an important and powerful force in the world in general, but it is also a fundamental pillar of how successful families deploy their hard-earned capital. Deborah offers her view on philanthropy for families, explaining why it is important, what purpose it serves, and how to best unleash its full potential and impact.
Going deeper into the different archetypes of family principals and family members who are engaged in or inspired by philanthropy, Deborah delves into the topic of philanthropy for women and talks about the unique aspects of how women approach and engage with philanthropic giving.
Deborah has created Philanthropy Camp for Women and she describes for our audience the concept, the thesis, and how the camp experience works and creates value for the female principals who attend it.
Deborah has developed and frequently utilizes various practical tools to help philanthropists understand and overcome the challenges that may stand in the way of their charitable giving. She highlights some of the diagnostic tools and frameworks that she uses to help philanthropic families get unstuck, align around a shared vision, and successfully achieve their philanthropic strategies.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a leading philanthropic advisor serving top UHNW families and their family offices.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with John Claisse, CEO of Albourne Group, an independently owned, non-discretionary and global investment consultant, providing advice on hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real assets, real estate, and dynamic beta. Founded in 1994, Albourne has over 350 clients with over $750bn invested directly in alternative investments.
John is an equity partner and member of Albourne's Executive Committee and chairs the firm's Corporate Planning Council, which comprises Albourne's function and region heads. He helped develop the firm's proprietary risk analytics, was formerly the Senior Analyst for quantitative equity strategies and multi-strategy hedge funds and later headed up the firm's portfolio group.
John remains a Portfolio Analyst working with several public and corporate plans, large endowments, and foundations. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Sussex Business School, on the Board of Trustees of Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI), and on the Governing Board of The Robert Toigo Foundation. John, and his firm Albourne, are valued Advisor members of FOX, and we are privileged to have their knowledge and expertise in our membership community.
In today's world of major technological, geopolitical, and regulatory disruptions, family offices and their investment teams are facing a crisis of trust. John describes the current context and the challenges family offices experience pertaining to trust in investing. He shares an overview of the various conflicts of interest that exist in today's investing landscape that family offices need to be aware of and prepared to manage.
John outlines the different trust-affirming models and practices that family offices can adopt and lean on to find and build trust in today's investing marketplace. There is an emerging ecosystem aimed at promoting greater trust in investing. John talks about the groups and players in the investing landscape who play a role in strengthening investors' trust and confidence in both public and private market mechanisms.
Don't miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading providers of investment advice, research, and mid- and back-office implementations to family offices, as well as public and private institutions.
Today, I'm excited to speak with Valerie Galinskaya, Managing Director and Head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth®. She works with ultra-high net worth families to help empower them to be purposeful about the impact of their wealth on themselves, their families, and their communities. Her insights have been featured in leading publications and outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance and CNBC.
Valerie rejoined Merrill in 2014 after serving as Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in New York. She was a 2025 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Thought Leader of the Year, a 2025 InvestmentNews Women to Watch Financial Literacy Champion Finalist, a Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 Honoree and a 2024 WealthBriefing Outstanding Contribution to Wealth for Good Initiatives Winner. She is a member of the Forbes Finance Council, Purposeful Planning Institute, Family Firm Institute and Collaboration for Family Flourishing. Valerie enjoys volunteering to encourage education and financial literacy, supporting the efforts of Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL) and serving as former Associate Board Member of City Year New York.
Valerie works with many families, and especially with the younger rising-gen members of these families. She tells us about some of the top goals and anxieties she encounters among families and their rising future generations. She then, delves into some of the external themes and trends that, in her experience, are impacting families most today.
Throughout Valerie's years of work with enterprising multigenerational families, she has witnessed many who have struggled and many who have flourished. She outlines the most common and impactful areas of best practices that she has identified among the most successful families she has worked with.
Valerie wraps up by offering her practical advice and tips for family members looking to navigate their collective enterprise journey. She also provides valuable suggestions and tips for family office executives and external advisors serving families.
Do not miss this engaging conversation with a leading practitioner and thought leader in the family wealth advisory space.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Will Bledsoe, founder of Restorative Way, a company that provides training and program implementation for schools, individuals, organizations and businesses to recognize trauma, resolve conflict and engage with challenging behavior. In addition to his private consultation practice, Will is currently a professor of communication in the Isaacson School for Communication, Arts, and Media at Colorado Mountain College.
Will holds a doctorate in communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master's degree in religious studies, also from CU. While at the university he taught courses in conflict management, group communication, global peace & conflict studies, community justice, social justice, the rhetoric of campaigns and social movements. In the religious studies department, he taught a course in Native American religious traditions.
In 1999 Will was he was awarded Outstanding Scholarship Recognition by the National Honor Society of Religious Studies/Theology. He has facilitated over 1000 mediation encounters using a range of restorative models including victim/offender dialogue, family-group conferences, community-group conferences, and peacemaking circles for various municipal and district courts, schools, families, family businesses, and workplaces. Will is the author of The Restorative Way: Harnessing the Power of Restorative Communication to Mend Relationships, Heal Trauma, and Reclaim Civility One Conversation at a Time (2024).
Will specializes in the field of restorative communication, especially restorative conflict resolution. He provides a definition for our listeners of restorative conflict resolution and describes the purpose and the practice of restorative communication.
Relationship challenges and interpersonal conflict are common in most families. Will tells us how restorative conflict resolution can help families manage and resolve conflicts and describes his work with families who struggle with conflict and fractured relationships.
Next, we look at the practical applications of Will's expertise. He describes the method of restorative conflict resolution, detailing the tools, frameworks, and approaches inherent in the practice of restorative conflict resolution.
Communication is a critical component of restorative conflict resolution. Will talks about the importance of communication skills and offer some of your tips for developing and applying restorative communication among family members.
Enjoy this instructive conversation with one of the leading practitioners of restorative conflict resolution in support of UHNW families.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Alex Hayward, Executive Fellow, Family Offices and Private Capital at London Business School. Alex is a seasoned expert in Family Offices, with extensive experience building, reviewing, and optimizing Family Offices across the UK, Europe, the US, Dubai, and Australia. Over the past 15 years, he has analyzed more than 100 Single Family Offices, evaluating their structures, operations, and investment strategies.
Alex draws on this broad experience to lead London Business School's work on value creation within Family Offices, examining how leading Family Offices develop their strategy, operations, and culture to support long-term growth. Alex also serves as an independent director to a Family Office in London, supporting a third-generation multi-billion family. Alongside this role he chairs the Family Office Community at Said Business School, University of Oxford, Ownership Project 2.0.
Alex is a long-time friend and collaborator of FOX and a valued alumnus of the FOX team.
Alex has done significant research into the importance of organizational culture among investment management, and its significance in explaining and driving performance of investment teams. He tells us what his research shows and highlights what both clients and members of investment teams can learn from it.
We then focus more narrowly and look at the role of culture within family offices. Alex shares his views on how culture contributes to the value creation at the family office and the ability of family office teams to drive meaningful outcomes for their principals.
Impact is frequently among the top objectives that family members seek to pursue individually or collectively with the support of their family office. Alex talks about his work and research on the effect of family office culture on the family's impact strategy, and the ability of family members to find and follow their individual pathways for self-realization and impact.
Alex has also studied the effect of grief on the ability of families to make decisions and achieve growth. He shares his findings on how grief and other emotions impact UHNW family strategies and their collective activities within the family enterprise, including investing, philanthropy, social impact, etc.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the foremost academics and practitioners in the family wealth and family office space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Dan Spector, partner at Hanson Bridgett, an Am Law 200 California-based law firm and the first law firm recognized as a certified B Corp. Dan is a trial lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator whose practice focuses on trust, probate and complex civil cases involving families. He has been named in multiple years as a Super Lawyer by his peers for Northern California in the area of Trust and Estate Litigation and a statewide mediation and private neutral panelist for Judicate West, a professional neutral company with offices throughout California.
Dan is a member of the California Lawyer's Association's (CLA) Trust and Estates Section and Litigation Section, as well as the Sacramento County Bar Association's Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Section. He has recently been selected to serve on the Executive Committee for CLA's Trust and Estate Section (TEXCOM), for which he participates in various subcommittees, including the Litigation, Incapacity and Legislation subcommittees. He also serves as a Judge Pro-Tem in the Sacramento Superior Court and has been named as an expert witness on issues relating to trust, probate, and litigation matters.
Dan has lectured at U.C. Davis before the Sacramento County Bar Association, CCLSA and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants on the topics of civil litigation and trust and probate litigation. He has served on numerous non-profit boards throughout Sacramento, including as Chair of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, board member of the San Juan Unified School District Superintendent's Advisory Board, board member of the St. Ignatius School Advisory Board, board member of the Anthony M. Kennedy Learning Center, and Chairman of the Board of Del Paso Country Club.
Dan served as General Chairman of the 2015 United States Senior Open Golf Championship, the single largest sporting event in Sacramento's history. Dan and his firm Hanson Bridgett are values advisor members of FOX, and we are thrilled to have their expertise within our membership community.
We've talked about conflict on this podcast before, but today we'll learn more about Dan's area of expertise – "active conflict". Dan explains for our listeners how active conflict is defined and how it is manifested in both pre-litigation and litigation situations.
Families are complex, and family dynamics and the emotional undercurrents that run through the relationships among family members present a unique challenge for both clients and professionals in our field. Dan shares his experience on how families get to the active conflict stage, and he describes the common pathways and the ways family members and their family offices can recognize them.
In many cases, significant changes – and resulting conflicts – within a family are triggered by the death of a key family principal. So, one practical consideration is to distinguish between pre-mortem and post-mortem conflict situations. Dan talks about the main differences between family conflicts that take place before vs. after a major death in the family.
Active conflict can be very painful for families. Dan provides an outline of the options available to families for managing and resolving active conflict, including the different professional channels and techniques they can resort to.
Don't miss this illuminating conversation with a leading expert and practitioner in the field of family conflict management and resolution.
Today, I'm excited to speak with Max Youngquist, family office structuring and governance leader at RSM, a leading global assurance, tax, and consulting firm.
Max focuses on offering holistic services and solutions for family offices, covering complex tax compliance, structuring, and planning, as well as estate and gift, wealth transfer, and succession planning. He has consulted with individual family members about their many personal financial matters and concierge needs and supported their personal businesses and hobbies.
Prior to RSM, Max held various senior positions at Henry Crown & Company and Ernst & Young. Max and his firm RSM are valued advisor members of FOX, and we are fortunate to have their expertise as part of our membership community.
We start by discussing the very common model where most family offices start – the embedded single-family office (SFO). Max offers his definition of an embedded SFO and describes its common characteristics. He goes over the top reasons to transition away from an embedded SFO, and offers his insights on when, why, and how families should consider unembedding their family office.
Max delves in detail into what is absolutely needed at a minimum for a family to be able to make a successful transition from an embedded SFO and covers the "core" functional elements of an unembedded SFO.
Max provides invaluable tips on how to best design and administer the family office functions to ensure a smooth launch of the unembedded SFO and talks about some best practices to emulate and common mistakes to avoid.
Enjoy this highly instructive dialog with one of the prominent practitioners and thought leaders in the niche realm of family office design and operations.
Today, it is my pleasure and honor to speak with John A. Warnick. John A. is a celebrated leader and founder in the family wealth professional space, and an inspiration to many of us in our niche field. He has practiced as a tax attorney for over 45 years and has published articles in law reviews, Trust and Estates magazine and the Journal of Practical Estate Planning. He worked as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill in the 1970s and was a legal intern in the office of the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.
In 2010 John A. founded the Purposeful Planning Institute which today is the largest multi-disciplinary educational institute (non-profit) focused on best practices for UHNW and HNW families with over 525 members in the U.S. and nine countries internationally. He was also a co-founder of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing (CFF) and served for four years on the Board of the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy. He was nominated as a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel in 1994 and has chaired two subcommittees within ACTEC, the Legacy and Generational Planning Subcommittee of the Practice Committee and the Family Dynamics Subcommittee of the Business Planning Committee.
In 2017, John A. received the Scott Fithian Leadership Award from the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy and served on the Board of Directors of that organization for four years. He has served on the Planned Giving Advisory Council of the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia since 2015. John A. is the author of two Tax Management portfolios and more recently has self-published The Purposeful Trusts and Legacies Handbook and is currently working on two book projects, The Gift of You, and the New Vocabulary of Family Wealth.
John A. is a good and long-time friend of FOX and we are privileged to have collaborated with him and with PPI repeatedly throughout the years.
Purpose is often cited as one of the key pillars of long-term success for multigenerational families. John A. dedicated much of his professional work on bringing purpose to families and the advisors who serve them – particularly as the founder of the Purposeful Planning Institute. He elaborates on the importance of purpose for families and their advisors and talks about why it is important to be purposeful as a family leader or wealth advisor. He also highlights the distinctions between purpose, values, and mission since these are often lumped together and not always fully understood.
John A. has pointed to the significance of family traditions and rituals as powerful tools for establishing and living the family purpose. He describes why rituals are important and how they help families crystallize their purpose and values and pass them on across generations. Conversely, he points out what happens if traditions become performative or imposed on the family, rather than genuinely meaningful.
John A. shares some examples of family traditions that he has encountered over his decades of work with UHNW families and outlines the impact of these traditions on the family and the changed that resulted from these shared rites.
John A. has formulated five suggestions for trustees, including corporate and professional trustees, as well as PTCs, related to helping the families they serve define and fulfill their shared purpose. He provides an overview of these practical resources and describe how they can be put to use in support of the family's success and wellbeing.
Do not miss this opportunity to hear from one of the most respected founders and premier thought leaders of the family wealth space.
Today, it is my pleasure and honor to speak with Mark Daniell, Chairman of The Raffles Family Wealth Trust Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based strategic advisory boutique working with a select set of UHNW families and their businesses around the world, addressing issues related to strategy, strategic transactions, governance, leadership, generational transitions and Integrated Legacy Strategy.
In addition, Mark is the founder, along with a team of distinguished global partners, of www.raffleslegacylearning.com, an advanced e-learning platform for legacy families and their advisors. He has 20 years of experience as a partner at Bain & Co, and was also Director of merchant bank Wasserstein Perella, and President of a publicly listed investment firm in Singapore, and he serves on the boards of a number of public and private companies including Olam International and ED&F man, in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Mark is the author of seven books (so far) in areas related to family wealth and business strategy. In 2010, he co-wrote "Family Legacy and Leadership: Preserving True Family Wealth in Challenging Times" with FOX founder Sara Hamilton, and he has written articles for The Wall Street Journal and appeared on the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Channel NewsAsia. Mark is a long-time friend and collaborator of FOX.
Mark's advisory work over the past 35 years has been focused on business strategy, which is probably the #1 subject talked about, taught, and worked on in the corporate world. But what does strategy mean in the family office and family wealth realm? Mark talks about how family leaders and family office executives should think about, develop, and execute the strategy for their family, enterprise, or office?
Another foundational corporate concept that Mark has deep experience and expertise in is culture. Mark shares his insights on how culture manifests itself at a family office or family enterprise and offers some pointers on what family office leaders need to do to foster a strong, vibrant culture that attracts and retains top talent.
Mark has developed the "10 Circles Framework" to serve as a strategic guide for families of wealth and family enterprises. He describes the framework and explains how family leaders and family office executives can utilize it in their work with the families they serve.
Another area of practical importance Mark points out is the imperative – and challenge – for families and their enterprises and offices to stay innovative and competitive. He offers his views on how families and family offices can nurture their creativity in each of the 10 circles of his 10 Circles Framework.
Don't miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the bets known strategists, thinkers, and global practitioners serving UHNW families and their complex enterprises.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Annette Hopper and Levi Hammett, co-founders of Full Scope Solutions, a strategic outsourcing firm serving family offices. Annette brings more than 25 years of experience in the investment advisory industry. From 2004 through January 2025, she held key leadership roles at a Boulder- and New York-based asset allocator, serving as Partner, CFO, CCO, and COO. In these positions, she oversaw financial strategy, compliance, and operational execution for both institutional and family clients. Prior to that, she co-founded a consulting firm that served over 60 clients across multiple industries and provided outsourced CCO services for a Boulder-based asset allocator.
Levi has over 12 years of investment operations and analytics experience with an Asset Allocator operating out of both Boulder and New York City. Throughout his career, he has successfully implemented performance reporting systems, risk management platforms, data warehouses, trading workflows, and custodial relationships. His extensive expertise in investment operations, systems integration, and investment reporting has made him an expert in enhancing business processes and supporting data-driven strategies within the financial industry.
Annette and Levi, and their firm Full Scope Solutions, are valued Advisor members of FOX, and we are privileged to have their knowledge and expertise in our membership community.
There is much talk within our space about the formalization and professionalization of family office functions, but not much uniformity or consistency in defining what these functions are. Annette and Levi give us their overview of the core family office functions and their working definitions of back-office, middle-office, and front-office departments that are commonly seen among family offices.
A big part of professionalizing various family office functions is the decision whether to outsource any of them – and certainly, many families are making the decision to hand off key components of their family office operations to specialized external providers. Annette and Levi talk about what it takes to architect an outsourcing relationship that both brings in world-class expertise and capabilities and provides the family with the control, quality and customization of services they often require.
Annette and Levi offer their practical tips and advice for family principals and leaders on how best to understand the middle-office and back-office functions that serve their family – and why it is important to do that in the first place.
Going back to the concept of architecting the family office for the long term, Annette and Levi provide some suggestions to families and their family office executives on how to build a resilient infrastructure for their family office – how do they decide what to own vs. rent, build vs. outsource.
Enjoy this informative dialog with two highly experienced operators and service providers in the UHNW wealth management and family office space.
Today, I'm especially honored to welcome Ted Rich, Chief Growth Officer for Rich Products, a family-owned food company with annual sales of over $6B and a market-leader in a number of food categories, including cakes, icings, pizza, appetizers, and specialty toppings. In this position, Ted leads companywide demand-creation strategies to accelerate growth and expansion in priority markets and segments across the globe. He is also a member of Rich's Executive Team and Board of Directors where he serves on the Finance and Audit Committee.
In 2020, Ted established the Rich Family Council for the family-owned business where he serves as the council head. Since joining Rich's in 1995, Ted has held various associate and customer-facing roles, including Executive Vice President of Organizational Excellence, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience and Europe/Middle East region leader, Regional Sales Manager of Foodservice; Strategic Sourcing Leader of Procurement; and Vice President of Toppings and Icings in North America, to name just a few.
Before joining Rich's, Ted worked for the Seattle Supersonics NBA team as a sales manager and also held positions with North West Parent Publishing in Seattle and Travers-Schutte & Company Advertising in Buffalo, NY. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Education Policy Committee on the Culinary Institute of America's Board of Directors and supports the Institute's mission to provide the world's best professional culinary education. Ted and his family are family office members of FOX, and we are thrilled to have them as valued members of our FOX community.
We start with the amazing journey of the Rich family and the iconic company Ted's family has now owned and operated for 80 years. Ted shares the story and path of the family business and the broader family enterprise over the past 8 decades.
Governance is an evergreen topic among family enterprises and family offices, and certainly a frequent topic for families and advisors within the FOX community. Ted talks about his family's governance evolution, highlighting when formal governance became a necessity and how the family went about establishing these structures, both for the business and for the broader family enterprise.
One practical tool Ted recommends to fellow families and their multigenerational enterprises is planning forward. He describes the multi-year planning process and discipline his family has employed throughout their shared journey and outlines some of the specific steps, methods, and tools they have relied on to always have a long-term, forward-looking view of where the family enterprise is going.
The Rich family leadership has embraced the principle of inclusivity. Ted talks about how they have operationalized this belief in inclusivity and describes the various processes and structures that have been instrumental to bringing more family members into the journey and ensuring strong engagement with the rising generations.
Do not miss this exclusive and highly educational conversation with a distinguished family principal and leader of one of the most storied and successful family enterprises in America.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Maura Harris, Founder of Maura Harris & Company, an operational due diligence (ODD) consulting boutique. With over 25 years of experience in alternative asset management, Maura has worked for premier asset managers, fund of funds, RIAs, and family offices. Her core services include Operational Due Diligence (ODD) Readiness, ODD Document Review, ODD Full Reviews, ODD Audit and ODD Verification, as well as add-on specialty due diligence.
Prior to working with private clients, Maura was the Head of Due Diligence at Bostwick Capital, a fund of funds, from 2016 to 2024. In addition, she provided consulting and advisory services for a broad range of firms including AITEC, a technology peer group, Centrl Inc., a fintech company digitizing investor questionnaires, Symphonic Leadership Partners, a change management advisory group, and Harness All Possibilities, a nonprofit helping individuals transform their value to meet the future of work. From 2006 to 2015, Maura developed and managed the operational due diligence program at The Permal Group. Permal was a global multi-strategy, multi-manager investing in hedge funds, private equity, and real assets. Prior to Permal, she worked in accounting, operations and due diligence at GAM Investments and Bank of America Alternative Group, as well as the private equity group at Prudential Financial.
In this episode, we discus Maura's core area of expertise – operational risk and due diligence (ODD) for family offices. She explains why this discipline is important and what families, family office executives, and family advisors should do to stay focused on in this specialized field of ODD.
Maura leads us through the different types of operational risks family offices need to understand and mitigate and outlines the various dimensions of ODD that she covers in her work with family offices.
One practical need and challenge for family offices is how to assess managers and vendors for operational risks. Maura talks about this need and how family office leaders should think about and manage these external risks that are affecting their operation.
Maura explains how family leaders and family office executives should think about the value of ODD and offers her tips on the best methods and tools to articulate, measure, and mitigate these operational risks.
Enjoy this highly instructional conversation with a deep expert in the ODD discipline as applied to family enterprises and family offices.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Brad Fisher, founder and Managing Partner of The Scalable Leadership Group, a firm that works with Growth Stage Company leaders to streamline their operations and accelerate their progress. Brad works with business leaders who want to unlock the long-term potential of their companies and their families. He speaks and writes about scalability, leadership, and family business matters. He recently published a book called Family Business Abundance.
Brad has devoted most of his career to entrepreneurship in the business-to-business, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, family business, and private equity investment arenas. He has built, acquired, and consulted with companies across a wide range of industries. Brad is a former council member of FOX, and former member of the FOX Advisory Board, and a true friend and frequent collaborator of the FOX team and our broader community.
Brad has dedicated much of his advisory work to the pursuit of scalability and helping businesses and families achieve their full potential. He talks about what scalability means, especially in the context of a family enterprise or a family office, and what are the accelerators and impediments to achieving scalability.
Brad has formulated the concept of "the second leap". He offers a definition of this concept for our audience and describes its significance in the growth and scalability journey of businesses, families, and family offices.
One practical tool Brad has developed is the "Six Scalabilities" framework. He describes the framework and its components, and shares his tips on how family businesses, family leaders, and family offices can use it to engineer their growth and evolution.
An important and practical metric Brad talks about is the "Leadership Leverage Ratio". He elaborates on how this KPI is defined and measured, and how leaders in the family or the family office can use it to advance the scalability of their organizations.
Do not miss this engaging conversation with a widely recognized long-time practitioner, thought leader, and advisor in the family office and family business space.
Today, I'm excited to speak with Chris Bull, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Jet, one of the nation's premier private aviation companies delivering personalized travel solutions for entrepreneurs, executives, and families across the United States. With more than two decades of experience in aviation leadership, Chris has guided Northern Jet through a period of significant growth and transformation — most notably leading the 2023 merger of SpeedBird and Northern Jet Management, which established the company as one of the largest independently owned private aviation providers in the country.
Under Chris's leadership, Northern Jet continues to set the standard for safety, reliability, and authentic client relationships, offering fractional ownership, jet management, and jet card programs designed to help clients make the most of their most valuable asset — time. Chris and his company, Northern Jet, are valued specialist advisor members of FOX and we are thrilled to have their expertise within our community.
There has been a lot of change and developments in the private aviation space, especially in the past few years, so we start with a quick overview of the space. Chris offers his definition of private aviation these days and describes the evergreen benefits that attract UHNW clients to fly private. He also outlines the most notable trends that have been reshaping this niche industry.
Chris then outlines the key options UHNW clients face and often must decide between, covering all the "4 lanes" of private aviation, as he defines them. He describes these different avenues and compares their pros and cons.
Chris provides a comprehensive overview of the different types of vendors and players who comprise the private aviation space, equipping our listeners with all they need to know about these distinct companies serving the private aviation space. He also outlines how his company's consultative model works in helping clients navigate the choices and decisions they face in this sector.
Finally, Chriss provides some practical tips and tools he recommends to families and family offices who are considering or are actively utilizing various private aviation services and operating models.
This is a highly instructive conversation with one of the top advisors and service providers in the private aviation industry specializing in solutions for UHNW individuals, enterprise families, and their family offices.
Today, I am pleased to speak with Pascal Köppel, Managing Director, Head of Investment Management and Chief Investment Officer at Vontobel Swiss Financial Advisers. Pascal and his teams are responsible for the discretionary portfolio management, selection of suitable investment vehicles and development of specific client solutions as well as the investment advisory mandates.
He joined UBS in 2004 as Head of Active Advisory in Zurich where he was responsible for the investing of CHF15bn in assets and managed a team of 40 investment specialists providing investment advisory services for clients worldwide. Prior to joining UBS, Pascal worked for a hedge fund company in Switzerland where his focus was on the selection of investment opportunities worldwide as well as structuring of investment vehicles.
An increasing number of UHNW individuals and successful families in the US are exploring global diversification strategies. Pascal explains why US wealth owners and their family offices are opting to custody and invest assets in other jurisdictions across the globe. Pascal's firm specializes in investing in Switzerland, but he talks about all the top jurisdictions UHNW families are choosing to invest in nowadays and describes their respective attractions.
Pascal helps us explore the practical applications and use cases UHNW investors are pursuing with their global diversification strategies. He describes the key motivations and objectives for wealthy clients who are moving assets to other global jurisdictions.
A key practical consideration for families and their family offices is the selection of a foreign broker. Pascal shares his views on what they need to look for in a foreign broker, including what certifications, designations, or other capabilities families need to be aware of and seek when they evaluate foreign brokers.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a leading expert in multi-jurisdictional investment advisory services for global UHNW clients.
This communication is for informational purposes only to discuss general market activity or industry trends and does not constitute an offer, invitation, or recommendation to invest in any strategy or security.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Jeffrey Croteau and Kate Dumas of Tide Cycle, a specialized firm that serves as the outsourced chief investment officer for large, ultra-high-net-worth families and individuals, providing customized investment solutions. Jeff is Founder and CIO of Tide Cycle, which he founded after a successful tenure at Prime Buchholz LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting.
With a background in mathematics, Jeff's investment journey began as an analyst and evolved into leadership, guiding families and institutions through major market events like the tech bubble, the financial crisis, and the Covid pandemic. He serves as a Board member of the Foundation for Seacoast Health, a member of the Dean's Advisory Council for the College of Science at Northeastern University, and coaches cycling at Portsmouth High School.
Kate is Chief of Staff and Deputy CIO at Tide Cycle. She joined the firm following a brief career pause to explore philanthropic pursuits. Kate was previously a Managing Principal and Consultant at Prime Buchholz LLC where she built successful investment programs for a variety of clients.
Prior to Prime Buchholz, Kate worked at Deutsche Bank AG in New York and Mellon Trust in Boston. She is a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board at the University of New Hampshire, the Finance Committee at the Southeast Land Trust, and the Boston Economic Club. Kate volunteers with Invest for Better and CFA? (Society) Boston to promote financial literacy.
Jeff and Kate, and their firm Tide Cycle, are valued Advisor members of FOX, and we are privileged to have their knowledge and expertise in our membership community.
One significant and growing tendency in the family office space is for wealth owners to consider and create virtual family offices. Jeff and Kate give an overview of the family office virtualization trend and describe the latest developments in this space.
As part of the virtualization trend, outsourcing the investment function is increasingly common among family offices. Jeff and Kate share their perspective on the evolution of the OCIO function and practice in recent years, explaining how the function is defined and how has it changed.
One major practical consideration for family offices is how to envision what to outsource and what to keep in-house. Jeff and Kate offer their tips for wealth owners and family office leaders on how to make this important and consequential decision.
Another piece of practical advice Jeff and Kate have for family office principals and executives is to consider the full investment function by analyzing the full value chain of activities and players. They talk about this important consideration and highlight how family office professionals can best accomplish that goal.
Do not miss this highly instructive conversation with two of the foremost leaders and practitioners in the OCIO space serving top UHNW families and their family offices.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Verónica Lajud del Valle, Founder of Stellar Educational Consulting and Creator of the Stellar Insight Method. Verónica works with UHNW families worldwide and helps them create homes and educational environments where their children don't just succeed but they flourish and make a deeper change.
Her approach weaves together structure and empathy, strategy and heart. She has trained at the historic Montessori institutes in Bergamo, Perugia, and Rome, diving deep into everything from psychomotor development to Edgar Morin's complex thinking to psychoanalysis.
This multidimensional perspective inspired her to create the Stellar Insight Method™, a framework that brings together Montessori wisdom, cutting-edge neuroscience, psychoanalytic understanding, and mindfulness practices. Verónica is a published author, international literary award winner, and certified yoga teacher. Verónica and her firm Stellar Educational Consulting are a Specialist Advisor member of FOX, and we are thankful to have her expertise within our membership community.
Verónica's work with children of wealthy families is extensive and innovative, and she tells our audience about the experience and challenges of children growing up in UHNW households. She talks about "the system" that exists for families to raise their children – a system that can either help or hinder families and children – and touches on the choice they face to either stay in or go outside the system.
One important practical consideration for parents is to learn to spot the early signs of behavioral issues. Verónica shares some of the "red flags" or behavioral indicators parents need to understand, interpret, and manage.
Verónica developed the Stellar Insight Method to equip parents and children with the tools to create an environment of mutual support, personalized learning, and emotional thriving. She describes this method in more detail and highlights other useful tools families can rely on, also providing a comparison between these tools and her method.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a true innovator and experienced practitioner in the field of early childhood education, engagement, and support for UHNW families.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Natasha Silver Bell, Founder & CEO of SilverBell Global, a concierge provider of case management services, crisis management and intervention for individuals and families with behavioral, mental health, and addiction difficulties. Bringing over a decade of expertise in mental health, Natasha orchestrates multidisciplinary systems and teams across the US, the UK, the UAE, and beyond.
A thought leader and keynote speaker, Natasha curates dialogues with leading practitioners around mental health, wellbeing, and spirituality. Recent thought leadership includes the Lord Mayor's Global Family Office Summit at Mansion House, London, and Grace Under Pressure with Sir António Horta-Osório, exploring the evolving relational complexities of generational prosperity in personal and professional realms. Natasha extends her commitment to accessible mental healthcare through her co-founding of Inservice Foundation, which supports underserved populations, and the creation of the Megan Ann Foundation, which serves sober women and survivors of intimate partner violence, prioritizing personal growth.
Natasha and her firm, SilverBell Global, are Specialist Advisor members of FOX, and we are thrilled to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community.
In her professional field, where Natasha helps clients manage and overcome serious challenges, such as mental health issues and addiction, spirituality – one's relationship with and belief in a higher power or a divine entity – is a big and important topic.
We start by talking about spirituality in the context of an organized religious institution. Natasha shares her views and experience with institutional spirituality. She highlights the most common rewards and struggles people have when engaging with organized spirituality shares best practices to consider from her years of working with families and individual clients.
Being part of a religious institution that is built and run by other people is not the only way to experience and nurture one's spirituality. Natasha discusses the paths people can pursue to have a spiritual life outside of an organized religion.
One practical tool Natasha emphasizes in the pursuit of spirituality is story telling. She tells us how and why stories are an important pillar of any spiritual experience – especially those shared by multigenerational families.
For nearly everyone, fear is always present in their relationship with a divine entity. Natasha offers her practical suggestions on how to address and overcome the fear in spiritual and religious life – outlining the alternative paths to "fear of God".
Do not miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the leading practitioners and thought leaders in the realm of spirituality and wellbeing serving UHNW families.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Alicia Fritz, Founder and Principal Designer of A Day in May Events, an event production firm sought after for mastering the art of entertaining. With a mission to preserve the unique history and life experiences of her clients and their families, Alicia and her team have been entrusted as strategic partners for their private, legacy clients for close to two decades. Since 2007, Alicia has built a dedicated staff of event specialists and creative thinkers who operate with a methodical and intuitive system that prioritizes collaboration with their clients, respectful partnership with their creative teams and an unwavering commitment to a flawless event.
Alicia has been recognized as one of the country's top event planners by VOGUE and Martha Stewart Weddings to name a few. From the serene, idyllic coastline of Northern Michigan to the exquisite landscape of the South of France, Alicia and her team rarely create in the same place twice and welcome the challenge of producing these exceptional moments for beloved clients in unchartered territory.
Alicia describes the world of events for UHNH families and their family offices, and highlights the occasions, formats, and experiences for which families most commonly turn to a professional, experiential event production specialist. She walks us through some of the unique aspects of events in the family wealth space and talks about the unique challenges, opportunities, and needs that family offices must understand and manage when overseeing such events.
Alicia offers her tips for engaging family members – especially the rising gen – during family events and gatherings organized by the family office or the family leadership.
Producing elaborate, experiential events takes a village of service providers. Alicia provides practical suggestions for families and their family offices on how to work with the universe of specialized vendors to make their events special and memorable.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with one of the leading professionals in the UHNW events production space.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Paul Boutros, Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas for Phillip, the leading auction house dedicated to collector's watches. Based in New York City, he helped establish and build the watch department since its launch in 2014. In October 2017, he led Phillips's inaugural New York watch auction, Winning Icons, where Paul Newman's legendary Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona sold for $17.8 million - the highest result ever for a vintage wristwatch sold at auction. Under his leadership, the Phillips New York team as sold many legendary pieces, including a Heuer Monaco wristwatch gifted by Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando's Rolex GMT-Master worn in "Apocalypse Now", Jack Nicklaus' Rolex Day-Date, and Paul Newman's Rolex "Big Red" Daytona, to mention just a few. In December 2021, his team's fifth annual flagship watch auction achieved $35.9 million, breaking the record for the highest watch auction total in U.S. history.
A collector of wristwatches since childhood, Paul is a specialist in their authentication and valuation. Frequently appearing on television programs sharing tips on watch collecting, he has hosted talks for investment banks, luxury brands, and magazines. As the former watch columnist for Barron's PENTA, Paul has been published or cited in numerous publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, and Robb Report. Paul serves as a Trustee for the Horological Society of New York, an Honorary Committee Member of the Gerald Genta Heritage Association, and as an Academy Member of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). Paul also serves as a strategy consultant to luxury brands through his firm, Boutros Group.
To start off, Paul tells us about the exotic world of luxury time pieces. He tells the story of how the luxury watch landscape has evolved and how UHNW individuals and families are viewing watches today as a component of their portfolio's alternative assets allocation.
We then talk about what sets unique time pieces apart from the "mere mortal" expensive watches. Paul helps us understand and define what makes a luxury watch a collectible piece.>/p>
Paul offers some tips for families and family offices on how to get started, especially if they are new to luxury watch investing and collecting. He goes into detail on how one can find the right watch for their needs and goals.
An important consideration in this specialized segment of alternative investments is protecting against fraud and other unique threats. Paul provides invaluable pointers into what UHNW families need to know about how to avoid the risks inherent in the world of luxury watches and how to protect against being taken advantage of. Finally, he describes the important role the family office can and should play in this process.
Do not miss this fascinating and deeply insightful conversation with one of the world's leading experts on luxury time pieces and collectible watches.
Today, I am excited to speak with Dr. Carl Robinson, Founding Partner at Vantage Leadership Consulting. Carl is a licensed clinical psychologist who has spent the better part of the last 35 years assisting executives and families in preparing for and navigating career-defining moments. His clientele is broad and far-reaching, ranging from non-profit organizations to the Fortune 100, and includes names such as the Federal Reserve System, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Whirlpool, Steel Dynamics, The Hyatt Corporation, and many more.
Carl is a highly regarded public speaker, who has authored a number of articles and has frequently been interviewed by various business publications, including the Wall Street Journal. He is a longtime friend, collaborator, and former member of the Advisory Board of FOX.
Succession is arguably the most important evergreen topic on the minds of enterprise families and their family offices. Carl shares his views on what is required for success in successions among UHNW families and family offices and talks about the importance of talent assessment as families undertake leadership and ownership succession journeys.
Carl offers practical advice for the older generation and those in leadership who are looking to transition control, responsibility, and ownership to the next generation. He also provides invaluable tips and suggestions for the rising gen and those who are poised to step into leadership and fill the shoes of their parents and predecessors.
Don't miss this highly instructive conversation with one of the longest-serving, deeply experienced advisor and coach to multigenerational enterprises and family leaders.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Marina Margarucci, Managing Director at CBIZ, a consulting, tax, and financial services firm. Marina is the national leader of the Private Client Services practice at CBIZ, and she played an instrumental role in the organization and institutionalization of the practice.
Marina's career has been concentrated on supporting robust, complex families heavily invested in the Alternative Investment space, which enables her to deliver essential insights when analyzing financial statements and investment portfolios. She specialized in building out and setting up Family Office structures and Private Foundations, and routinely speaks at conferences, discussing the intricacies of Family Office structure and governance. Marina and her company, CBIZ, are an Advisor Member of FOX, and we are happy to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community.
Today, we cover a topic that comes up more and more frequently among family offices – sustainability. Marina offers her definition of what sustainability of a family office means and shares her views on what it takes for a family office to achieve longevity and enduring relevance across generations of family principals.
One important dimension of ensuring sustainability is the rising trend of institutionalizing and professionalizing the family office. Marina talks about this trend and how families can approach the process of formalizing and professionalizing their family office.
An increasingly critical practical implication for UHNW families is the role of technology when institutionalizing the family office. Marina provides her insights and suggestions on how best to understand, select, and deploy technology to enhance the capabilities of the family office.
Another important pillar of family office sustainability is to assemble and manage an ecosystem of mission-critical service providers. Marina and CBIZ have developed the "4 pillar approach" to creating a web of specialized vendors. She introduces this framework and explains how family offices can apply it.
Don't miss this highly relevant and instructive conversation with one of the leading practitioners and professional service providers in the UHNW family wealth and family office space.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Ross Butler, a podcaster, strategy consultant and author and the host of Fund Shack, a leading private capital channel. Ross also advises private capital firms on their go-to-market and communications strategies and ethical policies. He has been a business journalist, Editor of Real Deals, and has won Private Equity journalist of the year three times. He was Director of Communications at Invest Europe and has worked with various listed private capital firms on their public market outreach.
Our conversation today is about private capital markets. Ross shares his observations on why private markets work well, delving into their history, distinguishing economics, and unique workings.
Private equity often gets a bad rap due to its perceived short-term profit focus, high-risk debt loading, and negative effect on companies and workers. But that's not the full picture of private capital. Ross shares his view of the social impact of private markets and their importance for the long-term health of the economy and society.
Ross provides a practical context for the current state of private markets and explains the causes of the "indigestion", as he puts it, that is afflicting private markets. He describes some of the niche tools and unique deal structures that allow private investors and fund managers to be innovative and create value in excess of what public markets can achieve.
Enjoy this instructive conversation with a leading commentator and observer of global private capital markets.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Jane Beddall, founder and principal of Dovetail Resolutions. Jane is a seasoned mediator, facilitator, and consultant, as well as a certified CINERGY® Conflict Management Coach and a Conflict Dynamics Profile® Certified Practitioner. She works with legacy families, family enterprises, and family offices to help individuals and families handle communication and conflict better. Jane is the host of the weekly podcast Crafting Solutions to Conflict, providing a practical and positive perspective on conflict. In 2014, she received The Honorable Robert C. Zampano Award for Excellence in Mediation, which recognizes and celebrates leadership, initiative, and creativity in mediation in Connecticut.
The word "conflict" comes up often in our work with UHNW families and few people misunderstand its meaning, so Jane provides some useful foundational definitions. She defines what conflict is, both in general as well as in the context of family enterprises and family wealth situations and describes the different manifestations of conflict that are common among families of wealth.
Jane zeros in on conflict within families and explains how families generally deal with different kinds of conflict and highlights the best ways for them to manage and cope with conflict in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for the family.
Dealing with conflict is a sensitive subject, and many families are not familiar with the kind of resources that are available to them in this field. Jane describes the conflict resolution landscape and the different professionals out there, pointing out how families can decide whom to work with or whether to deal with the conflict on their own.
Family advisors and service providers – even those who are not experts in conflict management – can get caught up in the middle of tense family situations. Jane offers her practical advice on how professional family advisors should deal with conflict in the family when they encounter it or get drawn into it.
Enjoy this practical discussion with one of the most experienced and recognized practitioners in the field of UHNWE family conflict management.
Today, I am pleased to welcome The Honorable Stuart Nash, CEO and Founder of Nash Kelly Global, a bespoke consultancy that specializes in facilitating New Zealand permanent residency and resettlement through the country's Golden Visa program. Stuart was a senior Cabinet Minister for 5.5 years in the Ardern Administration and launched New Zealand's Golden Visa (or as it is titled: the Active Investor Plus Visa) in September 2022 as Minister of Economic Development. His portfolios included Minister of Police, Economic Development, Small Business, Tourism, Revenue, Forestry, and Fisheries. Before politics, Stuart worked in senior and general management roles in both the private and public sector.
For those in our audience who have not kept close tabs, Stuart updates us on the latest developments in New Zealand and describes how the social, economic, and political environment has developed in recent years. Stuart led the team that created and launched New Zealand's Golden Visa program – the Active Investor Plus Visa. He describes the program and its unique features and attractions, commenting on what makes New Zealand an attractive destination for wealthy individuals and families looking for alternative residence jurisdictions.
Stuart offers some practical tips for families and family offices that are looking at New Zealand as a jurisdiction, providing useful pointers on some of the basics on how to set up their life there, including things like housing, education, health insurance, and others.
For those who are interested to explore residency or citizenship in New Zealand, Stuart has a number of suggestions on how to get started and paints a picture of the different services and options available, including those offered by his firm, Nash Kelly.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the pioneers of the golden visa programs that are attracting families and their family offices to New Zealand.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Brian Weiner and Lisa Castro of Family Office Growth Partners. Brian is the firm's Founder & CEO, and for nearly 25 years, he has served as a trusted advisor to successful entrepreneurs and family enterprises in the areas of investment, tax, governance, and philanthropy. Brian began his career in 1996 as the Deputy Trade Commissioner for the Government of Israel, where he facilitated joint ventures/strategic partnerships on behalf of U.S. and Israeli companies. Brian is a serial entrepreneur and a trailblazer in the family office space, with diverse experience at firms including Smith Barney, Allied Advisors, BNY Mellon.
Lisa is President of Family Office Services at Family Office Growth Partners. She brings over 30 years of experience serving high-net-worth families, C-suite executives, and influential leaders. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of working with distinguished families to establish independent family offices, supporting CEOs and former government officials in her role as a proactive Chief of Staff. Lisa played a key role in the founding and conceptual development of The Paulson Institute, established by former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson.
Brian and Lisa, and their firm Family Office Resource Group, are Advisor members of FOX and we are privileged to have their expertise within our membership community.
Outsourcing is a big, and increasingly relevant, topic in our space. Brian and Lisa share their perspectives on outsourcing by families and family offices and highlight some of the prevailing practices in the sector. One of the most common and evergreen questions in this realm is what to outsource and what to build and operate in house. Brian and Lisa shine a light on this question and describe some of the frameworks and criteria family offices and their principles should apply when trying to make this crucial decision.
Once the decision to outsource has been made, the key challenge is to figure out how to vet and select the providers who will take over the critical functions for the family office. Brian and Lisa offer practical tips for family office leaders and wealth owners who are in this important early stage of their outsourcing journey.
They also provide suggestions for family offices on the ongoing management of their outsourcing relationships, explaining how they should optimally oversee, coordinate, evaluate, and renegotiate these vendor relationships to achieve the best results for the family and the family office operation.
Don't miss this highly insightful conversation with two of the most experienced, recognized, and well-connected thought leaders and practitioners in the family office outsourcing space.
Today, I'm excited to speak with Justin Papadakis, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Real Estate Officer at the United Soccer League (USL). Justin joined the USL in 2014 and has held various roles including President of Commercial Ventures and Chief Operating Officer and has led its expansion efforts across the USL Championship, League One, and Super League, and most recently, the announcement of USL's plans to launch a Division One men's professional league in 2027-2028.
Prior to the USL, Justin served as leasing director, and later business development director, at DDR Corp, now called SITE Centers. While earning his dual degree in Public Policy and Economics at Duke University, Justin also played four seasons for the Blue Devils' Men's Soccer program. He has been recognized on America's Power List and Florida Trend's Florida 500, a list of 500 most influential business leaders in Florida.
With Justin's help we delve into the world of soccer. He describes how the sport – and the business of soccer – has evolved in recent years and points out what sets soccer apart from other major sports. He also paints a picture for our audience of the soccer landscape today and how the USL fits in that landscape.
We then take a look at soccer as an asset class in the broader category of sports and entertainment investment properties. Justin provides an educational overview of the unique investment attributes of soccer and soccer teams, highlighting how they are distinct from other major-league sports and what makes soccer franchises particularly attractive right now.
Justin talks about the purpose and the mission of the United Soccer League (or USL) and explains how his organization helps UHNW clients and their family offices invest in and operate soccer franchises. Finally, he shares some practical considerations and risks family offices need to consider when they contemplate investing in sports in general and in soccer in particular. He offers valuable tips on how families and family offices should educate themselves and what resources exist for them to lean on in this growing and specialized segment of sports investing.
Don't miss this educational conversation with a leading expert and experienced practitioner in sports franchise investing and operations.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Emily Bouchard, founder of Bouchard Bespoke Consulting. Emily is an author and speaker with over 20 years of experience coaching multigenerational families, with a focus on blended family dynamics and family business succession. As a coach and consultant assists clients in effectively communicating about complex situations and building, maintaining, and repairing trust across generations. As a fractional Chief Learning Officer, she designs personalized learning experiences that focus on lifelong growth, emotional intelligence, and financial acumen.
In the world of family wealth, and more generally wealth and money, trust – building trust, earning trust, inspiring trust – is of paramount importance. Emily shines a light on why there is such an inextricable connection between trust and money, and talks about this fundamental, yet contentious, relationship between trust and wealth.
Emily suggests that trust is multi-layered, and there are four dimensions to trustworthiness. She describes this framework and the four assessments that can establish the different ingredients of trust and trustworthiness.
One common area within family wealth where trust and money collide is in relationships and marriages – and the controversial realm of prenuptial agreements. Emily specializes in this space and has coined the term "purposeful prenup". She shares a definition of this term and offers her tips on how couples can navigate the treacherous terrain of prenups while still earning and keeping each other's trust.
Another context where trust and money clash is in the world of blended families. Emily describes the dynamics of blended families and provides her suggestions for how best to earn trust and build harmony in these complex situations.
Please enjoy this highly practical conversation with a highly recognized strategic advisor to enterprise families and family offices.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Marcy Brajkovic and Stephanie Rosenberg. Marcy is the President and Owner of Chatfield Global LLC, a boutique consulting firm specializing in Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness. And Stephanie is the Director of Talent Development at Chatfield Global.
With over 20 years of experience at companies like Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SC Johnson, W.W. Grainger, Anixter (now Wesco), and Hospira (now Pfizer), Marcy has helped organizations — from family-owned manufacturers to Family Offices to Fortune 50 enterprises — align human resources practices and talent development with organizational strategy. A certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and Kaizen facilitator, she brings a "build, grow, and serve" mindset and practical expertise to workforce development, organizational change, and leadership coaching.
Stephanie has over 16 years of experience in talent development and business transformation and brings deep expertise in career coaching, leadership development, and change management. She has led programs in early careers, succession planning, and training for teams of 10 to 500+, as well as large-scale business initiatives at a major retailer. Today, she partners with family offices and professional services firms across the full employee lifecycle, helping them attract, develop, and retain high-performing teams.
Marcy and Stephanie, and their firm Chatfield Global, are Specialist Advisor members for FOX and we are grateful to have their expertise within our membership community.
We start with Marcy and Stephanie's collective view on the HR function in family offices today. They describe how family offices are designing and structuring their HR departments, how the function has evolved in recent years, and outline the most prominent trends that are reshaping HR and people strategy at family offices.
Talent development is particularly challenging for family offices, given their small size and limited career paths. Marcy and Stephanie talk about how family offices handle talent development, including coaching, goalsetting, and performance management, and highlight the key challenges and opportunities families and their internal teams face in this realm.
Marcy and Stephanie share their insights on some of the external resources available to family offices that they can leverage to strengthen their HR capabilities, develop and coach their people, and build a vibrant culture.
They also offer for family office owners and leaders on how best to promote staff engagement, provide advancement opportunities, coach their executives, and promote a culture of both loyalty and excellence.
Don't miss this highly insightful conversation with two of the most experienced and trusted human capital thought leaders and practitioners in the family office space.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, founding principal of Drayson Mews and author of Fragile Power: Why Having Everything is Never Enough and Fragile Power 2.0: Wealth, Narcissism & Mental Health, the leading resources for individuals, couples, and families of wealth seeking culturally respectful and clinically effective mental health services. Dr. Paul serves as the Senior Wellness Expert to Ispahani Advisory, a London-based consulting firm specializing in multijurisdictional, ultra-high-net-worth families. He is an Associate Member of the American Association for Addiction Medicine and holds a Clinical Fellow designation with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
In addition to his academic and clinical work, Dr. Paul has extensive experience in the realm of philanthropy. He has stewarded over three million U.S. dollars to enhance the delivery of direct mental health services to disenfranchised communities across America, as well as through the Yale School of Public Health, and he serves as a trustee of the Palm Springs Art Museum, one of the world's premier centers for mid-century art, architecture, and design.
Dr. Paul's research in the realm of wealth and mental health has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Wealth Management, the International Family Offices Journal, Globe Law and Business, and Lambert Academic Press. His work has been featured in a wide variety of international media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The World Economic Forum, the Johns Hopkins Newsletter, Harvard Business Review Arabia, CNN, Men's Health, The Guardian, Tatler, WebMD, Psych Central and others.
Dr. Paul starts by explaining what intersectionality is. He tells us about the origins of the construct of intersectionality and highlights some of the key premises underlying the term and the studies behind it. He then describes how intersectionality plays in the UHNW and family office space, and how it manifests itself in the lives and wellbeing of UHNW clients.
Dr. Paul offers his practical tips for wealth owners, family wealth principals, and UHNW family members? He offers his advice on what they should know about intersectionality and how they should incorporate this knowledge into their lives and their relationship with wealth. He also provides practical suggestions for family wealth advisors and how they should integrate this concept into their advisory practice and utilize it to strengthen their relationships with their UHNW clients.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with one of the leading academics and practitioners at the complex intersection wealth management and personal health and wellness.
Today, it is my pleasure and honor to speak with His Excellency Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah. His Excellency is the President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, one of the largest economic development arms in Dubai. In his current role, he oversees the implementation of Dubai Chambers' strategic initiatives and plans, which aim to improve ease of doing business in Dubai, support businesses expanding globally, attract foreign companies and investment and advance the digital economy.
Previously, he served as CEO of the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection for Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, where he was responsible for overseeing consumer protection, business protection, intellectual property protection and commercial compliance. He also held several other leadership positions at the Department of Economic Development, namely Deputy CEO of the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection Sector, Deputy CEO of the Dubai Export Development Corporation, Executive Director of Corporate Quality and Excellence and Deputy Director of Information Technology Department at Dubai Land Department.
Dubai has seen tremendous transformation and growth in the past couple of decades, which seems to only have accelerated in the recent 5 years since the COVID-19 pandemic. His Excellency gives our listeners an overview of Dubai as a regional center and highlights some of the benefits and policies that have contributed to its growth and popularity among global businesses and investors.
Industry data shows that, in the past couple of years, the United Arab Emirates – and Dubai in particular – have seen tremendous influx of wealthy individuals and families, with many choosing to establish or relocate their family office there. His Excellency describes why family offices are flocking to Dubai and talks about the factors that are driving this rising interest and attraction among wealthy families and family offices.
Within the umbrella Dubai Chambers organization exists the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, which is dedicated to positioning Dubai as a global hub for advanced technologies. His Excellency elaborates on Dubai's digitization strategy, the investments and transformation it entails, and its benefits and attractions for global families and their family offices.
Dubai's geographic location and relative proximity to many key international markets is another strategic asset. His Excellency explains how and why global families of wealth should consider Dubai as a potential launchpad to neighboring markets and a hub for their regional and global strategies.
Do not miss this exclusive conversation with one of the foremost leaders and supporters of the Dubai business and investment community, H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Dan Veitkus, CEO & Managing Partner of Corsica Partners, LLC, a global executive search and strategic talent management firm specializing in recruiting executive leadership for private equity, venture and family office backed companies. Dan grew up in a family business and started his first company at the age of 13. Prior to entering the field of executive search and coaching, he served 20+ years as a business leader and executive for private and public companies ranging in size from $10M - $1B annual turnover in the telecom, software/SaaS and corporate learning sectors.
Dan is an active advisor to CEOs and boards and a former distinguished mentor & executive coach for the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, an organization founded by Richard Branson to support entrepreneurs by providing leadership development, mentoring and coaching to help launch and grow their businesses. Dan is the author of the Amazon Best Seller Straight Talk Your Way to Success. He also produced a Broadway Show, Dream Big: The Rudy Ruettiger Story, now available on Amazon Prime.
Succession is easily one of the top three evergreen topics and challenges that UHNW families and their family offices contend with all the time. Dan explains why it is important that succession happens in the family office in a planful and smooth way. He highlights how succession in the family office is different from traditional corporate succession and business continuity practices and points out the unique distinctions of family office transitions and successions.
Based on his extensive experience advising and recruiting talent for family offices, Dan offers his practical suggestions for family offices and family principals looking to hire key executive talent as part of their succession planning.
He also offers practical tips for all the other stakeholders in the succession process, including the candidates looking to land the key role at a family office, but also the advisors, family office employees, and family members who participate in or are impacted by the leadership transition.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with a leading talent and operations practitioner and advisor in the UHNW and family office space.
Today, I am excited to speak with Teresa Leigh, owner and founder of Teresa Leigh Home + Family Office an award-winning, nationally recognized boutique firm advising UHNW clients on staff and service vendors for the home, property and family office.
Teresa has worked with high-net-worth clients for over 39 years, and is a passionate educator, speaker and author of multiple published white papers, educational videos and articles focused on helping high net worth clients make the best decisions for their homes and family offices. Teresa is often quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Institutional Investor, The New York Times, and Worth Magazine.
Teresa offers our listeners an overview of in-home elder care for families and highlights some of the challenges family members and family offices face when they seek and employ such in-house support.
She describes the different options for in-home elder care services family members and family offices should consider and evaluate, and enumerates the pros and cons of these different solutions that families should be aware of and know how to compare.
For families who are in need of in-home support and are in the early stages of this journey, Teresa provides some practical tips for how they can get started and then how they should manage all the change and the steep learning curve they are facing.
There are many risks associated with in-home elder care – personal safety and financial fraud are just two common examples. Teresa explains how families should protect themselves and their elder family members and emphasizes what they should watch out for as they explore these in-home services.
Don't miss this highly practical conversation with a recognized leader and practitioner in the field of household management for UHNW families.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Joe Pellegrino, co-founder of The Pantheon Group, a bespoke residential management company. Joe partners with leading family offices to transform how their clients' residential estates are managed. He has pioneered a comprehensive residential estate management approach that seamlessly integrates with family office operations, reducing property management complexity to near-zero.
Serving ultra-high-net-worth families with multiple properties across the United States, Joe and his team act as the dedicated real estate arm for discerning family offices, ensuring their clients' properties are managed with the same level of sophistication as their investment portfolios. Joe and his firm, The Pantheon Group, are a Specialist Advisor member of FOX, and we are thankful to have his expertise within our membership community.
The luxury property space is unique and there is a lot of operational complexity and risk involved. And yet, it is also the home or a place UHNW clients really should enjoy rather than worry about operating. Joe talks about the interplay between the risks involved and the experience clients seek, and how estate managers, like his firm, navigate and simplify this complex equation.
Family offices are increasingly being asked by their clients to do more and handle a broader scope of services, including lifestyle and concierge services. Joe shares his views on the role of the family office when it comes to working with the estate management specialists who support the family and handle their luxury properties and everything the family needs and expects in that aspect.
One important decision in luxury estate management is selecting the right vendors and partners. Joe offers practical tips and advice for families and their family offices on how to best evaluate and select the professional firms they work with to manage their properties.
Finally, Joe provides his suggestions for estate management vendors and specialists serving UHNW families. He emphasizes the importance of building connections with the family, and uses the term "anticipatory excellence", which he unpacks in detail for our audience.
Don't miss this deeply informative conversation with one of the leading innovators and service providers in the luxury estate management space.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Tomas Hurcik, Co-Founder and CEO of ORCA AG, a Swiss based SaaS company focused on building legal technology to support and automate the growing amount of legal, tax and compliance to-do's that modern families with complex legal structures face. Tomas co-founded ORCA in 2017 after gaining first-hand insight via his wife’s family business and family office into the difficulty of assembling, analyzing, and sharing structure charts, entity management, and compliance reporting information.
Prior to co-founding ORCA, Tomas spent his entire working life in startups in investment banking, private banking, and e-commerce. Two IPO-ed, one failed. Tomas and his company ORCA are a FOX technology resource partner, and we are thankful to have his expertise as part of our membership community.
Families and their complex enterprises have – and constantly generate – a lot of information, and organizing, storing, and retrieving this information is an ever-growing challenge. Tomas talks about this challenge and describes the relevance of organizing important information to families and their family offices.
When Tomas decided to create ORCA, he perceived a specific opportunity based on a common pain point that most families experience with their data and information – a pain point that he and his wife also experienced. He describes this experience and shares the pain points he set out to solve.
The company Tomas created, ORCA, is gaining ever greater recognition in our space. He tells us what ORCA is – what it does, what problems it solves for families and family offices, and how it solves them.
For family office owners and executives in our audience who are focused on managing their enterprise information needs, Tomas offers his advice on how best to do that. He elaborates on how they should think about their information needs and plan to organize, manage, and deliver information to their increasingly diverse and dispersed user base.
Don't miss this eye-opening conversation with a leading entrepreneur and thought leader in the family office technology ecosystem.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Debbie Bond Dear and Whitney Dear-Reyes. Debbie is the Founder & Executive Director of Vanguard Landing, a purpose-planned community designed to offer a safe, intentional, interactive, and inclusive community where persons with intellectual and developmental differences can thrive and achieve their life’s full potential. Whitney is Board Chair of Vanguard Landing and serves as the organization’s Development and Resource Director.
First, Debbie and Whitney orient our listeners to the basics of this very important topic. They define the term “intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)”, describing what conditions fall within this umbrella label, and what are the most common challenges faced by people living with IDD.
IDDs most commonly have a very early onset, affecting children from a very young age. Debbie and Whitney talk about the challenges faced by children with IDD and their parents, while also covering some of the opportunities that perhaps today largely remain unrealized.
Debbie and Whitney describe the vision and objectives of Vanguard Landing and what they are looking to achieve with this ambitious project and how they plan to realize these goals.
They also share their thoughts on how others can get involved with this noble cause – what businesses, families of means, philanthropies, and other organizations need to know or do to help and contribute to the wellbeing of people with IDD.
Please take a close listen to this impactful and important conversation with two of the leading innovators and visionaries in the sphere of helping people with IDDs lead a full life.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Mohamed Elzomor, Co-Founder of Nines, a household management platform trusted by hundreds of family offices around the world. He and his co-founder Jacco de Bruijn created the company and lead its mission to bring ease, structure, and innovation to the world of household management. Mohamed and his company Nines are a FOX technology resource partner, and we are excited to have their expertise as part of our membership community.
Mohamed focused his entrepreneurial attention and creativity on the niche segment of managing the private estates and household operations of UHNW families, and he gives us an overview of this space, highlighting the unique aspects of luxury estate management. He helps our audience understand what is considered a top-notch client offering and service – what does good look like – in this unique market niche.
Mohamed explains how most UHNW families are managing their private properties today – whether most attempt to self-manage or they turn to professional property managers – and he paints the picture of the major pain points they UHNW clients commonly experience.
When Mohamed founded Nines, he and his co-founder set out to alleviate many of the pain points experienced by both UHNW owners and their luxury property managers. He gives us an overview of the Nines platform, describing its key functionalities and the main problems it solves for families, family offices, and estate manages.
One practical advice Mohamed has for UHNW families and their family offices is to learn and understand the world of estate managers – how it works and how to best engage with the professionals in this space. He shares his views on why this is important and offers his recommendations to families and their staff on what they should know on the subject.
Enjoy this highly illuminating conversation with one of the most prominent disruptors and technology providers in the UHNW estate management space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Brian Adams, Partner at Mack International, where he specializes in C-suite executive search and human capital consulting for family offices and enterprises. Brian serves on the board of Sirrom Partners LP, a single-family office, and is the host of the Mack Podcast, which provides expert insights for family office professionals. Alongside his family office expertise, Brian co-founded two real estate private equity firms and was a former practicing attorney. Mack International is a former long-time member of FOX.
Talent – especially top leadership talent – continues to be among the top evergreen needs of enterprise families and their family offices. We begin with Brian’s insights on talent search for family offices. He paints the picture of the current landscape for identifying and attracting leadership talent to SFOs and covers the most prominent trends he sees in the marketplace.
Another persistent challenge for family offices is holding on to the top talent they have – especially, since most SFOs tend to be small, flat organizations without much of a career path or growth options for their key people. Brian shares his view on the key talent retention strategies and tools utilized by family offices and how they have evolved over time.
An interesting, and somewhat counterintuitive, consideration family offices face when they think about attracting and retaining talent is their location strategy. Brian talks about why and how the choice of where the office is located can have a significant practical impact on SFOs’ ability to recruit and engage their key people.
Another practical tool that families and family offices have at their disposal – yet don’t always deploy fully in their talent management strategy – is their values, governance, and mission. Brian describes how these foundational elements of governance and collective decision-making that families establish and follow come into play when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent.
Don’t miss this highly insightful conversation with one of the top executive recruiting firms serving the family office space.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Craig Armstrong, Managing Partner of Veridian, a Miami-based tax, audit, accounting, and advisory firm. Craig has over 25 years of public accounting experience, including serving clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local or middle market companies, as well as high net worth family offices and individuals. He began his career with the firm of Williams, Cox, Weidner, and Cox in Tallahassee, Florida, and held prior roles as Senior Manager of Corporate Accounting Special Projects with Ryder System, Inc. and South Florida Site Leader for audits of employee benefit plans at PwC in Miami.
Craig co-founded CAPA, a certified public accounting firm in 2004 and merged with Hancock Askew in 2020 prior to forming Veridian in 2025. He serves on the audit and finance committee of the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami and is a member of the University of Miami’s School of Business Accounting Advisory Board. Craig and his firm, Veridian, are advisor members of FOX and we are thrilled to have their expertise available within our membership community.
In recent years, technological advancements have transformed the role of the advisor serving UHNW families. Craig talks about how the role of the advisor has evolved alongside technology, and particularly how the role of the CPA has changed.
With the rise of AI, we are beginning to witness the next-stage transformation of the family advisor role. Craig shares his thoughts on what is likely to happen to the role of the fiduciary advisor in the era of AI – how will CPAs, estate planners, and wealth planners will coexist with the AI tools.
One practical consideration advisors and families need to navigate is the increasingly divergent preferences between older-gen and rising-gen clients. Craig offers his tips on how professionals and clients can best manage the “generational tug of war” caused by their different values and preferences.
Finally, Craig provides his and suggestions for UHNW clients on how best to interact with their CPA – especially given all the self-serve tools and AI solutions that are increasingly available in all professional services fields.
Please enjoy this highly informative conversation with a leading expert and experienced UHNW advisor serving enterprise families.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Debbie Wilkerson, President & CEO of Greater Horizons, one of the nation’s largest and most experienced providers of philanthropic services, with more than $6 billion in charitable assets. Since 1998, Debbie has helped build Greater Horizons and its local counterpart, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, into trusted partners for individuals, families and companies using donor-advised funds and other charitable vehicles to support the causes they care about.
With a background in estate and tax law, Debbie was introduced to philanthropy through her work on Ewing Kauffman’s historic donation of the Kansas City Royals in the 1990s—the first and only time a major league sports team has been gifted to charity. Debbie became President & CEO in 2012 after serving as General Counsel and COO, and under her leadership, Greater Horizons offers a comprehensive giving platform and world-class service, with expertise in complex charitable gifts including private business interests and cryptocurrency.
Debbie and her organization work with families and their enterprises to devise their giving strategies, and she tells us how they help donors identify the assets they want to or should deploy in their philanthropic strategy.
Debbie has extensive experience with donors gifting to charity some exceptional assets, such as the Kansas City Royals team. She highlights the considerations and lessons learned related to deploying unique, non-traditional assets as part of a family’s philanthropic vision and strategy.
Going into the practical aspects of her work with clients, Debbie unpacks the various structures – foundations, DAFs, supporting organizations, etc. – that donors can choose from when it comes to operationalizing their philanthropic vision and plans.
Finally, Debbie offers some useful tips and suggestions to our listeners with regard to the practical tools, frameworks, or resources families and their family offices can engage when devising and implementing their philanthropic giving strategies.
Don’t miss this highly instructive and illuminating conversation with a leading expert and practitioner in the field of family giving and philanthropic strategy.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Eric Hohauser, President of Harvey Hohauser & Associates, a firm specializing in the assessment, identification, integration, and placement of culturally aligned and strategically adaptive C-Suite & Vice President level leaders. Prior to joining Harvey Hohauser & Associates in 2008, Eric worked at a multi-site distribution and retail business, where he was responsible for the management of cross-functional operations, merchandising, recruitment, and training teams. Eric, and his firm Harvey Hohauser & Associates, is a valued and generous advisor member of FOX, and we are fortunate to have his expertise available to our membership community.
Recruiting executive leaders and expert staff for family offices continues to be one of the top priorities, and challenges, for enterprise families. Eric talks about what it takes to successfully recruit and assimilate senior leaders into a family office, as well as what the family office recruiting landscape and marketplace looks like today.
Beyond identifying and recruiting talented leaders, building a strong culture in the family office is really important – and has its own unique challenges. Eric points to what wealth owners and family leaders should be doing to foster a vibrant and attractive culture within their family offices, and how they can imbue the family office with a strong purpose and vision that attracts and retains top talent.
One practical tip Eric has for family leaders is to link the family office design, governance, and even culture with those of the family. He describes how that can be done and why it helps strengthen the bonds between the family and its family office staff.
Another strong suggestion Eric has for family leaders is to engage in continuity planning for the family office in a systematic and intentional manner – actively managing the organizational design of the family office and aligning it with the needs and values of the family. Eric paints the picture for our listeners of how to do that and what are some of the best practices you see families apply to achieve this goal.
Please enjoy this very relevant and illuminating conversation with one of the most experienced thought leaders and practitioners in the world of family office talent recruiting and development.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Christopher Rim, founder and CEO of Command Education, a top college admissions consultancy based in New York City. Command Education helps students pursue their passions and navigate the college process. Before founding the company in 2015, Christopher worked on inspirED at Meta with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and served on advisory boards for organizations like Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. A Yale graduate in psychology, he developed an EQ-based mentoring approach that has helped hundreds of students gain admission to top schools, with a 94% acceptance rate to at least one of their top three choices.
Christoper helps families with what is almost always the #1 objective for parents across the globe – providing the best education, and the best opportunities, for their children. He talks about the importance of helping young rising-gen members to enter top schools and elite colleges and why this is so high up on the list of critical priorities.
The college prep space has transformed significantly in recent years. Christopher shares his insights on how the landscape has changed – how the selection process has evolved among leading schools and what it takes nowadays for a college applicant to stand out and succeed.
One practical tip Christopher has for our listeners is the importance of extracurricular activities and projects that showcase the values, passion, and interests of the rising gen members. He elaborates on that and highlights why these activities and undertakings matter more and more.
Finally, Christopher offers his views on some of the most important practical resources for students and their parents that can help them navigate and excel throughout this process – from consultants to tutors to coaches and other quantitative and qualitative tools.
Enjoy this highly informative conversation with a trailblazer in the college admission consulting and coaching space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Patricia Angus, Founder and CEO of Angus Advisory Group, an independent consulting practice serving enterprise families. A former international trusts and estates lawyer, Patricia is a thought leader in the field of multi-generational family governance, wealth and philanthropy. She has been advising global families and their companies, family offices, and foundations, for three decades and is the author of The Beneficiary Primer, among numerous publications. She founded the Global Family Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School, where she teaches graduate and executive education courses, and is a Fellow and board member of the Family Firm Institute and a frequent speaker at industry and family events. Patricia is a long-time friend and collaborator of FOX.
Patricia is one of the pioneers in the family wealth space and has been at the forefront of the industry for over 3 decades. As she reflects on the past 30 years, she shares what she believes has changed significantly and what has stayed the same.
As Mark Twain famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Today, we find ourselves once again in a time of significant geopolitical and economic shocks, armed conflicts at home and abroad, and the return of populism and authoritarianism even among western democracies. Patricia offers some of the lessons she has learned and would like to pass on to families and their advisors on how to best weather such times of conflict, instability, and disruption.
Throughout her career, Patricia has developed a number of practical tools for families – one prominent example of a tool she utilizes with her clients is the Trustee and Beneficiary Primer. She tells us more about these tools, what is in them, and how families and their advisors can benefit from them.
In the family wealth space, there is a mix of practitioners and academic programs aimed at helping families of wealth achieve success throughout their multigenerational journey. Patricia provides her insights into how families should think about utilizing practitioners vs. academics, highlighting the utility and limitations of each of these resources and offering tips into how families can achieve the right balance between the different kinds of knowledge and tools both academia and practitioners provide?
Do not miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the veterans and original thought leaders of the family wealth space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Samantha Reynolds, Founder & CEO of ECHO Storytelling Agency. Since 1999, Sam and her firm have been trusted by hundreds of prominent families and global companies to preserve their legacies in books and videos. In 2005, Sam was named one of British Columbia’s “Top 40 under 40” and is also a Forbes Magazine Council Member and writes a monthly article on how to use authentic storytelling to drive business results. Sam and her firm, ECHO, are Specialist Advisor members of FOX, and we are excited to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community.
In the family wealth space, we are increasingly talking about the importance of telling the family story and passing the history down to future generations. Sam talks about the neuroscience behind sharing authentic stories – both stories of success and of adversity. Can you talk about this and connect it with how you see the significance of the family’s story throughout their journey.
There’s a delicate balance between sharing enough and sharing too much – both among family members and with external constituents. Sam shares her views on how families should navigate this balance and determine how much to share internally and with the public and their employees.
One practical tool Sam has developed and uses with her clients is a list of questions rising-gen members can ask of their elders. She tells us about this list and highlights the top questions to ask and the best settings in which to ask them. Sam also describes some of the modern technology-enabled tools and resources she recommends to families to help them with their effective communications and storytelling – or as she calls it “memory insurance.”
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the storytelling and legacy preservation space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Clubb, Founder and CEO of myFloc, an innovative fintech company addressing the unique financial needs of the aging population and their families. Prior to myFloc, Elizabeth was President and Chief Strategy Officer at an innovation and growth consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients across a broad range of industries. Elizabeth is on the Board of Directors of Lenbrook, a nationally renowned Continuing Care Retirement Community, where she serves on the Strategic Planning Committee and the Marketing Committee. She is an active member of the AARP Agetech Collaborative and The Business Collaborative for Brain Health and an Advisory Board member of The Famtech Collaborative.
Across our society, there are lately more conversations about and recognition of the impact of age on financial decision-making and the associated risks. Elizabeth talks about how the topic is being broached and addressed in the wealth management space in general, and in the world of wealthy families and family offices in particular.
A related, and unfortunately relevant and frequent, topic is financial fraud targeting older people. Elizabeth describes the latest trends and developments in the space and elaborates on how the threats and risks evolving are and how the risk-management, education and protection strategies and tactics are developing to respond to those threats.
One practical tip Elizabeth offers is that, in addition to all the technical and quantitative solutions and strategies, families and their family offices should also focus on the human element of fraud prevention – specifically, talking to and educating family members about fraud sooner than later. She shares the best practices and approaches for families she has observed in that area. Finally, she provides her top list of useful fraud prevention tools for families and family offices that can help them protect family members from financial exploitation.
Please enjoy this highly informative conversation with a leading expert and practitioner specializing in the unique financial needs and risks among the elderly and their families.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Roy Moëd, Co-Founder of LifeBook Memoirs, a company dedicated to helping parents and grandparents preserve their life stories in beautifully crafted, private autobiographies for their families. The inspiration for LifeBook Memoirs came from Roy’s own experience when he helped his ageing father rediscover a sense of purpose at a difficult time in his life. Since then, Roy and his company have created over 20,000 private memoirs for families in more than 40 countries.
Prior to that, Roy co-founded Pourshins Limited in 1978, which grew into a global enterprise employing over 600 people in 4 countries around the world. Throughout his career, he has built businesses not just with commercial success in mind, but with a heartfelt desire to connect and impact people and families in ways that matter.
Roy begins by explaining it is important for families to share their history with their children and future generations and for founders and family leaders to tell the story of their life and achievements in their own words.
Nowadays, there are so many storytelling formats to choose from, yet in his business, Roy has adhered to a single traditional format – the autobiographical printed book. Roy talks about why the physical book is still the best medium for older generations to share their life story with their progeny.
Many family leaders may feel overwhelmed by the notion of writing a book that captures the essence of their life’s journey and achievements. Roy offers his advice on how to get started on the journey of writing an autobiography that will speak to and be appreciated by future generations.
Roy provides some practical resources that he recommends to families and family leaders who wish to consider embarking on a book-writing journey to memorialize the family’s origins, values, and stories.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with a veteran storyteller and publisher of limited-edition biographies exclusively serving enterprise family leaders and founders.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Amy Castoro, President and CEO of The Williams Group, where she leads a team dedicated to ensuring the smooth transfer of wealth across generations. Amy is a recognized expert in preparing high-net-worth families to successfully transition wealth while maintaining family unity and control over assets. She is also an accomplished author, keynote speaker, and senior family coach known for her direct yet compassionate approach, which fosters long-term relationships and delivers measurable results.
Amy is the author of Bridging Generations—Transitioning Family Wealth and Values for a Sustainable Legacy. She is a long-time friend of FOX and has been a speaker at FOX events and council meetings.
Amy has helped many UHNW families navigate intergenerational transitions, and she shares her experience on what are the hallmarks of a successful wealth transition and what role trust and communication play in achieving such successful transitions. Throughout her career, Amy has created a framework for how to build, repair, and manage trust in a family. She tells us about this framework and highlights how families can successfully leverage it.
One practical tip Amy offers to many families is how to have challenging conversations and how to structure this often-uncomfortable process. She provides her recipe for success with necessary but difficult discussions within the family.
Another practical tool Amy has developed is her “10 Questions Quiz” that she uses to help families strengthen relationships with each other and prepare for a smooth and successful intergenerational wealth transition. She describes the 10 questions and how she applies the quiz to help families succeed.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with a leading advisor of UHNW families and practitioner in the field of family transitions and wealth transfer.
Today, it is my pleasure to welcome back to FOXcast Jeff Strese, a valued member of the FOX team. Jeff is a human capital expert and executive coach focused on family-owned business leaders and senior wealth advisors. He works with FOX as consultant to develop transformational leadership programs and support our councils with thought leadership on human capital, generational transitions, and family dynamics. Jeff also teaches in the Executive Education program at SMU’s COX School of Business based in Dallas, TX.
One constant in our space is the fact that families – and their enterprises and family offices – are often in a state of transition and change. And change is not easy for anyone. Jeff talks about the most common and challenging types of change that families and family offices undergo.
There are many theoretical and practical models for helping people and organizations go through change smoothly. Jeff has found that Janssen’s “Four Room Model” is particularly effective with families undergoing change. He describes this model, how it is constructed, and how families can apply it to manage the process and risks of change.
We delve into the practical tips Jeff has for family leaders on how they can apply the Four Room Model to champion and lead smooth and successful change within their family and the extended enterprise. We then also turn to those who are on the receiving end of change and transformation – both family members and others within the family enterprise or family office. Jeff offers his suggestions to them on how best to engage with the process to ensure the best outcomes and experience.
Do not miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading human capital experts and practitioners in the family wealth and family office space.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Drew Mason and Christianna Mason. Drew is Managing Partner at St. Joseph Partners, a precious‑metals brokerage and wealth protection firm serving individuals, families, and family offices across the U.S. and internationally. He is a G2 principal of Andrew Mason Associates, a family business founded in 1979 as a strategic management consultancy and later pivoted to acquiring and building businesses, with three ultimately sold to private equity. Christianna is Drew’s daughter and a G3 member in their family office. She is a CPA who has advised Fortune 100 and private equity clients on global M&A from PwC’s New York office.
Earlier in his career, Drew held positions at major Wall Street firms including Lehman Brothers, where he witnessed first-hand the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, an experience that triggered a personal and professional search for true financial safe havens in times of stress. This ultimately led to him founding St. Joseph Partners, and over the past fifteen years, the firm’s services have expanded to include: an online trading engine, secure domestic and international storage, private-label minting, audit and insurance facilitation and logistics.
In this episode we focus our conversation on gold. Drew and Christianna share their views on what is so unique about gold as an alternative investment asset and why investors should be paying particular attention to gold right now. They also address the skeptics and risk managers out there, who may not be convinced, and explore what the worst-case scenario might look like for gold.
Drew and Christianna delve into the options and intricacies associated with investing in physical gold vs. financial instruments that emulate the performance of gold. And for those who are worried they may have missed the gold rally and are wondering whether it’s too late to get in now, they provide a perspective on where their think gold is headed from here.
Enjoy this instructive conversation with two of the leading experts on multigenerational families investing in gold and precious metals.
Today, it is my absolute pleasure to speak with Amy Hart Clyne, Chief Knowledge & Learning Officer at Pitcairn. Amy is responsible for Pitcairn’s Family Engagement Services function and leads the firm’s thought leadership and learning initiatives. Before joining Pitcairn, Amy served as Executive Director and Chief Knowledge Officer at FOX, and led our knowledge, learning, and education strategies serving our community of families and multi-disciplinary advisors.
Amy is the co-author of the book Finding Her Voice & Creating a Legacy: Portraits of Pioneering Women Leading Wealthy Families – an exploration that draws from intimate, in-depth conversations with over 40 women of wealth about how they came to wealth, their role in the family, and the obstacles they overcame.
Amy holds a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation and an Advanced Family Business certification (ACFBA) from the Family Firm Institute where she is also an FFI Fellow. She, and her firm Pitcairn, are valued wealth advisor members of FOX and we are thrilled to have their expertise as part of the FOX membership community. Finally, Amy is a former member of the FOX team, and I am thrilled to welcome such a distinguished FOX alumna to FOXCast.
Amy’s book, Finding Her Voice is a groundbreaking book and, in my view, required reading in the family wealth space. Amy shares with our audience the story of the book, including what motivated her to write it and what methodology she used for gathering the insights and stories captured in the book.
Having captured the fascinating and unique stories of these 40 women, Amy talks about the main revelations and learnings that she took away from her research and that she is passing on to the readers of the book.
We then talk about the more practical outcomes of Amy’s research and the applied learnings for female wealth owners, starting with some practical tips and suggestions for the women who are founders or wealth-creators and built their wealth from scratch.
Next, we discuss the advice and suggestions Amy would offer to female inheritors – those who are the recipients of generational wealth being passed on to them.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the pioneers of family wealth learning and education, and a groundbreaking researcher, writer, and thought leader in the field of women in wealth.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Amy Wirtz, Senior Consultant with The Family Business Consulting Group. Amy works closely with families to identify their goals around values, ownership, and financial wealth, and helps them establish family offices, councils, and enterprise governance systems to support these goals. She served as a lawyer for 27 years, with the last 10 years practicing collaborative law.
In addition, Amy is a trained mediator and skilled facilitator in conflict resolution, communication, and listening skills. She serves on multiple family business advisory boards and frequently teaches and speaks at business forums, including YPO, YPO Family Office, Private Company Governance Conference, and The Exit Planning Institute.
In today’s conversation, we’ll zoom into generation-skipping trusts, which are both powerful and popular estate planning vehicles deployed by UHNW families and their advisors. We start with the basics, and Amy providing a definition of what generation-skipping trusts are and why are they so commonly utilized by families of wealth.
Like all estate planning, risk management, and tax optimization strategies, there are both pros and cons and complexities associated with generation-skipping trusts. Amy talks about the long-term implications for families who establish and subsequently must live within these legal structures.
Amy offers some practical tips and suggestions for families who are just starting to consider generation-skipping trusts, helping outline what they should know and beware, and how they should prepare the family for these structures.
Amy then offers some pointers and advice for families who already have established generation-skipping trusts, sharing her insights into how they can live their lives in accordance with their goals and preferences while still managing and complying with the complexities of these existing legal structures.
Please enjoy this deeply insightful conversation with one of the leading practitioners and consultants in the area of trust and estate planning for UHNW families.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Bob Weinhold, Partner at Velocity Advisory Group, an advisory firm helping clients accelerate organizational success through leadership development, executive coaching, cultural alignment, and strategic execution. Bob oversees the firm’s Family Business Advisory and Executive Coaching practices. He began his career in healthcare working with executives in 1996 and later that year was fortunate to support the Atlanta Olympic Games with his individual and team performance enhancement experience. Bob supports the development of next generation leaders to prepare for succession and help senior family members transition responsibilities while mitigating risk.
In his work with families, Bob talks about the concept of “mental scripts” that family members have in their heads that, while helpful in some cases, can also get in the way of successful transitions, communications, and relationships within family enterprises. He elaborates on this concept and gives some examples of how these mental scripts form and manifest themselves within families of wealth.
One common challenge related to the “mental scripts” topic is the “fear of screwing up” mentality that so often guides and derails progress among enterprise families and their members. Bob explains why this “Don’t Mess It Up!” attitude is so pervasive both among older generations looking to transition control and their next-gen descendants who are looking to step into leadership. He also offers some insights into what families can do to avoid or navigate this common pitfall.
One practical tip Bob offers is for family members to really mind their language – to study the phrases they use in their conversations. Bob delves into why language is so important and unpacks what family leaders and members can do to make sure how they speak to each other helps them grow and succeed rather than derail or hold them back.
Another practical tool Bob uses and recommends is “the list”, which often older generations have in their mind before they can be comfortable transitioning power and control. He talks about this mental list – what’s often on it, how to deal with it, and how rising-gen members can manage toward and around this list.
Enjoy this instructive conversation with a prominent and experienced thought leader and practitioner in the field of intergenerational transitions and succession within UHNW families.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Van Carlson, Founder & CEO of SRA 831(b) Admin, a specialized risk management solutions company. Van has over 25 years of experience within the risk management industry. Prior to founding SRA, Van ran his own property and casualty firm for 15 years and was awarded Presidents Council’s and other top-performing achievements during his tenure as a P&C Agent. In 2008, he saw the Great Recession hit his commercial business clients hard, and just like them, he was also affected by the sharp economic downturn. Out of that challenging experience, he emerged committed to developing better ways to manage risk and improve business operations for his clients, and consequently founded SRA 831(b) Admin to pursue this mission.
In this episode, we delve into the topic of micro-captive insurance plans, or 831(b) plans, and the ways family businesses and family offices can deploy this specialized tool to manage a range of risks. Van covers the fundamentals, offering our audience an overview of how 831(b) plans work and why wealth owners and family enterprises should consider deploying this innovative risk management tool.
There are many ways 831(b) plans can create value for families and their enterprises. Van describes the most common use cases families and family offices can address by deploying 831(b) plans and shares some examples of the different unfunded liabilities this tool can help address.
One very practical and helpful tool Van developed is the 831B.com website. He talks about the resources that are available on the website and how families and family office teams can utilize this public resource.
The 831(b) solutions have many positive applications, but as is the case with everything in life, there are also downsides to consider. Van covers the potential risks associated with 831(b) plans and shares his tips on how our listeners can avoid or mitigate these risks.
Please enjoy this insightful conversation with a pioneer and thought leader in the technical field of micro-captive insurance plans.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Brad Mindich, CEO and Founder of Inveniem, the leading archiving & fan engagement company that works directly with artists, estates, athletes, brands, and individual celebrities on finding, organizing, preserving, and monetizing their artifacts and history. Brad also founded Agent Phoenix, a brand realignment and creative consulting agency, which works with companies to improve and enhance their relationships with their target audiences. Brads businesses have served such iconic artists as Coldplay, Metallica, Norah Jones, Jeff Bridges, Questlove, and Elvis Costello, to name just a few. Prior to founding Inveniem and Agent Phoenix, Brad was President of the Phoenix Media/Communications Group, a multi-media organization, and is a veteran of several media and technology start-ups in the US and UK.
Brad talks about the world of iconic creators – artists, actors, athletes, and other creative personages – and provides an overview of this exclusive niche and how he and other experts serve these VIP UHNW clients, especially helping them preserve and manage their intellectual property, intangible assets, and unique artifacts.
The knowledge, tools, and processes Brad and his firm have developed and apply are not limited to just in this creative niche of the market. Brad describes how families of wealth can also leverage this approach and solutions to preserve and pass down their artifacts, heirlooms, and collections – but also their legacy and values more broadly.
Brad goes over the practical steps of how families and UHNW clients can get started on this journey of understanding, managing, and making the most out of their creative assets and intellectual property. He delves into one of the most common roadblocks for many families and clients – how to first organize all the artifacts and creative assets they have so they can know what is there, what exists, and then follow the robust process to begin to manage these collections of unique, alternative assets.
Enjoy this informative conversation with the leading service provider in this exclusive niche of the UHNW wealth management landscape.
This week, it is my pleasure to speak with Mark Tepsich, Executive Director and Family Office Design and Governance Specialist in the Family Office Solutions group at UBS Private Wealth Management. Prior to joining UBS, Mark spent several years with a NYC based investment advisory firm, where he built the firm’s family office platform, which included designing the infrastructure, services, tech solutions and vetted third party professionals such as law and tax advisory firms. Prior to that, he spent a decade at a large single-family office where he served as General Counsel of a dynastic, multi-generational family, advising on family office structuring, governance design, personal, estate and income tax issues, as well as business formation and operations, investment due diligence and real estate development.
Many firms and institutions serving UHNW family clients are creating in-house family office groups and centers of excellence. Mark talks about this trend, explains its rationale, and outlines the different varieties of internal family office groups, and what capabilities they usually offer.
We then delve a bit deeper into the rationale, addressing why it makes sense to create these internal family office teams, and describing the scenarios when it makes sense for a UHNW family client to engage with such closely held family office groups. Mark also paints the picture of how these internal groups fit within the broader advisory and service provider ecosystem of players serving the UHNW and family office clientele.
Mark offers his practical tips on how UHNW clients should go about identifying and selecting the external partners they work with and what process they should follow – including how to identify, compare, and select internal family office groups that are part of a larger wealth advisory firm.
Finally, Mark shares his views on now the UHNW and family office ecosystem is evolving, highlighting how the different kinds of firms and internal family office groups not only coexist but actually collaborate with each other with the goal of to providing their (often shared) clients the best possible advice, solutions, and service.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with one of the leading practitioners in the UHNW family wealth management space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Sharon Schneider, founder of Integrated Capital Strategies. She works with families and foundations to align all of their activities with their values, expanding from philanthropy and impact investments to advocacy, operating businesses and property management/household operations. She is the author of "Handbook for an Integrated Life: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Everyday Choices with Your Internal Compass". Previously Sharon served as Executive Director of the Telluray Foundation and was the founding Director of the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group.
She was also co-founder and CEO of the for-profit social enterprise Moxie Jean, a Chicago Innovation Award winner in 2013 and a 2012 portfolio company of renowned tech accelerator Excelerate Labs (now TechStars Chicago). Moxie Jean was acquired by Schoola in 2015. Before starting Moxie Jean, Schneider spent 12 years as a staff member and consultant to private foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and dozens of small family foundations, working on issues ranging from strategic planning and outcome management to engaging your family in philanthropy.
Sharon wrote a highly regarded book about the concept of an “Integrated Life”, and she shares with our audience the meaning of this term and its key takeaways for UHNW families. In her writings, Sharon posits that these is a “3rd Gen Problem” – that by the time G3 steps into the leadership role, the family office structure begins to strain. She describes this problem, and illustrates how it is manifested across families, why it occurs, and most importantly, what to do about it.
Through her work with families, Sharon has formulated 8 principles for a values-aligned family office, and she unpacks her thinking and practical insights related to the 8 principles. She then provides some specific practical applications of the principles, and shares some use cases that can help bring the principles to life for our audience.
Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the best recognized philanthropy advisors and practitioners in the family wealth space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Drew McMorrow, President & CEO of Ballentine Partners, an independent wealth management firm providing comprehensive investment and family office services to wealthy families and entrepreneurs. In addition to being responsible for the day-to-day management of the company, Drew also continues to consult with families on all aspects of their financial lives. Prior to joining the firm in 2002, Drew worked at Mercer Management Consulting, where he advised technology companies on their strategic plans, and before that, he was the Director of Business Operations at Oracle Corporation, where he directed financial and business analysis for procurement and distribution operations. Drew, and his firm Ballentine Partners, are valued members of the FOX MFO Council and we are very proud to have their expertise as part of the FOX membership community.
As family offices become increasingly popular and as families look to them for an ever-broader range of services and expertise, many families are weighing the pros and cons of in-housing vs. outsourcing vs. partnering as they try to decide on the optimal operating model for their family office. Drew shares his perspectives on the tradeoffs between in-house and partnered design options for SFOs and explains when and what should families consider outsourcing when building our their SFO, highlighting the functions or situations that lend themselves better to one model vs. another.
Drew and his firm Ballentine Partners have built the Center for Family Wellbeing as a practical resource to help families make the best resourcing choices for their FOs. He tells our audience about the Center, its mission, and how it serves multigenerational families of wealth.
Another practical insight Drew offers is regarding the often-neglected qualitative disciplines in support of the family’s long-term success – functions such as family communications, education and learning, and next-gen engagement and preparation. He provides his practical recommendations on how families can utilize internal resources and external partners to develop and deliver these mission-critical services to the family.
Do not miss this engaging conversation with one of the most prominent thinkers and leaders in the UHNW family wealth management space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Anne Rappa & Alex Glauber. Anne is the fine art practice leader for Marsh McLennan. She provides risk management advice and assists clients by negotiating risk and insurance solutions related to fine art collections and transactions. Anne has 30 years’ experience representing the interests of both individual and institutional collectors, institutions, art dealers, auction houses, art logistics companies and other fine art focused businesses. Anne, and her firm Marsh McLennan, are a valued Advisor member of the FOX community, and we are grateful to have their expertise and thought leadership in our membership community.
Alex is an art advisor, curator, and educator based in New York. He is the founder and principal of AWG Art Advisory, where he works with private individuals, corporations, and institutions in the conceptualization, building, and management of fine art collections. Prior to founding AWG Art Advisory in 2009, Alex served as an assistant curator for the Lehman Brothers and Neuberger Berman art collections from 2006 to 2009. He has curated monographic and thematic group exhibitions at venues as varied as the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, Phillips auction house, and Bryant Park, New York, as well as at galleries such as Lisson Gallery, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Chapter NY, Dickinson, David Lewis Gallery, and Casey Kaplan. He is a board member of The Brooklyn Rail and the president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors.
Art is an increasingly popular investment asset among enterprise families and family offices – both as a passion investment and an alternative asset in their diversified portfolios. Anne and Alex talk about what is going on today in the world of art investing and highlight the latest trends that have been shaping the space over the recent years. They also explain how art is different from other investment assets, describing the unique attributes and market structures that set art apart from other investments and even from other alternative assets.
One practical piece of advice Anne and Alex have for our listeners is to consider and understand the role of a professional art advisor. They describe the role of the art advisor and share their views on why families and family offices should be working with one and what value they can extract from such a relationship.
With the unique attributes and value of art come also some unique risks. Anne and Alex shed some light on the major risks art investors should be aware of and how family offices and their clients can manage and protect themselves against those risks.
Don’t miss this deeply instructional conversation with two of the leading experts and advisors in the world of art investing.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Jennifer Laurence, Founder and President of Luxury Lifestyle Logistics, a luxury home management and hospitality consulting firm. Jennifer has 25 years of expertise in luxury hospitality and private estate management and is a certified Butler, a trained Protocol Officer, holds a Wine Sommelier certificate, and is currently writing her doctoral research study on estate management communication. Through her consultancy, Jennifer specializes in service assessments, staff training, and operational strategy, ensuring estates function with seamless precision.
We delve into the world of luxury estate management serving UHNW individuals and multigenerational families, and Jennifer provides an overview of the estate management sector and gives our listeners a sense of the scope of client needs and operational services that are common in this space.
One unique aspect of the estate management space is that the asset being managed also happens to be the home of the UHNW family clients. Jennifer talks about some of the common challenges and best practices in luxury estate management today.
We go over some of the practical tips Jennifer has for UHNW families and their family offices when it comes to managing their residential estates or considering the services of a professional estate manager. She also shares her insights on how families can protect against the risks that come with having a professionally managed luxury residence and describes how they can guard the family members’ privacy, safety, and personal space, while enjoying the benefits of professional estate management.
Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the foremost thought leaders and practitioners in the UHNW luxury estate management space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Volker Then, an independent Senior Impact Analyst who is launching a start-up company on Comprehensive Impact Measurement together with a coalition of impact partners. From 2022 to 2024, Volker was Founding Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Fondazione AIS (Advancing Impact and Sustainability) in Bologna. Earlier in his career, Volker was Executive Director of the Centre for Social Investment at Heidelberg University for 15 years and also served as Director Philanthropy and Foundations at the Bertelsmann Foundation. He is a former member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the OECD’s Global Action “Social and Solidarity Economy” and served on the National Advisory Board of the G7-Social Impact Investment Task Force.
Impact is a big word nowadays – maybe even a buzzword – and people in our space are using it broadly and frequently. But it’s not clear that everyone has a clear shared definition of the term. Volker provides his definition of “impact”, especially as it relates to enterprise families and the objectives they set for themselves with regard to fulfilling the purpose of their wealth and their family capital.
One of the greatest challenges, and opportunities, in the world of impact is the measurement of the effectiveness and outcomes of impact initiatives. Volker talks about the latest thinking and work that is being done in this area, especially the thought leadership and development he has been spearheading in his prior role at Fondazione AIS and now in his current venture.
Volker offers his tips and suggestions for enterprise families who are just starting or are early in their impact journey, focusing on what he recommends they do to get better educated and equipped to realize their impact ambitions.
He then turns to enterprise families who are more advanced and have a developed impact framework and strategy, sharing his advice on what they can do to further the reach and consequence of their impact programs and strategies.
Don’t miss this enlightening conversation with one of the foremost thought leaders in the realm of impact definition and measurement.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Chris Koenemann, a family advisor and coach specializing in spiritual coaching and accompaniment. Chris served as Prior and Cellarer of a monastery of 20+ monks that owned and operated a school and operated a parish, and prior to that Chris was a Catholic monk for seventeen years, including five years in Rome, and as a Catholic priest. He studied organizational design and worked in that field with PwC Consulting and IBM.
Of all the 5 capitals Jay Hughes defined, spiritual capital is probably still the least frequently discussed in our field. In this conversation, we focus entirely on this important and oft-neglected form of family capital. We start with a definition of define spiritual capital and how you Chris sees the importance of spirituality in today’s modern, technology-driven world.
Chris describes the reality today in the wealth management space, including how well spirituality is understood, appreciated, and incorporated in the work enterprise families undertake to manage their family capital holistically. He also talks about how well family advisors understand and engage in this field.
Chris has created a framework he calls “8 Conversations” for families to co-create a culture that sticks. He tells us about this framework, defining the 8 Conversations and showcasing how to apply them to help families in transition.
Helping families understand and develop their unique culture is at the heart of Chris’s work. He points to Harrison’s model of culture as a useful tool to achieve these objectives. He also shares his insights about the model and how he applies it with families.
Please enjoy this enlightening conversation with an expert and practitioner who spans both the technical and spiritual dimensions of building a strong family culture that lasts across generations.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Bruce Benesh, Managing Principal at Benesh Consulting Group. Bruce has more than 40 years of experience in executive compensation, tax planning relating to compensation arrangements, and international human resource consulting. He formerly served as the national partner- in-charge of the Human Capital Services Practice at Grant Thornton, and prior to that was the partner-in-charge of Arthur Andersen's Americas Human Capital Services Practice.
Bruce, along with his firm Benesh Consulting Group, is a distinguished and generous advisor member of FOX, and we are fortunate to have his expertise available to our membership community.
Bruce begins with an overview of the family office executive compensation landscape today. He describes the current state of affairs in the space, the established practices, and the latest trends pertaining to compensating key staff at family offices.
Bruce then talks about some of the challenges family offices are facing when looking to create total compensation structures for their key employees and executives, highlighting the issues they struggle with the most.
Bruce has worked with dozens, if not hundreds, of family offices over the years, helping them design attractive and effective compensation packages for key hires. He summarizes some of the best practices he has observed most frequently and would recommend to our listeners.
Beyond hiring a compensation expert with experience in the family office space, such as himself, Bruce provides a summary of the other resources and practical tools family office owners and leaders should be aware of that can help them understand, plan, and design best-in-class compensation structures.
Do not miss this highly relevant and instructional conversation with one of the foremost thought leaders and practitioners in the family office compensation space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Betsy Erickson & Joseph Brooks, Co-Heads of Family and Individual Services at Arabella Advisors, a leading philanthropy services firm supporting individual, family, institutional, and corporate donors worldwide. Prior to joining Arabella, Betsy worked for eight years in the nonprofit sector with groups focused on cancer research. She provided independent consulting services to national and regional nonprofit organizations such as CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Prior to joining Arabella, Joseph led the philanthropic advising team at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and was a fundraising strategist for Marquette University and the country’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization.
Betsy and Joseph, and their firm Arabella, are valued Advisor members of FOX, and we are privileged to have their knowledge and expertise in our membership community.
The role of philanthropy within enterprise families is evolving – in some cases, philanthropy becoming the primary activity of the family enterprise. Betsy and Joseph talk about what is happening today in the world of family philanthropy and highlight the latest trends that have been shaping the space over the recent years.
These trends are inevitably affecting the role and design of the family office. Betsy and Joseph explain how family offices are transforming to respond to the importance of philanthropy and how they should be redesigned to support the family’s evolving needs and activities.
Arabella Advisors has put forth a body of thought leadership on the barriers to philanthropy that constrain enterprise families. Betsy and Joseph provide an overview of the most common barriers families face and how they can practically overcome them.
Philanthropy is often one of the most common activities families undertake together after they have evolved beyond being fully focused on their business – and as a result, it often is the training ground for other joint activities by the family. Betsy and Joseph share their views on the role of philanthropy in helping families work together and its broader practical implications on fostering lasting collaboration and unity among family members.
Don’t miss this highly informative conversation with two of the leading experts and advisors in the realm of family giving and philanthropy.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Cassandra Levene, Managing Director of Alpine Homes and Co-Founder of Swiss Homes. Cassandra is a multilingual real estate expert specializing in luxury Alpine properties. She took over her family business five years ago, bringing innovative leadership to Alpine Homes. Her firm offers concierge-style services to UHNWI clients and family offices around the globe, helping them invest in Swiss real estate—particularly in the iconic Swiss Alps.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on demand for secondary residences outside of the major global metropolitan areas, and Alpine homes in Switzerland were no exception. Cassandra talks about how the market for second homes in the Swiss Alps has developed and evolved over the recent decades and since the pandemic.
Beyond just secondary or vacation homes, Switzerland is also becoming a choice destination for many wealth families who are relocating either their primary residence or family office to the country. Cassandra highlights the factors that are driving this increased interest and causing Switzerland to be such an attractive destination for wealthy individuals and enterprise families.
Cassandra offers practical tips and suggestions for families who are looking to invest in Alpine vacation homes or even considering a primary residence in Switzerland. She also describes some of the risks families should beware and local peculiarities to watch out for when exploring an investment in primary or secondary homes in the Alps and elsewhere in Switzerland.
Please enjoy this highly informative conversation with a uniquely positioned expert in the fast-evolving market for Swiss Alpine homes.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Kasia Flanagan, founder of Everyday Legacies, a boutique personal history firm. Kasia and her team help high-net-worth families capture the experiences, values, and wisdom that define their legacies. Through bespoke memoirs, family story books, and legacy films, they help clients create lasting qualitative assets that complement their financial wealth and preserve their true legacies.
Kasia is an award-nominated historian, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker specializing in legacy preservation for exceptional individuals and families. Kasia and her firm, Everyday Legacies, are a Specialist Advisor member of FOX, and we are happy to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community.
Kasia’s mission is to help families preserve and grow their qualitative wealth, primarily through the power of storytelling, and she talks about why the family story is possibly its most powerful capital and how shared stories strengthen and enrich the family and its individual members.
Kasia describes the prevailing practices today among families who are looking to pass down their shared stories and legacies, highlighting the best practices and areas where there is room for improvement – where families could do better with this important dimension of their accumulated wealth.
Kasia and her firm have formulated a clever and compelling tagline: “Preserve your values, not just your valuables.” She shares her view on how families can and should be doing that and lists many of the practical tools and mechanisms she recommends to families, family offices, and their outside advisors.
Kasia also speaks to the families who are not yet ready to work with a specialized advisor, such as Everyday Legacies, and offers a broad array of DIY tools and readily accessible resources they can rely on.
Please enjoy this highly instructive conversation with one of the leading practitioners in the family history and values preservation space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Quinn, founder and president of Legacy Counsellors, an estate and business planning law firm serving successful individuals and families throughout New England. Kevin is a former Fellow of the Esperti-Peterson Institute and a member of the WealthCounsel, LLC, and a former member of the National Council on Planned Giving and the Connecticut Planned Giving Group.
He is a co-founder of the Wealth Legacy Development Project, an organization dedicated to helping non-profit organizations develop planned giving programs. Kevin is the founder and an instructor of the Wealth Strategies Institute, a professional education institute that provides continuing education to certified public accountants, certified financial planners, attorneys, development officers, and insurance professionals.
Kevin focuses his practice and work with families on the goal of “maximizing the utility of everyone in the family”. He talks about the meaning of this objective and how he approaches it in practice with UHNW families.
Kevin describes the outcome of his work with families often being that they together identify underutilized resources and capital within the family and redeploy those in a timely, effective, and collectively fulfilling ways. He describes how this happens, where this pent-up energy is usually hidden within families, and how they can unlock it.
Kevin created an intergenerational family wealth program, which he named “My Family My Wealth” that helps families structure a process to collectively talk about and share their abundance. He walks us through this program and highlights how it creates value for enterprise families.
Another practical resource Kevin has formulated and recommends to families is the “Top 5 Ways to Use Your Family Wealth to Help Your Family Flourish”. He shares with our audience this framework and its components, and highlights how families can benefit from it.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a successful practitioner in the UHNW family wealth space.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Michael Liebeskind, founder and principal at Golconda Partners, an independent firm that serves as a guide and service platform for ultra-affluent clients who are seeking to effectively navigate the sophisticated and financially powerful applications of life insurance and annuity investment account policies. Michael started his career with the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand and today is the founder of several operating businesses in the financial services space.
He is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs, the Estate Planning Council of New York City, The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and the Yale Insurance Study Group. Michael and his firm Golconda Partners are valued advisor members of FOX, and we are very fortunate to have their knowledge and expertise as part of our membership community.
In today’s conversation, we focus on the topic of private placement live insurance (or PPLI) and the many ways enterprise families and their family offices can deploy this versatile tool. Michael starts us off with the basics, providing an overview of how PPLI works and why wealthy families should consider exploring PPLI policies.
There are multiple ways PPLI can create value for wealthy families, and Michael goes over the different use cases and strategies families and family offices can pursue to deploy PPLI, either as a traditional life insurance product or as a vehicle to optimize returns, wealth transfers, or income.
Michael offers some practical tips for UHNW families, family office professionals, and external family wealth advisors for how to best leverage PPLI policies. He then covers the common cautionary tales and watchouts, describing what could go wrong and sharing his insights on the what families and their advisors should beware when utilizing PPLI policies for the different risk management and tax optimization use cases they can serve.
Don’t miss this highly instructive conversation with one of the best recognized PPLI experts and insurance entrepreneurs in the UHNW space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with David Yeager, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. David is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more.
David recently published his latest book “10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation―And Making Your Own Life Easier” which quickly became a national bestseller.
Here’s a universal truth: Parents and leaders alike constantly worry about their next generation – are they ready, are they responsible, will they be able to make it on their own, etc. It’s a tale as old as time. David shares his views and research on what is going on there and why that dynamic is so universally present across time, cultures, and socio-economic contexts.
This dynamic repeats itself again and again, and so many parents and leaders fall into this trap repeatedly. But is there a solution? Is there a better way to interact with and motivate young people, and if so, what is it? David illuminates these questions from the perspective of his life’s work and his most recent research.
One critical and powerful practical tool David talks about in his book is language and communication style. David shares his observations on the importance of language and how parents and leaders can communicate more effectively with the younger generation.
An important practical topic David emphasizes to parents and leaders is the very real and notable rise in stress and anxiety among young people. He provides his insights into what both next-gen members and the older generation and those in positions of power should know and be doing to manage and alleviate this rising and damaging trend.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a leading researcher, adviser and best-selling author in the field of next-gen engagement and motivation.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Basil Mohr-Elzeki, Managing Partner & Head of the Americas for Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment. Basil travels extensively throughout the Americas, providing strategic direction and expert insights to staff, ensuring they deliver exceptional advice to clients on residence and citizenship by investment programs. As a recognized subject matter expert in investment migration, he regularly contributes to his firm’s thought-leading publications and is frequently interviewed by top media outlets.
Basil starts by offering a quick background on the residence and citizenship by investment space and the various programs that have emerged over the past decade. He then outlines the most prominent trends he sees in the migration of wealthy individuals and their capital, providing an account of which countries’ visa programs are rising in demand, and where this demand is primarily coming from.
Basil offers some of the practical strategies he recommends to UHNW families and individuals who are interested in exploring global residence or citizenship programs, including how to prepare for the process and what pitfalls to avoid.
Basil then turns his attention to the trusted advisors who are supporting wealthy families and are helping them with tax and estate planning, investment management, and all the other aspects of their complex family enterprises, sharing his tips for family wealth advisors whose clients are thinking about or pursuing various global visa programs.
Do not miss this highly topical and informative conversation with one of the leading experts on global wealth migration and investment residency and citizenship programs around the world.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Alexandre Lin, co-founder and CEO of SumIt Software, a simple, yet sophisticated solution for complex family office accounting. Alex is a second-generation leader of his family's real estate ventures in France and China, and he now dedicates himself to SumIt. Before founding SumIt, Alex was an active investor, advisor, and partner in multiple entrepreneurial ventures, and a management consultant with IBM and Kearney. Alex and his family office are an associate member of FOX and SumIt Software is a FOX technology partner, and we are thankful to have his expertise as part of our membership community.
As a G2 rising family leader, Alex has first-hand experience with the challenges of family transitions and of rising-gen members taking over responsibility and control of their family enterprise. He shares his views and experiences with this intergenerational transition process and the factors that make it challenging for the incoming younger generation.
One of the key challenges Alex believes G2 leaders face is the ability to make good decisions, especially in the face of incomplete information and fragmented data. He elaborates on this issue, shedding light on the reasons why next-gen owners are challenged by poor visibility and bad data.
Alex founded SumIt Software out of frustration with existing solutions he tried to deploy for his own family office. He talks about the specific challenges he encountered and the practical solutions he set out to create with his product.
Looking ahead, Alex provides a vision for how technology solutions for the family office space will develop, and offers practical tips for family owners, family office professionals, and wealth advisors on how they should think about and prepare themselves for the changes that will impact the tools they will need and use in their family offices and firms.
Enjoy this illuminating conversation with an entrepreneurial G2 owner, technology founder, and forward thinker in the family office technology space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Kim Kamin, partner and Chief Wealth Strategist at Gresham Partners LLC, an independent multi-family office serving about 120 separate families nationally. At Gresham, she leads the development and implementation of estate, wealth transfer, philanthropic, educational, and fiduciary planning activities.
Kim is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School and is on the faculty for the University of Chicago Business School in executive education. She is on the UHNW Families & Family Offices Committee of the Trusts & Estates Magazine Editorial Advisory Board and is a Regent for the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Past President of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, Planning Chair for the annual ALI-CLE Large Estates program, and Estate Planning & Legal Issues Domain Chair for the UHNW Institute.
Trusts are one of the most popular estate planning vehicles, especially in the US and a few other international jurisdictions, and Kim shares her views on how and why trusts came to be so widely used to plan and execute intergenerational wealth transitions, and how trust documents and the associated estate planning strategies evolved in the past few decades.
We are at the outset of the “Great Wealth Transfer” and trusts – both ones that have been in place for decades and ones that are being newly created – are once again at the center of wealth planning conversations. Kim offers her thoughts on some of the current trends and developments in estate planning and how thinking and usage of trusts is changing or evolving.
One practical advice Kim puts forth is to pay attention to the “the small things” when creating or working with trusts and estate plans, and highlights some of the frequently neglected details our listeners should be mindful of.
Another valuable tip Kim recommends is to draft trust documents for flexibility. She talks about what that entails and what both wealth owners and family advisors in our audience should consider to be able to make better use of trust documents and other estate planning tools.
You would not want to miss this conversation with one of the most knowledgeable, respected, and active thought leaders in the family wealth and estate planning space.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Dave Furneaux, Founder & CEO of BlueIO, an innovative, mission-driven builder capitalist investment company. Dave is a co-founder and investor in a number of innovative companies, such as Blaze (acquired by Akamai), Cybersaint (a leading Cyber Risk Management company), Greenlight Biosciences (EPA approved breakthrough RNA bio-chemical platform for clean food), Lufa Farms (a leading agricultural technology company), Lumicell (an FDA approved platform for Cancer therapy) and Virsec (a breakthrough cyber protection company).
He has been a driving force behind many breakthrough technology, health, and food companies as a founder, operator, investor, and active board leader. Some notable examples include Watchfire (acquired by IBM), Skystone (acquired by Cisco Systems), Application Security (acquired by SingTel) and Aironet (acquired by Cisco Systems). Earlier in his career, Dave founded and led Kodiak Venture Partners, which went on to invest in and build companies such as Appnexus (acquired by AT&T), Channel Advisor (NYSE: ECOM), Extreme (acquired by Microchip), Enfora (acquired by Sierra Wireless), IM Logic (acquired by Symantec) and WHERE (acquired by Paypal).
David believes, and we at FOX agree, that families are uniquely positioned and endowed to create, build, and innovate by putting their family capital, their entrepreneurial spirit, and creativity to work to solve the big problems our world is facing. He talks about why he has this conviction, how he sees it play out today, and why and how families play this key role in innovation and building new solutions and products.
The topic of our conversation with Dave is encapsulated in a relatively new term: “Builder Capitalism”. Dave defines Builder Capitalism for our audience, describes the tenets of this investment philosophy, and outlines the mindset and skills it requires. He also paints the picture of how Builder Capitalism is manifested in reality through the activities and behaviors of entrepreneurs.
Dave offers many practical tips and suggestions to the different market players who are interested in Builder Capitalism, starting with what investors need to know or do if they want to participate in this movement and allocate their capital (financial and non-financial) to Builder Capitalist ventures. He also provides his advice to entrepreneurs and founders who share this belief system and see themselves and their startups as members of this Builder Capitalism economy.
Finally, Dave offers his insights into the resources available to both investors and founders to become better educated about Builder Capitalism and to be better connected into the emerging ecosystem of this rising entrepreneurial movement.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the leading thought leaders, practitioners, and innovators in the Builder Capitalism movement, who is also a family principal and leader of his own multigenerational entrepreneurial family.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Sophia Ruffolo, General Counsel and Head of Compliance for the Zell Family Office, a division of Chai Trust Company, LLC. With over 20 years of experience in Estate and Tax Planning, Investment Management and Fiduciary Oversight, Sophia is a seasoned leader in law, fiduciary risk management, compliance, and governance. Sophia is a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Metropolitan Family Services and co-founder of femmebought, a social enterprise dedicated to supporting women-owned businesses and promoting gender equity in the global marketplace. Sophia and the Chai Trust Company are long-time valued members of FOX and are very generous and insightful contributors to the FOX community.
In the family wealth and family office space, most of the advisors and family office professionals serving multigenerational families are acting in a fiduciary role on behalf of their clients. Sophia talks about what it means to be a fiduciary and how this concept and its practice have evolved over the recent decades and years, as families and the world around them have evolved.
One challenge fiduciaries and their clients face is an ever-changing external environment and an ever-evolving and more complex families and family enterprises. Sophia shares her thoughts on how fiduciaries can keep things evergreen in the face of all this change and disruption – how they should think about the design of their role and how they perform their duties day to day in service of the family.
Sophia offers some practical suggestions and tips for advisors, and especially those in a fiduciary role, to ensure they are fulfilling that role in the best possible way for the families they serve. She then tuns her focus on the clients themselves and provides useful advice for family principals on how they can best engage with their fiduciary advisors to ensure the family goals are achieved and the family and its members are happy and flourishing in the long run.
Don’t miss this deeply insightful conversation with a uniquely experienced expert and family office professional serving one of the most prominent and sophisticated enterprise families in the US.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Janet Arzt, Founder and Managing Partner of Parere Advisory, an independent consulting firm guiding clients across all stages of family office strategy, development, operations, and implementation. Prior to founding Parere Advisory, Janet served as Chief Executive Officer of a newly launched family office in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she built out and oversaw investments and operations for the family and its businesses. In 2020, Janet was named one of the “Top 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” by The Hedge Fund Journal in association with Ernst & Young.
In this episode, we’ll talk about the role and experience of women in the world of family wealth and wealth management. Janet shares the historical perspective of how women have been involved and positioned in the enterprise family and family wealth space, both as wealth owners and as wealth manages or advisors.
The environment today is transforming quickly, and Janet describes what is happening now in the family office field and the changes she is seeing that impact women in wealth.
Janet offers her tips and suggestions for women who are wealth owners, or who are stepping into family leadership or family office principal roles in the midst of the “greatest generational wealth transfer” that is already under way.
We also talk about the “supply side”, i.e., the family wealth advisory firms and the women who are family wealth professionals. She provides some tips for wealth advisor firms about serving female clients and to women who are in wealth management, family office, and wealth advisory roles at external advisor firms.
Please enjoy this informative conversation with an experienced and successful professional in the family wealth space.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Dennis Passis, Founder of the Family Wealth Library. He spent nearly 40 years working in his family’s business, founded by his father, where he was eventually joined by his son. Dennis is a mediation practitioner, a family business consultant, and a fellow at the Family Firm Institute (FFI).
He is the author of the recently published book Founder Paralysis: A Family Business Fable about a Founder’s Loss of Identity. Dennis explains what “founder paralysis” means and tells us about the concept, the book, and the body of work it is based on.
Dennis also talks about the concept of “eldership”. He shares what he means by this term, why it is important for families to internalize, and how well he thinks it is being understood and practiced today.
The most fundamental practical tip Dennis suggests to families undergoing transitions and succession is to address the loss the founder is experiencing. He elaborates on this process and how multigenerational families can apply it to successfully address founder paralysis.
Beyond addressing the loss and overcoming the state of paralysis, Dennis points out that it is important to define and develop the next phase of the founder’s life, in which he/she can continue to be a highly functioning, productive, and purpose driven individual. He describes how this is best done and goes over some of the pitfalls to avoid and tips to take advantage of.
Enjoy this informative conversation with a veteran of and distinguished practitioner in the family wealth space.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Chris Volpe, Managing Director of Zephyr Financial Solutions, an award-winning asset and wealth management software platform. Zephyr is part of Informa, a leading global provider of digital-first and data-driven products and services. Chris and Zephyr Financial Solutions are FOX Technology Resource Partners, and we are happy to have the unique tools and expertise they bring to our membership community.
Alternative investments are an increasingly meaningful component of family office investment portfolios, and this segment of the investment landscape is also rapidly evolving. Chris shares his views on what is happening in the world of alternatives and what trends are shaping this unique space.
Separately managed accounts (SMAs) are becoming increasingly popular for a multitude of reasons, especially in the realm of private and alternative investments. Chris talks about the latest developments in the SMA space and highlights the challenges and opportunities investors face when comparing, selecting, and evaluating different SMA options.
Chris offers his practical tips and suggestions for our listeners on how to gain access to and navigate data on private and alternative investments that is available out there in the marketplace.
Chris and his firm developed and launched Zephyr, and its PSN Data tool, specifically for the purpose of allowing investors to compare SMAs and to make dynamic data-driven investment decisions. He describes how Zephir works, the benefits the PSN Data tool offers, and how family office investors can leverage this new technology platform.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the leading players in the fast-evolving space of alternatives and SMAs.
Today, I am pleased to welcome David MacMahan, founder and president of FairSplit.com. Over the past twelve years, David has worked with families dividing estates and is now widely recognized as the leading industry expert on estate division of tangible assets. He is often hired to serve as Administrator of the FairSplit process, but also as an independent third-party mediator to help keep tensions down between family members and reduce the pressure on executors of the estate, by providing an independent, third-party role and the experience to help guide the family members and executor or trustee.
David focused his entrepreneurial creativity and energy onto the field of estate distributions or dividing personal property among heirs after their parents pass. He shares the reasons that made him focus on this space and describes are the challenges that exist with dividing personal property among inheriting relatives.
David shares his insights on how estate distribution works today, what the common methods families use currently to divide personal property, artifacts, heirlooms, etc. among themselves, and what the tools are emerging that help this process.
The company David founded, FairSplit, created a technology-enabled set of tools to help families, as their marketing tagline says, “Divide Things, Not Families.” He talks about the FairSplit solution, its components and functionalities, and how families and their advisors can make use of it.
Finally, David offers some pointers as to some of the other resources, knowledge libraries, or tools available to families, family offices, and family advisors to assist them with estate distribution processes and help them avoid the pitfalls and potential conflicts that can arise during these emotional undertakings.
Enjoy this fascinating conversation on an important and overlooked area of estate planning and family transitions.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Betsy Miller, Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Betsy teaches leadership development, change management and negotiation skills, and her research and writing focus on Polarities (“Both/And” thinking), which is the study of opposite forces that need each other to succeed. Betsy’s 25-year career has spanned positions in federal and local government, defense and plaintiff law firms, and academia.
Through 2023, she was Chair of Cohen Milstein’s’ Public Client practice, where she represented state Attorneys General as their lead outside counsel in investigations and litigation involving large-scale consumer fraud and privacy violations, including the national opioid litigation that delivered more $25 billion in relief, and the $2.2 billion resolution of federal and state litigation against the largest credit rating agencies for their misconduct in connection with mortgage-backed securities. Betsy was the 2021 recipient of the Givens Visionary Award from The National Law Journal, was awarded a Wasserstein Fellowship by Harvard Law School, and was named Special Advisor to the Commission on Women in the Profession by the President of the American Bar Association in 2023.
Betsy offers an introduction to the idea of polarities and “Both/And Thinking” and a high-level overview of these concepts and the science behind them. There are numerous such baffling polarities in the family enterprise and family office world. Even the name “family office” is a bit of an oxymoron encapsulating the polarities it contends with.
One common polarity of diametrically opposed forces enterprise families experience is the importance of preserving and growing the family capital vs. putting it to work to make a positive impact. Another one is the tension between the desire to learn from and build on the wisdom and success of the older generation vs. the need to empower the rising generation to chart their own course. Yet another is the tug of war between the mission of the family office to steward and invest the family’s financial capital vs. its role to educate and educate the human capital and ensure family members are happy and fulfilled.
Besty shares her thoughts about these and similar polarities that affect enterprise families and provides some insight into how to best think about and deal with them.
A great practical tool Betsy offers is the 2-dimensional chart that helps people visualize the polarities they are facing and understand and manage both the benefits and the overuses of each extreme end of the polarity continuum. She talks about this tool, how it can be used to not only understand the opposing forces and tendencies, but also to harness the benefits of each extreme while minimizing the counterproductive overuses. Betsy also describes some of the other practical and educational resources she recommends to those who wish to learn more about polarities, become better equipped to spot them, and develop their skills at applying a Both/And Thinking approach in their interactions with their fellow family members or with their family clients.
Do not miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading researchers and educators in the field of polarities and Both/And thinking.
Today, I’m excited to speak with John Castrucci, National Director of Family Office Advisory Services at the Global Family Office Enterprise Division of RSM and Ben Berger, Partner and Family Office Enterprise Markets Leader at RSM. John has 10+ years of experience at a Big 4 Accounting firm as a practicing family office tax and family office advisory services national director and more than a decade at Private Wealth Management and Multi-Family Office institutions as regional managing director overseeing wealth strategists. Ben is on RSM’s Global Family Office Advisory Board, and has served families and family offices, addressing their full range of needs, including tax, operations, and technology since 1995. John, Ben, and their firm RSM are valued advisor members of FOX, and we are fortunate to have their expertise as part of our membership community.
John and Ben work with many family offices to help them design and implement the best operational structure for their needs. They talk about what they are seeing in the marketplace, including how family offices are being structured today, what kind of complexities and challenges they are facing, and how are they addressing them.
One growing trend John and Ben highlight among single-family offices is the rise in operational and functional lift-outs. They define what lift-outs are, and describe when they make sense, how they work, and why they are increasingly common among single-family offices.
One practical suggestion John and Ben offer for family offices is to create an operational roadmap as a tool to understand where they are and where they need to go to meet the family’s needs. They explain how this self-assessment and road-mapping process work and what its benefits are for family office leaders .
John and Ben also suggest that family offices conduct a thorough and systematic cataloguing and design of the services they provide to family members and the family enterprise, and also determine how these services will be sourced – i.e., in-housed, outsourced, co-sourced, etc. They elaborate on this best practice and explain how family offices should strive to apply it.
Don’t miss this highly relevant conversation on a topic of high interest to families and family office leaders with two of the leading experts on the subject in our industry.
Today, I am pleased to welcome back to FOXCast Cassindy Chao and Shannon Lundgren, co-founders of Boutique Matchmaking, a high-end personal advisory practice that provides curated matchmaking, date coaching, and strategic consulting for multigenerational families of wealth. Cassindy and Shannon, and their firm Boutique Matchmaking, have been part of the FOX community as official marketing partners for the past year, and we are thrilled to have their expertise available to our FOX members.
In this episode, we tackle the topic of marriage and how it is handled among multigenerational enterprise families today. The commanding majority of never-been-married adults say they would like to get married someday, and probably all single people are hoping to at least find their soulmate. Parents often care about this topic at least as much as their single children do, and both generations want to see the other find happiness. Cassindy and Shannon share their experience on how families approach this important subject and describe the major shifts in norms, beliefs, and attitudes towards marriage among families of wealth.
Last time we spoke, we talked about the cloud that often hangs over the topic of romantic relationships and nuptial happiness, but this seems to be changing – people are increasingly open about acknowledging the importance of romantic relationships and nuptial happiness and are willing to utilize all the tools at their disposal to find the right person. Cassindy and Shannon talk about how family members – both young and older ones – can get the sophisticated help and best resources available to them in their quest for romantic happiness and a lifetime partner.
One practical consideration for multigenerational families is how the family’s values can or should play a role in the process of educating and helping younger rising-gen members find their romantic partners? And conversely, there is the reality of different perspectives that exist among generations, and the likelihood that the younger generation might have different worldviews or even values. Cassindy and Shannon offer some tips on how to manage this reality and rising complexity.
Finally, Cassindy and Shannon provide their advice and suggestions for parents who want to give their input on their children’s choice of a romantic partner, while at the same time, ensuring that both parents and adult children can set healthy boundaries regarding dating advice and involvement.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with two of the most experienced professionals on a topic of high importance for all members of multigenerational families.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Kristen Oliveri, editor of Crain Currency, a family office publication for families managing wealth and legacies. Kristen has built a successful journalistic career in the wealth-management and family-office space by creating exciting content, establishing business connections, and curating high-touch, content-driven events. Prior to Crain Currency, she held a number of content and editorial roles, including Director of the Family Office Institute and Content Director of the Family Office Network at Institutional Investor.
Family offices and the media are not exactly a match made in heaven. Kristen leans on her ample experience over the past couple of decades, to describe how enterprise families and family offices have managed public relations and their interactions with the media, especially given the natural tension between their significant presence in and impact on their communities and their desire for privacy and discretion.
With younger family members starting to play a role in multigenerational family enterprises, attitudes to the media are changing and so is the family’s tolerance for their presence in the public eye. Kristen shares her views on how families’ preferences and interactions with the public have evolved in recent years.
Kristen has had great success working with families and helping them share their stories in a fair, nuanced, and complete way, without betraying the privacy and safety of their individual family members. She offers her advice and suggestions for enterprise families who are either being thrust into the public discourse by exogenous factors or are considering a more proactive stance toward their public image – or even intentionally developing a family brand.
Kristen also has some tips and suggestions for the reporters and media outlets who are increasingly focusing their attention on multigenerational families and their enterprises, philanthropies, and family offices. She provides practical advice to journalists looking to cover enterprise families and their impact on society, the economy, and the world.
Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the best recognized and prolific journalists in the family office and family wealth space.
Today, I am excited to speak with René Sonneveld, a Leadership and Family Business Coach and Honorary Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uruguay. René a has rich history as Managing Director, CEO, and Chairman at Fortune 500 companies and family-run businesses across four continents, and he now leverages this vast experience to coach leaders and corporate teams. Besides leadership and family enterprise coaching, René is deeply committed to sustainability. He aims to create a green hydrogen supply chain from South America to Europe.
Throughout his career, René has served many multigenerational families and has found that often, as he puts it, there’s “an elephant in the room” that gets in the way of families collaborating effectively and achieving their goals. He talks about what “the elephant in the room” is and how to best approach it and, eventually, dispense with it.
René eventually discovered coaching and dedicated his life to this noble calling. He shares his beliefs on why coaching is the best tool to empower families to succeed and how it helps eliminate “the elephant in the room” that holds them back.
One technique René deploys in his coaching work is what he calls “the icebreaker”. He describes how it works and what the benefits families and family enterprises can reap from this practical tool.
Families and family enterprises are complex organisms, commonly involving a great number of players who are entangled in complicated and often emotionally charged relationships. These can include family leaders, blood family, children, in-laws, advisors, to mention just a few key constituents. René offers his advice on when to bring in whom in the coaching process with the family in order to achieve the best results.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with a world-renowned leadership coach and family advisor.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Özge Doğan, Founder of Karman Beyond, Türkiye’s first independent multi-family office. Karman Beyond is a boutique advisory service for leading families in Turkey (and beyond) and Özge manages all the relationships with the firm’s client families. Özge is a next-gen member of a prominent Turkish family enterprise, and she founded her multi-family office firm in response to her own family’s wealth management needs – and the lack of an available solutions in Türkiye.
We start with a quick overview of family enterprises and family wealth in Türkiye and Özge describes the most common profiles of enterprise families in the country, as well as the most pressing needs and challenges faced by enterprising families, and how are they dealing with these challenges.
Özge outlines the current context of the family wealth and wealth management industry in Türkiye, and she talks about the ecosystem of family wealth advisory firms, service providers, and peer communities that serve multigenerational Turkish families.
One practical advice Özge offers to Turkish families – which is probably relevant across other cultures as well – is to understand and embrace the next-generation mindset, including the generational differences in values, preference, investing styles, etc. Can you talk about that and how families can successfully apply this mindset.
Another practical reality for families in Türkiye, and all over the world, is their increasing interest and exposure to global assets and jurisdictions, including investing, operating, and relocating across multiple geographies globally. Özge shares her views on the client needs and behaviors she is observing, and offers her recommendations for the knowledge, services, and resources families should seek to be successful in their global strategies.
Please enjoy this enlightening conversation with a young rising-gen owner and founder of the first multi-family office in Türkiye.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Scott Peppet, President of Chai Trust Company, the private company that administers trusts established for the benefit of members of Sam Zell’s family and that serves as the Zell family office. Scott was a Professor of Law at the University of Colorado from 2000-2018, where he focused on bargaining and dispute resolution, transactional law, and the complexities of multigenerational family enterprises. He is also an ordained priest and transmitted Soto Zen teacher in the related lineages of Kobun Chino Otakawa and Keibun Otakawa. He practices at the Hakubai Zen Center in Boulder, CO. Scott is a good friend of FOX, and he and the Chai Trust Company are long-time valued members of FOX and are very generous and insightful contributors to the FOX community.
Throughout his career, Scott has seen and participated in his fair share of enterprise family journeys and has had the opportunity to observe and synthesize what it takes for families and their family offices to be successful. He shares his views and accumulated wisdom on the subject of what it takes for a family to be successful in the long run.
We at FOX think and talk a lot about the concept of time capital – how we all deploy our most precious and finite asset. Scott points out that a simple yet powerful way to assess and guide the strategic role and effectiveness of a family office is to look at how it allocates and spends its resources – especially, how the family office leaders and employees spend their time. He describes the importance of – and potential cognitive dissonance associated with – how family office time capital is managed and expended.
One practical suggestion Scott offers to families and their family offices is to invest in cultivating, educating, and engaging the whole ecosystem of human and intellectual capital that serves the family – not just the family members, but also the family office employees, and even all the external advisors who are integral to the family enterprise.
To up-level and educate an entire system is such a tremendous undertaking and families are not the only ones who can and should lead and invest in it. All the other participants in the ecosystem also have a part to play. Scott provides his views on what family office executives and employees, as well as external advisors, should do to ensure the entire enterprise family ecosystem is flourishing.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the most prominent and celebrated thought leaders, practitioners, and enterprise family leaders in the family wealth and family office field.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Brian Argrett, Chair of the Board Directors and President and CEO of Broadway Financial Corporation and its banking subsidiary City First Bank, the largest Black-led minority depository institution (MDI) in the nation.
Impact investing is an increasingly important topic for enterprise families and family offices. Our conversation today focuses on a truly unique and attractive avenue for positive impact available to enterprise families and family offices, which is made possible thanks to the Advancing Communities Together Deposit Program, or ACT – an innovative program that provides an easy and fully insured way for family offices to invest their excess cash directly in the financial institutions dedicated to lifting up communities in need.
Brian describes the greater goals of the ACT program, why it is needed, what the issues or challenges it is meant to address, and what opportunities it is designed to unlock. The ACT Deposit Program was launched in the summer of 2024 by the national trade associations representing Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs). Brian explains how the ACT program works and defines the role of CDFIs and MDIs in delivering the intended impact and benefits of the program. He shares his views on why this program has strong appeal to family offices and enterprise families.
Delving into the practical details of how the ACT program functions, Brian details the mechanics of the program, including some of the key elements family members and family office executives should be aware of, such as minimum deposits, interest rates earned, minimum maturity, etc.
Brian also talks about what families and family office leaders can do to get involved with and take advantage of the ACT program. He offers an overview of existing resources and tools for them to get educated and ready to participate and contribute to the positive impact of this program.
Enjoy this timely and informative conversation with a leading champion of the ACT program and long-time thought leader and practitioner in the impact banking space.
Today, I am delighted and honored to welcome Jason Ingle, founder and Managing Partner of Third Nature Investments, an integrated impact capital platform investing in the most promising innovations to address urgent and massive challenges we face within our most critical earth systems. Jason is a 5th generation member of the Ford family. He currently serves as the board chair for the family office and as a member of the investment and governance committees and is also a member of the family council and previously served as the chair, and he serves as a board director of the Ford Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company. Jason is a founding member of The ImPact, a membership network of family enterprises, including family offices, foundations, and businesses, that are committed to making investments with measurable social impact.
The Enterprise Family/FO space is full of important and sometime baffling polarities – one prominent one is between promoting the “togetherness” of the family as a whole while concurrently enabling the “individuality” of each family member. Jason talks about how his family, and himself personally, dealt with this polarity of togetherness vs. individuality and found the right balance.
FOX research among rising-gen family members shows that finding their role in the enterprise, and by extension their purpose more broadly, is a top priority – and often a pain point – for emerging family leaders and younger family members. Jason’s journey took him from being less involved and connected with the family enterprise to eventually playing a key role in the governance and leadership of the family. He shares how his journey unfolded and what he learned from it.
One significant outcome of Jason’s personal journey within his family enterprise was his discovery of impact investing – and impact more broadly – as a core value and purpose to which he concluded he wants to dedicate his time, attention, and capital. He shares how that process worked and how he landed on this most important point of relevance to himself personally.
Jason offers his suggestions and practical tips for family leaders and family members who are thinking about effectively catalyzing their rising-gen members and getting them more actively involved in the work and life of the family as a shared enterprise.
Impact is possibly the most important priority and objective most enterprise families arrive at. Jason provides his suggestions for family members who are looking to either start their impact journey or become more involved in the global impact movement. He also describes the organization he is part of – The ImPact – and how families can get involved, contribute, and benefit from it.
Don’t miss this unique conversation with a prominent family leader, philanthropist, entrepreneur and impact investor who is an active and generous member of the FOX community.
This week, I am pleased to welcome Dale Buckner, CEO and President of Global Guardian, a leading provider of best-in-class security, medical and travel-related solutions. Dale is a decorated Combat-Commander with multiple combat tours and classified operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Haiti and Cuba and executed deployments to Russia, El Salvador, Honduras, Chile, Panama, Kuwait, and Qatar. He is a thought leader in the industry with recent features on CNN, Politico, NPR, The Hill, Bloomberg, Forbes, and other major media outlets. Dale, and his firm Global Guardian, are Premier Risk Management Resource Partners of FOX and we are excited to have the unique expertise they bring to our membership community.
Having been involved in managing global security risks for the better part of 2 decades, Dale offers his analysis of how the threat environment has evolved for multigenerational enterprise families over the past 20-30 years. We are in a global environment punctuated by domestic polarization, regional conflicts, more frequent and destructive natural disasters, to name just a few of the major disruptors impacting families. Dale shares his views on the top threats that enterprise families and their family offices face today.
The most common risk management tool families rely on is insurance. But how much can insurance actually do to mitigate the most significant risks families face? Dale goes over the limitations and loopholes of insurance coverage that families and family office need to be aware of.
Technology now permeates everything the family office does, which both fuels remarkable advancements of productivity, speed, and quality of services the family can benefit from, but also creates significant new risks. Dale describes the current state of digital risks and cybersecurity for family offices and the families they serve.
This is a highly insightful and instructive conversation with a deep expert, hands-on operator, and thought leader in the field of security and risk management for enterprise families and family offices.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Stacy Allred & Holly Isdale. Stacy is a Managing Director and Head of Family Engagement and Governance at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. She serves on the faculty of the UHNW Institute and teaches for the Investment & Wealth Institute® (CPWA®) program. Holly is the founder of Wealthaven, a family office consulting firm she founded in 2010 after 20-plus years on Wall Street. She is also a Senior Advisor with Lansberg Gersick, a global consulting firm advising significant families on governance and succession planning. Holly teaches at Wharton and Cornell in their Executive Education programs for family office and family business members, including a new Wharton Family Office program in January 2025 for Family members seeking to explore family office governance and operation. Stacy and Holly are both members of Collaboration for Flourishing Families (CFF) and the Purposeful Planning Institute (PPI). They are both active in Family Firm Institute (FFI) and each hold certificates in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising.
In their work with families, Stacy and Holly are commonly brought in during a time of transition – between generations, between life stages, between wealth structures, between business, investments, or philanthropic activities – and they reflect on the most common challenges, considerations, and opportunities they believe families in transition face.
Stacy recently co-authored The 10x10 Learning Roadmap: Advancing Flourishing in Families of Wealth with Stephen Goldbart & Joan DiFuria, who were on this podcast a couple of months ago. Stacy gives our audience a quick refresher on the 10x10 framework and points out how it can help families in transition and enable their long-term success.
The 10x10 Learning Roadmap is a powerful and practical framework, but real-life situations sometimes don’t lend themselves perfectly to even the best of conceptual frameworks. Holly talks about how families and their advisors can “work around the framework” whenever they face complexities and idiosyncrasies resulting from their unique DNA and circumstances.
Having talked about how family members and their external advisors can benefit from the 10x10 Learning Roadmap, Stacy focuses on the other entities and constituents that comprise the broader family enterprise, such as the family office, the family council, the various committee members, the trustees, etc. She provides her insights into how these diverse players who have widely ranging roles within or in support of the family can utilize the 10x10 framework to help the family flourish.
Enjoy this illuminating and instructive conversation with two of the best recognized and celebrated practitioners and advisors in the family wealth and well-being space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with John Samuels, Founder and CEO of Better Health Advisors. For over 20 years, John served as a senior healthcare leader in New York City’s top hospitals including Northwell Health and Mount Sinai Beth Israel. As Assistant Vice President of Emergency Medicine, he was responsible for the operation of 16 emergency departments and a rapidly expanding network of urgent care centers. John is a licensed nursing home administrator in New York and New Jersey, and has served on the boards of directors for Mary McDowell Friends Academy, the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the 360 Academic Sports Academy, the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants, and the Sepsis Alliance.
John’s philosophy, which also underlies his company’s mission, is that superior healthcare planning and services are about mitigating risk intergenerationally. In our conversation, he elaborates on this way of thinking about healthcare and its implications for enterprise families of significant means.
John also advocates for a wholistic approach to the health and wellness needs and solutions for enterprise families and their individual members. He tells us what he means by that and what is the scope of his definition of holistic healthcare.
John then offers some practical tips and suggestions for families who want to be proactive about managing their health risks and wish to take a holistic approach to their healthcare needs and services. He also provides his practical advice for family members or family leaders who find themselves in a reactive or urgent situation involving the health of a family member, sharing some of the resources or actions they should consider in these critical situations.
This is a must-hear conversation with a leading domain expert in the field of generational family wellness and holistic healthcare for enterprise families.
It is my pleasure today to speak with Kim Ledger, Senior Vice President of Complex Assets for Ren, Inc., North America’s largest independent philanthropic solutions provider. Kim advises donors on the charitable opportunities presented by non-cash assets such as business interests, IPO stock, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and artwork. Kim launched the firm’s complex asset practice in 2018 and has since worked with donors seeking to distribute nearly $3 billion in assets. Kim is also the host of Ren’s Philanthropic Insights video podcast.
Everyone in our industry is talking about the “Great Wealth Transfer” that is upon us, with an estimated $84T of assets expected to pass down from members of the Silent and Baby Boomer generation to Gen-X and Millennial inheritors. Kim shares her views on the role of philanthropy in this impending Great Wealth Transfer and explains how ready families can best utilize philanthropic vehicles to achieve their goals and cement their legacy.
At the same time, Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) and private foundations have emerged as powerful and popular vehicles to help families put their philanthropic capital to work. Kim offers an overview of the benefits of DAFs and a primer on how they can help families fulfill their purpose and vision and support the communities and causes that are important to them.
Kim then delves in to unpack one very practical and increasingly common philanthropic vehicle among enterprise families – the business interest gift, whereby families donate a portion (or the entirety) of their operating business or a portfolio company to a DAF as part of their philanthropic strategy. She provides valuable tips on how business interest gifts work and how families can make the most of this giving tool.
Another unique opportunity available to families pertain to so-called “passion assets” – including art, classic cars, and other collections. Kim offers her advice on the best ways families can leverage these passion assets in their philanthropic giving strategies.
Don’t miss this highly practical and insightful conversation with one of the foremost experts on philanthropic solutions for UHNW families.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Diana Chambers, founder of the Chambers Group, and a highly respected Family Wealth Mentor and Philanthropic Advisor. A G3 member of a former UK-based business family herself, Diana is a confidante and advisor to many enterprise families, helping them own, spend, and allocate their wealth wisely. Known for championing the human side of wealth, Diana is a sought-after speaker and the author of “True Wealth: Letters on Money, Life, and Love” and her influential essay “Money Wisdom Unlocked: Understanding Trauma as a Key to Your Financial Behavior”.
In her work with families, Diana emphasizes the importance of “financial EQ” or “the heart of money” as she calls it. She talks about what she means by “financial emotional intelligence” and why it is important for families, family office executives, and family wealth advisors to understand and practice financial EQ.
Money and wealth can be a blessing, but more often than not, it can also be a burden. Diana introduces the connection between money and trauma, and how families can stay educated on the topic and prepare themselves and their individual members to face and overcome the potential psychological challenges that come with wealth.
Diane offers her tips and suggestions for our audience on how to anticipate and be prepared for difficult or awkward conversations involving money and wealth. She offers useful examples of difficult or tricky topics members of wealthy families can encounter and provides some guidance on how they should best navigate them.
Enjoy this inspiring conversation with a world-renowned thought leader and practitioner in the family wealth and well-being.
Today, I’m excited to speak with Tim Daum, co-founder of Veltracon Lifestyle, a Swiss lifestyle management company offering tailor-made solutions for UHNW clients. Veltracon caters to a broad range of lifestyle needs, ranging from luxury and collectible autos, exclusive events, private education, luxury goods, art, luxury travel, private security, and medical concierge. Tim has been active in the lifestyle management industry for nearly 10 years, and prior to Veltracon, he founded Swiss Private Education Network and at Swiss Private Clinic Network.
Tim provides an overview of the lifestyle and concierge space serving UHNW individuals and multigenerational families, covering the full scope of needs and services that are commonly in demand by UHNW clients. He also describes how the lifestyle and concierge industry has evolved in the past couple of decades and outlines the major trends shaping the space and how they differ among UHNW families from different countries and cultures across the globe.
Tim and his firm assist their clients with a broad set of unique needs and highly bespoke services, and he shares some of the tips he has for UHNW families who are considering or using private lifestyle services and solutions.
Nowadays, health and wellbeing are quickly becoming the most in-demand segment of the lifestyle concierge space. Tim and Veltracon have created a special subsidiary of focused on medical concierge and emergency preparedness solutions. Tim offers his advice for families of wealth about how they should approach bespoke medical care and holistic health and well-being risk management solutions.
Please enjoy this informative and practical conversation with a highly specialized and knowledgeable provider of niche and bespoke solutions in the UHNW lifestyle space.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Kent Lawson, FOX’s own CTO and the leader of the FOX Technology Partners Program. Kent brings 25 years of experience as a professional in the wealth management industry, with a deep focus in technology for the family office. Prior to joining FOX, Kent spent a decade as an executive at a single-family office, and in that capacity, he was an active FOX member and a strong contributor to the FOX community. He also served as a business analyst and consultant for Advent Software, as COO of a trust company, and other technology solution vendors.
Kent is one of very few people in the world who have had a front-row seat throughout the evolution of the family office as an operational unit and the emergence of the ecosystem of technologies that are focused on supporting and automating family offices. He provides a brief overview of the last 10 years of how family offices, and the specialized technology solutions that serve them, have evolved. Given this historical context, he then delves into what it all means for family offices today, going over what they need to know and what key capabilities they need to develop or acquire.
As we see in our daily interactions with families and family offices at FOX, pretty much every family office faces two major challenges on their digital transformation path – technology selection and technology implementation. Kent offers his practical advice for family offices and advisor firms who are looking to select and implement FO-specialized technology solutions, highlighting the common pitfalls, and offering practical tips and shortcuts to success.
Keeping up with all the new and existing providers of technology solutions for the FO space is another significant challenge. Kent provides valuable suggestions for how family office professionals and leaders can stay educated on all the vendors and their platforms, on all the trends and developments in the FO technology space, and on the best practices related to digitizing the family office and the ever-broader set of family wealth management services.
Do not miss this deeply insightful conversation with the world’s leading technology expert in the family office and family wealth space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Richard Wolkowitz, Founder of Xylogenesis Family Office Advisory. Rich serves as a family advisor with 25+ years of first-hand, inner-working experience of multiple family offices. His background is in law, business, management, operations, financial services, independent board service, and professional service firm leadership with a focus on serving multigenerational families and their full business and life continuum of needs.
Throughout his career, Rich has served many multigenerational families and one thing he has witnessed often how families would get stuck as they try to build, transition, or manage their enterprise. He shares his observations on how and why families tend to get stuck in the course of their complex journeys. The obvious question then is: How can families get “unstuck”? Rich talks about the mindsets, strategies, and activities that can help families overcome the main challenges that get them stuck.
Rich offers some practical pointers and suggestions for family leaders and family members who find themselves stuck and want to “right the ship” as they steer the family enterprise forward. He also shares his advice to family advisors and service providers who support the family, and provides some tips on how family wealth advisors, expert vendors, and service providers across different vertical disciplines can help the families they serve get unstuck.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with a prominent practitioner in the family wealth and family office space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Lou Sokolovskiy, CEO and Founder of Opus Connect, a leading networking and deal-making community for private equity and M&A professionals. Lou is a serial entrepreneur with extensive private equity transaction experience. He founded multiple entrepreneurial ventures in the technology arena and has unique expertise in operations management, strategic partnerships, and new business development. He is a former consultant who has advised many companies in the healthcare management, finance, and technology industries on improving operations and corporate strategy.
Lou founded Opus Connect to provide a platform for PE and M&A professionals to connect, collaborate, and succeed in their work. He talks about the opportunity – or gap – he saw in the private investing marketplace, why he created this community, and how it is creating value for different players in the private deal-making ecosystem.
UHNW families and their family offices are increasingly active and sought-after participants in the private direct investing space – they are seen as patient, long-term, values-driven investors. At the same time, they often lack capabilities or create obstacles for themselves that prevent them from partaking in the most attractive deals. Lou explains why that happens and what families and family office executives can do to overcome these weaknesses and ensure they are seeing the best deals.
One tip Lou has for family offices who want to be active private investors is to formalize their investment thesis and decide what they are looking for and what deals they want to see. He shares with our listeners why this is important and how family office investors should go about it.
Another practical suggestion Lou offers for family office investors is to develop a strong network and functioning mechanisms to connect with external PE firms, deal sponsors, and other sources of quality deal flow in the marketplace. He explains why this is an important strategy and how do you advise family offices should best implement it.
Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the leading players and community organizers in the private investing ecosystem.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Kathy Parker & Seth Webber of BarryDunn, a leading national professional services firm providing assurance, tax, and consulting services to businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies throughout the US. Kathy is a Principal and the Practice Group Leader of the Outsourced Accounting Practice Group at BerryDunn Boston and Seth is the Head of the Valuation Services Practice Group at BarryDunn. Kathy and Seth, and their firm BarryDunn, are a valued resource partner of the FOX community, and we are proud to offer their expertise and thought leadership to our members.
In their work, Kathy and Seth advise many multigenerational families and, among the many challenges and needs they assist them with, succession planning is both the most common and most important priority they are working on. Kathy and Seth talk about what you they see among enterprising families who are planning or working on succession planning and identify the common themes and the key challenges and opportunities they are facing.
Each family is, of course, unique, but there are common patterns and archetypes, especially correlated with how advanced the family is in its multigenerational journey. Kathy and Seth share their observation of how succession planning and the key priorities and activities associated with family transitions vary based on where the family is in its enterprise journey.
From a practical standpoint, Kathy and Seth offer some of their tips and suggestions for families that are embarking on their succession journey, including how they should get ready for the process and prepare to engage the many advisors they will inevitably rely on.
Kathy and Seth also provide some practical ideas for families to utilize once they are fully engaged in the intergenerational succession and wealth transfer process. These include how they should work with the different expert advisors to create the many technical structures and documents that will govern the journey and its outcomes.
You would not want to miss this expert conversation with these two distinguished expert in the family wealth management and intergenerational transitions space.
Today, I am truly pleased to welcome Dave Donnelly, Managing Director, at SpiderRock Advisors, which was recently acquired by BlackRock and is now part of the firm’s US Wealth Advisory business. Dave is responsible for the client-facing business at SpiderRock and, prior to the acquisition, led SpiderRock’s sales organization and national accounts efforts across wealth and institutional client segments. Dave and SpiderRock are Specialist Advisor members of FOX and we are grateful for the unique and valuable expertise they bring to our membership community.
This conversation focuses our attention on options as a powerful tool in the toolbox of actively investing family members and family office CIOs. Dave provides and overview of how options overlay strategies can create value and unlock attractive possibilities for enterprise family portfolios.
We are in a very dynamic and constantly shifting geopolitical, microeconomic, and financial markets environment, and family offices are tasked with balancing a number of, often competing, investment objectives, such as returns, risk, liquidity, and taxes, to name just a few. Dave shares some of the most notable opportunities in the current macro context that options strategies can afford to enterprise families and their family offices.
Dave goes on to suggest several attractive practical tools that family offices can deploy utilizing options strategies, such as a portfolio mapping exercise to manage or swap away various risks or maximizing the tax-deductibility of their borrowing (e.g., margin or LOCs). He describes these strategies in detail and points our listeners to how UHNW investors can activate them.
Dave also offers his insights into the best resources for family members who are active investors and for family office CIOs to get educated and equipped with the right tools to activate these advanced options strategies and take advantage of the great benefits they offer.
Do not miss this technical and educational conversation with one of the market leaders and foremost innovators in the options overlay strategy advisory space.
This week, I am delighted to welcome Matt Wesley, Principal at the Lovins Group. Matt is an internationally recognized practitioner, thought leader, and speaker on the issues facing financially successful families. With a career that spans 34 years as an estate planning attorney, family advisor, facilitator, and consultant, he helps families address the complex issues of family enterprises, legacy wealth, and collective philanthropy. As a Principal at the Lovins Group, Matt works with some of the most prominent families in the world as they seek to realize the full promise of intergenerational wealth in their individual and collective lives.
In the family wealth space, some advisors approach their clients’ needs from the standpoint of the technical expertise and quantitative, structured solutions that can benefit the family. Others approach their advisory work from the perspective of the qualitative sciences that deal with human behavior, family psychology, and interpersonal dynamics. Matt is a believer in the fundamental importance of culture – or what he has labeled “groupness” – which is not often the point of departure for family advisors. He shares his philosophy and describes how it is different from other approaches and how it creates incremental value for families.
In his work, Matt emphasizes the concept of “forgiveness” as a fundamental prerequisite and event driver of family culture and the collective personality of the family. He explains why forgiveness is important and how it plays into the process of developing and solidifying the family “groupness” or culture.
One powerful culture-building tool Matt recommends for families is stories and storytelling. He talks about why and how stories are important and suggests some practical ways families can put stories to work in their work of planning, preparing, and navigating the family’s multigenerational journey.
Another tool for family unity and togetherness Matt advocates for is family rituals. He shares his views on why rituals and elaborates on what they are and what their function is in the process of building a healthy, vibrant family culture and enduring unity among family members.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the family wealth advisory profession who is both technically sophisticated and keenly focused on the family’s long-term purpose and well-being.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria, co-founders of Money, Meaning, & Choices Institute (MMCI), a group of professional facilitators and advisors who work with wealth holders and their professional advisors to address the psychological issues and challenges of wealth. Joan is a globally recognized speaker and consultant for families of wealth, family businesses, family offices, and enterprises, and a licensed psychotherapist who has been in private practice for over 30 years. Stephen is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor, author, public speaker, and organizational consultant who has consulted with individuals, families, family offices, and organizations to help them develop the fulfilling and sustainable balance of personal, professional, and philanthropic goals.
Both Joan and Stephen have dedicated their lives’ work to helping families be successful by removing the obstacles that often stand in their way to long-term success. They uncover some of the key success factors – the “magic ingredients” – they discovered through their work that position families, and their advisors, to achieve their long-term strategic goals and to flourish across generations.
Joan and Stephen uncovered and formulated a specific set of competencies that family members need to develop throughout their life journey – what they call the “10x10 Learning Roadmap” in their recently published book. They elaborate on the design, structure, and applications of this innovative framework and explain how it can help families and their individual members.
Joan and Stephen then offer some practical tips for how families can apply the 10x10 Learning Roadmap, and how both family leaders and individual family members can make use of it in real life. Finally, they share how the 10x10 framework can also be successfully utilized by the trusted advisors who support multigenerational families and how they can lean on this comprehensive and practical tool to best serve their family clients.
You would not want to miss this highly insightful conversation with two of the most respected practitioners in the family wealth and well-being field.
This week, I am delighted to welcome Scott Saslow, Founder and CEO of Palo Alto, CA-based ONE WORLD Investments Inc., which provides investment capital and advisory services to help organizations scale social impact. Over his career, Scott has been a founder or founding team member of seven start-up businesses. Prior to ONE WORLD, Scott was the Founder & CEO of The Institute of Executive Development, supporting executives in Global 2000 organizations including American Express, Blackrock, Intel, Time Warner, and the US Navy, and earlier in his career, he worked at Siebel Systems and Microsoft Corporation in leadership roles. Scott has authored over twenty-five articles for publications such as Forbes and Directorship and has been interviewed by and quoted in Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.
Scott expounds on the concept of “sustainability” as it pertains to a family office, and he provides his definition of a sustainable family office and explains why sustainability is important in this context. Having emphasized how important this objective is for the family, Scott then talks about how families and family offices pursue sustainability and how they prepare for it and how they achieve it. He outlines the many dimensions and ways to make a family office sustainable.
Scott is just about to release his new book Building a Sustainable Family Office, which is an excellent, and to some extent, autobiographical, compendium of everything families need to know or consider as they create or take over a family office. The book is organized around and culminates in the definition of what Scott refers to as “the five key elements of success.” Scott gives us a sneak peek into what the five elements are and how each of them contributes to the long-term success of the family and its family office.
Sustainability is also often referred to as an investment philosophy and a values system. Scott shares his views about how families can connect their aspiration for sustainable investing with their effort to build and operate a sustainable family office.
Don’t miss this insights-packed conversation with a rising-gen owner of a family enterprise, a successful entrepreneur and wealth creator, and a proponent of family sustainability and positive impact.
Today, it is my pleasure and honor to speak with Prof. Maarten de Groot, Endowed Chair of Resilient Family Businesses & Enterprise Families at VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics. Prior to completing his PhD at VU Amsterdam in 2021, Maarten had a long and distinguished career in wealth management. He co-founded and ran one of Europe’s largest and most innovative multi-family offices, VermogensGroep, which was acquired by UBS in 2008, and later he was Executive Chairman of Eligius, the single-family office of the Goldschmeding family in the Netherlands.
Maarten was knighted by the King of the Netherlands for his contributions to society, and is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including the 2022 Sustainable Investments Award, the 2023 Business Impact Award, and the 2023 VU Crowds Award. He is the founder and director of the VU Center for Enterprise Family Research and is the program director of the Responsible Ownership for Enterprise Families (ROEF) executive education program at VU Amsterdam, which was created and run in partnership with FOX.
Maarten has studied and worked with multigenerational families for decades and has identified many of the key topics and priorities that successful families focus on. He shares some of the most important factors and themes that define and propel families’ journeys through time and across generations.
Possibly the most universal topic that is relevant to all families across the globe and throughout time is preparing the next generation for the future stages of the family journey. Maarten talks about how he sees the importance and centrality of engaging and preparing the rising gen to play a meaningful role in their family enterprise.
One important practical suggestion Maarten has for families, and especially for the younger members of the rising gen, is to understand and develop their relationship with wealth. He highlights some of the key challenges rising gen members face and what they can do to overcome them in order to see their role as wealth owners in a positive and healthy way.
Maarten spearheaded the development of the ROEF Academy (Responsible Ownership for Enterprise Families) program – an innovative, world-class educational program, designed jointly by VU Amsterdam and FOX. We just successfully concluded our first year and graduated the first cohort of young next-gen family members. Maarten offers an overview of the ROEF program, its mission and design, and how it helps rising gen owners identify and prepare for their role in the family enterprise.
Do not miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the most distinguished thought leaders in the multigenerational family wealth space. Maarten is a celebrated academic researcher and educator, a successful entrepreneur and family office executive, and a globally recognized practitioner and advisor to many enterprise families across the globe.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Michael Whelchel, Founder and CEO of Big Path Capital, a boutique investment bank working with positive impact companies and funds and pursuing a mission to challenge the status quo and raise the expectations of capitalism. Prior to founding Big Path, Micheal had 15-year career in private equity holding leadership positions at several firms, including Morris Capital Management and Stony Point Group.
We start by discussing the big idea behind Michael’s work – what he calls “leveraging capitalism”. Michael explains what that means, elaborating on the challenges and the opportunities he sees with how capitalism operates today and how it could or should operate.
Michael founded Big Path Capital to advance this vision for the future of capitalism. He talks about how his firm differs from other investment intermediaries, how he sees his purpose and mission in the marketplace, and what he is doing to advance this mission and achieve his vision for capitalism.
For families, family offices, and other private capital investors in the marketplace who are interested in embracing impact investing as a superior way of deploying capital, Michael offers a number of practical tips to get them started on the right path. He also describes how families can get engaged in this mission by attending the annual Impact Capitalism Summit he and his firm host in Nantucket each year. Michael shares an overview of this unique event and provides suggestions for how family members and family offices who are active investors can get involved, contribute to, and benefit from this gathering.
Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the most active and innovative champions of impact capitalism in the private capital space.
Today, I’m excited to welcome Amjed Saffarini, co-founder and CEO of Trove, a fast-growing, innovative firm which provides a broad array of family office services, including operations outsourcing, lifestyle management, business and tax advisory. Prior to Trove, Amjed was President at Kaplan, the leading global educational services company, and co-founder and CEO of CyberVista, a cybersecurity education company that was spun out of Kaplan and was acquired by N2K Networks. Amjed is also a Board Leadership Fellow at the National Association of Corporate Directors.
There is a popular (and controversial) adage in our industry that goes: “If you’ve seen one family office, you’ve seen one family office.” Amjed is in the camp of people who believe this adage is an unhelpful fallacy. He explains why and shares his views on the “common DNA” that family offices share.
But even with 95%+ shared DNA, all families are unique, which means they face the conundrum to either allow complexity to grow exponentially as they try to customize their family office to their needs or settle for standardized, off-the-shelf, or outsourced solutions that might not be perfectly tailored to the family but are good enough to get the job done. Amjed advises how families should think about this conundrum and how they can decide on the design to build and resource their family office.
Amjed then delves into the practical suggestions he has for families, starting with the areas of the family enterprise and the family office where he believes families should not “reinvent the wheel” but rather would be advised to explore standardized or outsourced services. Conversely, he talks about when it is appropriate to invest in internalizing the complexity and to bring a family office service or functional department in house.
This is an illuminating and thought-provoking conversation with one of the most innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs reshaping the family office space.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Matt Tobin, President and Chief Operating Officer for South Dakota Trust Company (SDTC) and President of SDTC Services. SDTC Services provides consulting and corporate services to the non-depository trust company industry, and as President, Matt is primarily responsible for managing the Company’s Private and Public Trust Company client relationships. He serves as a board director and committee member for several private and public trust companies, is member of the Board of Managers for SDTC, and Board of Directors member for the South Dakota Trust Association.
Matt is the author of many influential publications on Private Trust Companies and has delivered numerous speeches and presentations on the topic, including at the Purposeful Planning Symposium, the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Georgetown Law Center, and the Jackson Hole Financial Professionals’ Symposium, to mention just a few. He is also a frequent speaker at FOX forums, webcasts, and workshops, and is guest faculty at the highly popular FOX Private Trust Company Workshop.
The focus of today’s conversation is on Private Trist Companies (PTCs) as a legal construct to organize and administer multigenerational family assets and professionalize the governance of complex enterprise families. Matt covers basics, including what is a PTC; why were PTCs created; and how they function? He then describes how enterprise families are using PTCs today and explains why they are becoming more and more popular. He goes over the use cases and challenges PTCs can help address for multigenerational families.
For families who are exploring the topic and thinking about utilizing a PTC, Matt offers some valuable practical tips and suggestions that can help them avoid common pitfalls and make the process of researching or establishing a PTC a smooth one. He also provides many pointers and tips for families who already have a PTC to help them ensure they are making the most of this investment and the structures and tools it provides.
Do not miss this rich and informative conversation with one of the foremost experts on Private Trust Companies in our industry.
I am delighted to welcome Buddy Thomas, Founder and President of Superior Planning | Family Office, a Southern California firm serving HNW and UHNW families since 1982. Buddy has created more than 50 individual virtual family offices, providing family fiduciaries, family members, and their most trusted advisors with what they need to collaborate and make decisions together. He is the author of four books, over fifty published articles, and the producer of more than 200 videos including, the “Fifty-Five Second Family Fiduciary” and “Secrets of a Family Fiduciary” series.
In his work with enterprising families, Buddy team developed a concept he calls “the three essential elements”. He describes this concept and how he puts it to work when he advises wealthy families. As with any creative conceptual framework, the key question and the real test is how it gets applied in real-life situations. Buddy paints a detailed picture of how he and his team do wealth planning with families that encompasses all three essential elements and talks about the planning process they have created that achieves the appropriate balance between left- and right-brain topics and priorities.
Buddy and his firm are known for at least one practical tool they apply successfully with families – a tool that they even named their firm after, the Superplan. Buddy defines what the Superplan is and outlines how it works and how families can benefit from it. Taking his methodology to the next level, Buddy and his firm have now developed a Family Wealth Game as a modern tool to help families engage in the planning process together and are even building this game into a software application. He shares the vision and workings of this game, describes what it adds to the wealth advisory process, and illustrates the experience it delivers to enterprising families.
Please enjoy this insightful conversation with a thoughtful and creative veteran of the family wealth advisory profession and a member of a multigenerational enterprising family.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Jamie McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of J. H. McLaughlin & Co., a management consulting firm focused on strategy and practice management for wealth management and investment advisory firms, private banks, trust companies, single- and multi-family offices. Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, a partner at Convergent Wealth Advisors where he built the firm’s New York office, the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management’s New York region, and a financial advisor at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Jamie is a Co-Founder of the UHNW Institute, an independent “think tank” serving firms that serve the ultra-high-net-worth client segment and their advisors.
Jamie has enjoyed a long and decorated career in the wealth management and family office space, and being a history major, he has also written many excellent works on the history of the family wealth and family office industry. He tells the story, as he witnessed it, of how we the industry evolved over the past 30-40 years and paints an elaborate picture of our current industry landscape.
The family office field is enjoying unprecedented growth, and with that growth come different business and service models and a variety of advisory frameworks and practices. Jamie describes the different types of firms that exist today in the UHNW wealth management and family office space, comparing their origins and unique characteristics and analyzing the pros and cons of each model.
Given the spectrum of wealth management models that have emerged in the UHNW segment of our industry, Jamie offers his advice for firms who are looking to establish their place in the space or to solidify their position and ensure the long-term sustainability and profitability of their wealth management and family office business. He also provides valuable practical tips for UHNW clients and enterprise families looking to make sense of the fast-evolving wealth management landscape that serves them and to choose among the different kinds of wealth advisors and family office service providers out there.
Don’t miss this in-depth conversation with one of the most experienced and respected thought leaders in the UHNW wealth management field.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Joe Reilly, CEO and Founder of Circulus Group. Joe is the host of two popular and influential podcasts in the family office and family wealth space: the Private Capital Podcast and the Inheritance Podcast. He is a longtime strategy consultant and family office expert, specializing in advising asset and wealth managers on their allocations, technology, and operations. Joe was the co-founder and founding president of the Family Office Association, and he is currently a director of The Inheritance Project, a non-profit that shares stories of inheritors.
As one of the leaders of The Inheritance Project, which is dedicated to telling the stories of wealth inheritors and exploring the emotional and social impact of wealth, Joe talks about the purpose and motivations behind this undertaking. Based on conversations with inheritors and his work with families of wealth, he provides a glimpse into the most dominant themes he encounters – the top issues, challenges, or opportunities that emerge from speaking with these wealth owners.
Joe offers a set of practical suggestions and advice for wealth owners and family members extracted from the different family stories he has encountered over the years, listing some useful tools and frameworks he has seen being successfully utilized by family leaders and family members. He also delves into the role of the advisors serving the family and shares some of the success stories and highly effective methods, tools, and tactics best-in-class family wealth advisors apply in their work with multigenerational families and wealth inheritors.
Please enjoy this highly informative conversation with one of the long-time thought leaders and practitioners in the private capital and family wealth space.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Ryan Harding and Jennifer Allen. Ryan is the President of Garden Trust Company and the Managing Director of the IFO Group, the family office of the Ilitch family of Detroit, MI, founders of Little Caesar’s Pizza, one of the world's largest pizza chains. Jennifer is the Director of Insurance & Risk Solutions for the IFO and is responsible for Tenda, a captive insurance company established by the Ilitch Family Office.
The insurance industry is experiencing significant disruptions and undergoing a fundamental transformation, and Ryan and Jennifer share their observations on the current insurance landscape and how the industry and the solutions it provides have evolved in recent years.
Most family enterprises are complex systems of people and entities that have unique, and often esoteric, risk management and insurance needs. Ryan and Jennifer shed light on the unique needs of enterprise families and their family offices and offer their views on how well the insurance industry is currently able to cater to these needs.
For the unique needs of their family, the IFO Group concluded that establishing a captive insurance company is the right solution that best serves the family and its enterprise and provides the best protection and benefits to the family members and other constituents within the enterprise. As a result, they created Tenda, their insurance captive, that provides a range of insurance products, including best-in-class, accessible, and affordable health insurance to family members and family office employees.
Ryan and Jennifer provide a quick “Insurance Captives 101,” covering some of the basics, such as what are captives, how do they work, and why are they an attractive option for family enterprises. They also describe how other enterprise families or family offices can take advantage of the unique solutions provided by Tenda or pursue other similar offerings in the marketplace.
Do not miss this highly relevant and in-depth conversation with two of the most sophisticated risk management thought leaders and practitioners in the family enterprise and family office space.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Raul Serebrenik, Founder of Family Enterprise Consulting International Group. Raul is an adviser, researcher, speaker, and author with extensive expertise in family businesses, entrepreneurial family dynasties, family legacy, continuity, and wealth. Raul is also a good friend and collaborator of FOX, and he is a team member of the FOX Caricol Local Chapter serving families in Colombia and the Caribbean.
Raul’s work with families often involves the topic of longevity of the family enterprise, focusing on the learnings from and characteristics of families that last and flourish for generations, and sometimes centuries. He shares his observations of what it means – and what it takes – to achieve longevity of the family, the family business, and the family’s broader enterprise activities.
Raul then defines the role of the family office in this journey (assuming the family has one) and shares his views on how families should leverage their family office and other enterprise resources in their journey to success and longevity.
On the practical side, Raul offers some of the tools (such as diagnostics and roadmaps) families can utilize to chart their course to achieving long-term success and longevity as a family enterprise. Finally, he emphasizes the importance of implementation – there is no long-term success without implementation, even if there is a compelling shared vision. Raul provides some useful tips and suggestions for families on how to successfully implement their multigenerational enterprise vision and plan.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the most decorated and recognized international experts in the field of family wealth, family business, and family enterprise continuity and sustainability.
This week, I am pleased to welcome Doug Macauley, Partner at Cambridge Associates and member of the firm’s Private Client Practice. Doug works with both G1 entrepreneurs and multi-generational families and specializes in developing asset allocation strategies and investment manager structures for families with a broad range of investment objectives and risk tolerances. Doug is a CFA charter holder with over 25 years of investment industry experience in performing due diligence for clients on managers across public and private asset classes and advises families on a range of issues, such as structuring pooled investment vehicles, managing concentrated stock holdings, integrating estate planning within the investment portfolio, and establishing investment governance.
A big and recurring topic in Doug’s work with families, both newly liquid ones and multigenerational enterprise families, is asset allocation. He tells us how families are thinking (or should be thinking) about asset allocation and lists some of the important considerations surrounding this topic, such as liquidity needs, risk tolerance, and distribution policies.
Another important theme that comes into Doug’s conversations with his client families is active vs. passive investments. He shares his views on how families should be making these tradeoffs and offers his suggestions for families to consider as they look to juggle the sometimes-competing priorities of returns, control, risk, and complexity.
One important practical piece of advice Doug has for families and family offices is to make sure they fully understand their exposure within their investment portfolio. He offers some valuable tips and suggestions for family leaders and family office executives on the various methods and tools to do that.
Another critical best practice Doug recommends is stress-testing the family’s portfolio. He talks about how families and their enterprise offices should be doing that and unveils a number of resources they can lean on to accomplish this objective.
Don’t miss this instructive and insightful conversation with an expert practitioner and thought leader representing one of the most thoughtful and respected investment advisory firms in the private wealth and family office space.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Stephan Heller, founding partner of AlphaQ Venture Capital (AQVC), a global VC fund of funds with an innovative semi-liquid evergreen structure, focused on early-stage VC funds and co-investments. Stephan is a next-gen owner in his family’s enterprise, a serial entrepreneur, an active angel investor with over 20 direct investments, including Talon.one, Surge Fitness and Caya. He led Intel's European Startup Program and co-founded Intel Ignite, which was voted the best early-stage DeepTech startup accelerator; founded FinCompare, a fast-growing fintech platform for small and medium-sized enterprise financing, which was acquired by Germany's largest banking group; and created Watchmaster, a re-commerce platform for new and used luxury watches.
Venture capital (VC) is Stephan’s passion and domain of expertise, and he shares his views on where VC stands today as an asset class and what trends are shaping this corner of the investing universe. He then delves into how enterprise families are engaging in VC today and discusses the challenges, opportunities, advantages, and drawbacks facing multigenerational families who choose to be active as venture investors.
Stephan offers a number of practical suggestions for families and family offices – he posits that families should develop a deep understanding of both the external factors (e.g., the VC value chain and the major trends shaping the industry) and the internal needs and preferences of the family (e.g., risk appetite and liquidity requirements, to mention a few). He recommends some useful tools and analyses families can employ to study and evaluate these internal drivers and external forces.
As many families are interested in or drawn to venture but don’t necessarily have the capabilities to be competitive and efficient as investors in this space, Stephan describes some of the tools and channels for family enterprises and family offices to access VC effectively and profitably.
Don’t miss this instructive conversation with a successful rising-gen investor and an expert professional in venture capital – the asset class that hold the potential for most differentiated and attractive returns for families in the long term.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Peter Vogel, Professor of Family Business and Entrepreneurship and holder of the Debiopharm Chair for Family Philanthropy at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is also the Director of the Global Family Business Center and the Global Family Business Award and founder and Chairman of Delta Venture Partners and an Associate Partner of the Cambridge Family Enterprise Group. Peter works with families, owners, boards, and executives of family enterprises and family offices around the world, focusing on transformations, governance, ownership and leadership succession, entrepreneurship, wealth management, and establishing professional boards and leadership teams.
Peter has dedicated his distinguished career to serving multigenerational enterprise families and he shares some of the major themes and most common challenges that families are facing, both historically and right now. Peter is the author of two celebrated books: Family Philanthropy Navigator and the recently published Family Office Navigator. He describes the purpose behind these books and how they are addressing the challenges confronting enterprising families today.
For multigenerational families focused on either creating or operating their family office, Peter offers some of the practical tools and frameworks detailed in his new book. He unpacks the “Five Stone Model,” which is introduced early in the book, and explains the concept behind this model and how families should think about or apply it to their family enterprises. He also outlines the “Family Office Strategy House” framework, which serves as the backbone of several highly instructive chapters of his book, and delves into the practical aspects of this framework, covering what its uses are and how families and family office executives can utilize it to organize their thinking, design, and planning related to their family office.
This is a must-hear conversation with one of the world's most renowned academics, practitioners, and thought leaders in the family business and family office space.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Pat Soldano, President of Family Enterprise USA, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, whose mission is to promote the growth of generational-owned family businesses in the US. Pat is also President of Policy and Taxation Group, a non-profit she formed in 1995 that works to reduce onerous tax and economic policies for successful families, family offices, and family businesses. Before that, she spent over 30 years providing family office services as owner of Cymric Family Office Services and then as Managing Director of the Western Region for GenSpring for 5 years.
Pat and Family Enterprise USA have been doing great work representing the interests of family enterprises. She talks about legislation that is either being considered or has recently been passed in Washington, DC that can potentially affect enterprising families and their businesses. Pat also shares some highlights of the results and findings from the annual Family Enterprise USA survey of family businesses, which was just recently completed and received over 700 responses from family businesses across the US.
Pat offers some practical tips for family businesses and families of wealth on how they can stay abreast of legislative and political developments in Washington, DC that might affect them. She also makes valuable and actionable suggestions for family business owners who not only want to stay informed but also have an impact on legislation or other government actions that impact their enterprises and their families’ wealth and well-being.
Do not miss this important conversation with an industry doyenne and the most prominent advocate for family businesses and enterprising families in the US.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Danielle Oristian York, Executive Director and President of 21/64, a nonprofit practice serving next-gen and multigenerational families. She is an expert facilitator, trainer, and keynote speaker, and has been a consistent leader in the field, spending 18 years helping families, leaders, and communities have complicated conversations about change, identity, and the future. Danielle is a member of the Collaboration for Flourishing Families and the Professional Advisors Committee at The Boston Foundation.
In her 20-year career of working with enterprising families, one of the critical challenges Danielle has seen them struggle with is making decisions together effectively, especially as the number of family members grows. She discusses this challenge and how she sees it manifested among the families she advises and trains.
She also talks about her non-profit organization, 21/64, its origins, and the meaning and purpose embedded in its name – a reference to the two most important milestones in the lives of most people. She describes the bridge, or the “third space”, that she and her colleagues pride themselves for being able to build between generations who often are very far apart. She elaborates on this concept, defines what “third space” means, and describes how it works to connect and unify the generations within a family.
Danielle then delves into many of the practical tools and approaches she teaches and applies with families who are on their multigenerational journey and looking to become more cohesive, more united, and more effective. She also shares her insights into the applied skills, frameworks, and tools she teaches or recommends to family advisors and other professionals serving the family who attend the various 21/64 training and educational programs.
Please enjoy this instructive conversation with one of the most skilled and recognized family engagement and education professionals in our space.
This week, I’m especially honored to welcome Dimitar Tsotsorkov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Asarel-Medet, the largest and most advanced copper mining and processing company in Bulgaria. Dimitar is the G2 family leader of the Tsotsorkov family, former Chairman of the Management Board of the family’s operating business, and active philanthropist through the “Lachezar Tsotsorkov” Foundation, which he established in honor of his father, who was the G1 wealth creator of the family. Dimitar was recognized as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Pioneer for Digital Transformation of the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable (UNGC) development initiative and became the first manager of a mining company to win the prestigious award in 2022.
As a G2 family leader of a highly enterprising family, Dimitar is carrying forward his father’s great legacy and laying the foundations on which his family can continue to flourish in the future. He recounts the rich history of his family and shares his personal journey as a business owner and family leader, tapping into the captivating stories of his family’s entrepreneurial achievements over the past 100+ years.
Dimitar and his family are firm believers in the importance of a strong culture, and they even undertook a thoughtful and systematic process to craft and formalize their “family brand”. Dimitar talks about this exercise and sheds light on the reasons why a family brand is important in his view and how he and his fellow family members arrived at their family brand.
The Tsotsorkov family also made a concerted effort to distill and formulate the shared values of their family – or as they call them, their “values in action”. Dimitar reflects on the importance of values and describes how they went about defining theirs, and what they mean to everyone in his family.
Throughout these important and systematic undertakings, Dimitar and his family identified a number of helpful practical tools, such as rituals and life milestones, which they deployed with the entire family to build their brand and establish the family culture. Dimitar describes the importance of these tools and how he uses them with his family members. Another pillar of his family culture is continuous learning and development, and to achieve that goal, Dimitar has instituted individual development plans (IDPs) for all family members. He describes this practice and how it is working for his family, not only with the younger G3 rising-gen members but also with the older “now” generations.
Don’t miss this exceptional conversation with one of the most enterprising, forward-thinking, and generous multigenerational enterprise families within the FOX community.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Maryann Fernandez and Paul McKibbin, co-founders of Shaking the Tree Interactive Productions, an independent educational nonprofit that uses theater and interactive audience forums to teach family dynamics and to promote philanthropy. Maryann is currently Managing Director at Strategic Philanthropy Ltd. and has worked in wealth management and philanthropy for over 25 years, including at the UN World Food Program’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and Harris Private Bank. Paul is a Managing Director in Ernst & Young’s Americas Family Office Advisory practice, and prior to that was a Managing Partner at Family Office Metrics and the Founder and President of Private Family Networks.
Maryann and Paul reflect on the challenge they perceived back in 2000, when they founded Shaking the Tree, with how families and their advisors were approaching and addressing family dynamics issues. They describe how and why they reached the conclusion to apply theater and dramatized productions to family dynamics and share the reasons why this creative approach is often more effective than more traditional ways of engaging family members during difficult or transitional times.
Over the years, Shaking the Tree has amassed an impressive online library of videos illustrating different situations and case studies. Maryann and Paul talk about how families and advisors can make use of this resource and apply these case studies in the work they do with their family members. Beyond simply using the existing inventory of online videos, Maryann and Paul also shed light on the other theatrical and creative tools and methods that families and their advisors can deploy to engage and educate family members more effectively, including creating their own original video content to utilize within their family structure and broader family enterprise.
Please enjoy this illuminating conversation with two of the most experienced and creative veterans in the space of engaging and educating multigenerational family members.
Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Ned Rollhaus and Luke Jernagan of Matter Family Office, a purpose-driven multi-family office firm serving multigenerational families of wealth. Ned is a Partner at Matter and sees himself as a thought partner, coach, and facilitator for families at every stage of their wealth journey, dedicated to helping them navigate the complexities and responsibilities of wealth over multiple generations. Luke is the Director of Family Learning at Matter, and in that capacity, he works with families to strengthen their relationships, communicate effectively, and identify what matters most to them, so they can thrive as individuals and together.
In their work with families, especially as they evolve from being G1- or founder-led to involving broader groups of owners across generations, Ned and Luke have seen an emerging trend toward what they refer to as “hybrid” family offices – as in a hybrid between a single-family office (SFO) and a multi-family office (MFO). They share their definition of a hybrid FO, describe how this emerging model works, and go over the benefits of a Hybrid FO and the reasons why families are increasingly gravitating toward this model.
Ned and Luke then offer some practical considerations and tips for family principals and leaders who are considering a hybrid FO, highlighting the situations in which owners should consider this structure and the factors they should be aware of and/or watch out for. They also offer suggestions and recommendations for FO executives who may have to evaluate this hybrid FO model, select the external MFO partners, and determine what services should be provided on which side of the hybrid divide, as well as what role they should play as FO executives in this model.
Don’t miss this instructive conversation with two of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in the MFO space and the purposeful planning movement.
Today, I am delighted to welcome Coventry Edwards-Pitt, CFA, CFP®, Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Ballentine Partners, an independent multi-family-office firm. Covie is the author of three popular books: Raised Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, Aged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, and Engaged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise. She has been quoted widely, including in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Investment News. Covie is a trained opera singer and pianist, and a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization and the Collaboration for Family Flourishing.
Covie works with many families of wealth looking to “prepare their next gen to be good stewards of wealth” and often she finds there is a rift between what the parents want and what their children actually need when they embark on this journey. She shares the insights she has uncovered over the course of her career about this tension.
She also highlights another problematic aspect she has experienced – this one has to do with the solutions the family wealth industry offers. These solutions are intended to do good, but often create many unintended, damaging side effects. To remedy that, Covie advises her clients to “take 10 steps back,” and deploys with them such practical tools as a “facilitated reading journey” utilizing her Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise books. She describes how that approach works and the benefits it creates.
An area where rising gens often first get involved in the family enterprise is the philanthropic strategy and giving activities of the family. Covie shares her ideas of another practical tool, which actually doesn’t exist yet, but in her view, should and would be of great value to philanthropic families and their younger generations. She outlines her vision of a vehicle that would act as a “national CLAT” (charitable lead annuity trust) and delves into how this idea would create value to families and their communities.
Please enjoy this informative conversation with a celebrated practitioner and recognized author in the domain of rising gen engagement and development.
This week, I am pleased to welcome George Kinder, Founder and President of The Kinder Institute of Life Planning. George is a renowned author, international thought leader, and life planning pioneer who over the past 35 years has spearheaded the financial planning movement within the financial service industry. George is also a longtime mindfulness practitioner and teacher, and author of the visionary mindfulness book, A Golden Civilization & The Map of Mindfulness.
As he has done before in his life and career, George is now spearheading a new movement and a vision for a future social contract between all institutions and our society, which he refers to as “Fiduciary in All Things” (or FIAT). He describes this simple but groundbreaking concept, outlining how it works, what its benefits are, and what changes need to take place for this vision to be realized.
George has a unique perspective on the psychology of money, and in his work with financial advisors and planners, he talks about the “Three Domains of Freedom.” He elaborates on this concept and how it applies to the work of families and their family offices to manage their wealth and the resources of the family enterprise.
As one of the leading pioneers of the life planning movement that swept the financial services industry over the past couple of decades, George offers some practical financial life planning tips for family leaders, family office executives, and family wealth advisors. And as a 50-year mindfulness veteran and accomplished mindfulness teacher, he shares some suggestions for both UHNW family clients and their wealth advisors on how to incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives and work, and why.
Enjoy this uniquely rich conversation with one of the leading pioneers of financial life planning and foremost authorities on mindfulness and living a peaceful and meaningful life.
Today, I am pleased to welcome Wesly Pate, Senior Portfolio Manager at Income Research + Management (IR+M), a bond management firm specializing in US fixed income for both institutional and private wealth clients. In his role, Wesly is focused on portfolio construction, sector analysis, and contributing to the investment decision-making process, and works closely with IR+M’s wealth management team and family office clients.
Wesly starts by sharing his views on the macroeconomic context in which we find ourselves today. IR+M specializes in fixed-income instruments (bonds in particular), and we find ourselves in a relatively high-interest environment for the first time in decades. Wesly talks about how and why bonds are performing strongly or positioned to add value to investors’ portfolios right now. He then looks at the current macro environment from the perspective of family enterprises and family offices.
IR+M is itself a family-owned, multigenerational business, so Wesly and the firm leadership are no strangers to the needs, priorities, and investment mindset of family enterprises. Wesly shares hid views on the opportunities, ideas, and actions family offices and family enterprise CIOs should be considering in today’s environment.
Wesly then offers some practical tools and tips for family offices, active investors, and family enterprise CIOs, highlighting some great analytical tools and methods, such as breakeven analyses and studying changes in relevant value and suggesting how family offices should be thinking about them and utilizing them.
Finally, Wesly provides his insights into what he sees families and family offices are currently doing with fixed income and bonds in their portfolios and offers some suggestions on the investment strategies they should be considering or activating in the current context.
Please enjoy this timely and instructive conversation with a deep expert in an asset class that has renewed relevance and potential impact on family investment portfolios today.
This week, I’m speaking with Leslie Michelson, Chairman and Co-Founder of Private Health Management (PHM). PHM is a clinically sophisticated complex care management company, specializing in assisting clients to obtain the best care and outcomes when facing serious and complex medical conditions. Before founding PHM, Leslie was the CEO and Vice Chairman of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and he’s the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Patient’s Playbook. Leslie, and his firm PHM, are marketing partners of FOX and valuable contributors of unique, expertise to our member community, and we are thrilled to offer their specialized knowledge and thought leadership to our members.
Leslie shares his reflections, based on his decades of experience, on how UHNW clients, who ostensibly have the resources to afford any level of service and care, still find it a challenge to gain access to and receive good medical care. He also points to a unique and intriguing aspect of being a client or advisor in the family wealth space – which is that clients in this niche corner of the wealth management industry are families, and as such, they share common heritage and genetics. And that is important for families and family leaders to know as they seek to improve the collective health and well-being of their family members.
Leslie offers some practical tips and suggestions for UHNW clients who are facing or dealing with a serious diagnosis, condition, or illness in the family, and provides a simple and time-tested recipe for the steps should they take and the resources they should seek out. He also has some sound advice and useful resources for families whose members are blessed with good health at present, but the family and the family leaders wish to be proactive and better prepared for all eventualities and for any medical situations or emergencies family members may face.
Don’t miss this highly practical conversation with one of the long-time thought leaders and practitioners in the health and wellness profession focused on serving UHNW families and all their members.
Today, I am delighted to speak with Dr. Richard Orlando, Founder of Legacy Capitals, a leading provider of training, coaching, and consulting services on topics such as wealth and values transfer, preparing the rising generation, family governance, legacy planning, and family philanthropy to financially successful families & family businesses, wealth advisors, family offices, and financial institutions. Richard is an approved instructor for the Investments & Wealth Institute’s Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) Certification Program, a faculty member of the UHNW Institute, holds a certificate in family wealth advising from the Family Firm Institute, and is certified as a professional coach by the International Coach Federation’s accredited program.
In his practice serving UHNW clients, Richard uses the terms “love your client” and “whole family advisory” to describe his approach and philosophy of working with families of wealth. He explains what he means by these terms and shares his definition of a whole family advisor. Richard and his firm work with both family clients and their trusted advisors, and he talks about how this “whole family advisor” mindset impacts both sides of this professional relationship. He unpacks what families need to know about finding and working with a whole family advisor and what advisors need to know and do to become one.
In his book, Legacy: The Hidden Keys to Optimizing Your Family Wealth Decisions, Richard outlines and explores the five most important family wealth questions, or decisions, that directly impact families and their legacies. He delves into these five questions and explains how families and advisors should make practical use of them. Richard also shares several legacy tools – for facilitating meetings, communicating effectively, planning, etc. – that he utilizes in his work with clients and offers some tips on how family principals and family advisors can best make use of them.
Please enjoy this highly instructive conversation with a longtime practitioner and leading coach and educator in the family wealth and well-being space.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Aggie Johnson, founder and owner of WillKate, a family enterprise consultancy firm serving the full scope of issues and challenges that families of wealth face. A G3 enterprise family member herself, Aggie knows first-hand what it takes to create and sustain a thriving family and family enterprise.
Aggie shares her definition of a family enterprise and the unique challenges and opportunities enterprise families face. She describes how the complex needs of enterprise families necessitate a broader view of wealth and a multidisciplinary approach to advising and coaching their family members. She then introduces the “6-element focus,” a framework of wealth she uses in her practice with UHNW clients and explains how this multifaceted definition of wealth can help clients cultivate and strengthen their various types of family capital.
One practical approach Aggie deploys with her clients is to help them discover and focus on, what she refers to, as their “central purpose.” Aggie unpacks the meaning of this concept and how families can use it to become stronger and attain their strategic goals.
Another practice Aggie recommends is for family members and leaders to use introspection and working on yourself as a path to achieving greater unity, communicating and relating better, and overcoming the challenges of difficult and emotional family situations and transitions. She delves into the practical aspects of this approach, its importance, and practical applications.
Please enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the highly experienced and credentialed family practitioners within the FOX community, who generously shares the lessons of her own experience as a rising gen leader of her family enterprise.
Today, I am excited to speak with Mitchell Spearman, relationship builder and advisor to multigenerational families and family office leaders. Through his work, Mitchell helps his clients build deeper ties and meaningful connectivity through curated moments and transformational experiences.
Mitchell’s career started in higher learning, and as an educator, he embraced the concept of High Impact Practices that, as research has shown, can generate stronger engagement with students and deliver lasting educational impact. Mitchels explains what High Impact Practices are and how they are applied by teachers and learning institutions. He then talks about how these same High Impact Practices can be adapted to the world of wealth management, and particularly to the field of advising multigenerational UHNW families.
To bring this into practice, Mitchell offers a range of tips and suggestions for families interested in learning and applying the High Impact Practices approach in their day-to-day communication, engagement, and work with their family members or their family enterprise or family office staff. He also provides useful pointers to family advisors and service providers across different disciplines on how they can borrow from and apply High Impact Practices in their work and interactions with their UHNW family clients.
Enjoy this highly relevant conversation with one the most passionate, energetic, and positively engaging family advisors in our space.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Laura Dale-Harris, Founder of Global Treehouse Foundation, a unique nonprofit organization, established by a prominent European enterprise family – Isabella Seragnolli’s family in Bologna, Italy – and dedicated to improving access to pediatric palliative care for children around the world.
Laura talks about the origins and mission of Global Treehouse Foundation, which is a great case study for a mission-driven philanthropic foundation that was born out of a family’s own vision and value system and was spun out from the family office. Laura shares some insights about this process of creating a new and separate non-profit organization that first originated inside the family office.
Laura then delves into the incredible work of the Global Treehouse Foundation, bringing the topic of palliative – or end-of-life – care into focus. Like so many qualitative, human topics that are of such great importance and consequence in the lives of families and their family members, the topic of death and end-of-life care is often treated as taboo and even avoided. The topic rarely enters families’ conversations pertaining to wealth planning and well-being. Laura gives an overview of the current state of palliative care – how it is understood, how it is practiced, and what attitudes and resources currently exist for families.
Unfortunately, dealing with death and end-of-life care is something all families have to deal with in one way or another, and as with anything else, it’s better to be prepared than not. Laura offers her advice for families who are dealing with an end-of-life situation, either within their own family or in their immediate community and recommends some practical tips on how to be aware of and potentially seek out palliative care resources and help.
Finally, Laura provides some guidance for families who want to help others in their community or more broadly in the world gain understanding and access to palliative care, outlining different ways families can support and promote this cause of making palliative care broadly available around the world to all people who need it.
Don’t miss this important, enlightening, and moving conversation with one of the world’s leading experts in and champions of end-of-life care.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Ella Chase, co-founder of Wellth Works, an executive coaching and leadership company for wealth inheritors and future family leaders. Ella is herself a 7th-generation family member of a 100-year family, and has seen the burdens and blessings of complex, multi-generational family enterprises. She is a dynamic and innovative speaker, facilitator, and mentor, and a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, and organizational turnaround.
Ella talks about the macro context within which she and her business, Wellth Works, currently operate. Multigenerational families are in a unique moment in history, and a lot is going to change as vast amounts of wealth transition in the coming couple of decades, and Ella shares the perspectives of a G7 wealth inheritor on how the next 10-20 years are likely to unfold and why it is important to focus on preparing the rising-gen of enterprise families.
The needs, challenges, and opportunities facing next-gen members of multigenerational families are very unique and often not fully understood – maybe even misunderstood. Ella discusses the challenges rising-gen members are facing and the stereotypes, assumptions, and misconceptions they have to deal with and overcome to become fulfilled, thriving family members and leaders.
In her work coaching rising-gen leaders, Ella uses a number of methods and frameworks she has developed. One such tool is the Decision-Making Matrix to get clients unstuck and to unlock paralysis. Ella delves into how families can apply this practical framework to their unique situations. She also emphasizes the importance of developing key skills and a support community of peers and experts and shares her practical tips and tools for rising-gen members who are either feeling stuck or who want to maximize their leadership potential and personal wellbeing.
Enjoy this illuminating and instructive conversation with a uniquely positioned and qualified expert and practitioner in the space of helping families and their rising generations achieve success and wellbeing.
Happy New Year! Welcome to the brand new 2024 season of FOXCast CEO Series.
Today, I have the pleasure and honor of speaking with Sara Hamilton, Founder and Board Chair of Family Office Exchange (FOX). Sara founded FOX as a peer network for family office executives in 1989, which evolved over the ensuing decades into a trusted knowledge partner to family enterprises, a platform for sharing family wealth best practices, and an industry advocate for the importance of private enterprise in a global economy.
In this episode, Sara delves into the conceptual definitions and practical implications of being an enterprise family. The term “enterprise family” has been widely adopted by sophisticated families and some advisors in the UHNW family wealth space, but it’s not clear that everyone understands its true meaning or that there is one universally embraced definition within our industry.
Sara puts forth a clear and compelling definition of what it means and what it takes to be an enterprise family and offers a list of characteristics and behaviors that set enterprise families apart. She then shares her views of the benefits of being an enterprise family, based on her experience of working with many of the leading multigenerational families in North America and globally over the past nearly 4 decades.
Sara provides an outline of her proprietary framework consisting of the 30 Building Blocks for an Enduring Enterprise Family, an invaluable practical tool for families who are starting or accelerating their journey to being a multigenerational enterprise. Sara has developed this framework over the course of 20 years and is currently putting it in the form of a workbook families can use to organize and track their progress as an enterprise.
Sara shares some practical tips for families on how to get started with the 30 Building Blocks if they want to develop or strengthen their family enterprise, providing useful suggestions for both aspiring enterprise families who are just getting started and for those who are more mature and advanced enterprise families already.
Building and maintaining a sophisticated enterprise requires commitment, focus, and investment of time and resources from the family and its individual members. Sara offers her perspective and a synthesis of the feedback she has received from many families on why the time and effort required to keep an enterprise going from generation to generation is well worth it in the long run.
You would not want to miss this deeply insightful and instructive conversation with one of the most influential founders of the family office industry and foremost thought leader and practitioner in the family wealth space, Sara Hamilton.
Today, I am excited to speak with Amber Slattery, a director at a single-family office based in Paris, France. Amber is also a next-gen education coach, working directly with clients in their teens and early-20s, and creating custom programming based on their individual interests and needs. In addition, she serves as a programming consultant to Bounce10, a financial parenting platform, founded by Joline Godfrey, focusing on next-gen education for children ages 4-10.
Amber offers her thoughts on the misconceptions or gaps of understanding among UHNW families about preparing and engaging their children to be good owners and family enterprise members. In her work in the realm of rising-gen learning and engagement, Amber often sees clients, especially parents, come to her and other advisors looking for “next-gen education” and not actually knowing what they need or even mean by that. Amber specializes in working with 14-20-year-old clients – an age group that many UHNW principals are not very focused on or don’t know how to deal with. She shares her insights into the unique challenges and opportunities associated with engaging and educating teenage and college-age rising gens.
Amber shares a practical framework she has developed working with 14-20-year-old rising-gen members she refers to as the “6 Key Findings” – a useful tool to inform and structure the work with younger family members in this age bracket. She also makes use of well-thought-out, thought-provoking questionnaires, both for the parents and for their children, to generate the right conversations, get on the same page about the process, and spur the right level of thinking, and ultimately, engagement. Amber offers a peek into her approach to orientation questionnaires and the “12 Key Questions” she asks to encourage engagement with teenage or emerging adult clients.
Enjoy the numerous practical tools and suggestions Amber Slattery shares in this instructive conversation.
This week, it is my pleasure to speak with Dr. Jesse Viner, CEO & Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Bryn Jessup, Director of Family Services & Systems at Yellowbrick, a leading resource and national referral center serving enterprise families and providing mental health services and psychiatric treatment of troubled emerging adults. Jesse and Bryn, and their firm Yellowbrick, have been a resource partner and now specialty advisor member of the FOX community, bringing their unique expertise and thought leadership to our members.
Mental health as a topic has not traditionally been part of the professional family wealth management discourse, and in fact has often been shrouded in stigma, swept under the rug, and left to families to deal with on their own. As mental health professionals for nearly 4 decades, Jesse and Bryn have witnessed the transformation of the field firsthand, and they share their views on the relevance of mental health to enterprising families of wealth.
Mental health issues are challenging for everyone, but UHNW families are presented with a unique set of challenges and pain points when it comes to the mental wellbeing of their family members. Jesse and Bryn talk about the unique mental health burdens and challenges faced by UHNW families and offer some practical considerations and best practices pertaining to how families can approach the mental health and wellbeing of their family members in a proactive and positive way that builds a safe and supportive family culture.
Jesse and Bryn also offer their advice for families who are facing a mental health concern, challenge, or even a crisis, and recommend a number of practical tips, resources, and steps for families struggling with a mental health issue.
You would not want to miss this unique and deeply relevant conversation on a highly consequential, yet often neglected, topic with two of the foremost mental health thought leaders and practitioners working with UHNW families.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Meg Pagani, a Forbes 30under30 and Fortune 40under40 founder, serial TEDx speaker, and an executive trainer. Meg teaches about Power and Leadership at the Politecnico di Milano executive programs, and helps investors, family offices and founders understand the hidden dimensions of wealth management and what that has to do with power and purpose.
Meg delves into her work and research into the concept of ‘power’ – how people perceive it and use it, and how power is connected to relationships, purpose, and impact. She talks about the existence of both positive and negative power and how these are manifested in the world and needs of UHNW families and wealth management.
Meg discusses the strong connection between power and the role it plays in the realm of individual purpose and impact and shares her views on how power is linked to purpose and self-actualization, and how that connects with major issues we, and especially rising generation members, increasingly care about, such as climate change, environmental degradation, and geopolitical unrest.
Meg suggests some practical tips and tools for family members, both parents and rising-gen members, who want to gain an understanding of power and how it impacts their family and their community. She discusses what families can do to explore their relationship with power and how can they apply that knowledge to strengthen their family, resolve conflicts, and discover their shared purpose.
Finally, Meg provides her insights into how families can apply power to their impact aspirations and strategy, and how they can connect power and agency to their impact agenda, their philanthropies, their investments, and their family enterprise overall.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of our industry’s young stars of rising-gen engagement and empowerment.
This week, I’m honored to welcome Guglielmo Notarbartolo di Villarosa, Head of Private Equity & Venture Capital at PFC, the family office of his branch of the Marzotto Family, one of Italy’s most significant enterprise families, whose history in the textile and fashion industry extends back over 250 years. Guglielmo is a G7 family member of the Marzotto Family and a G3 member of his family branch. Over the past 5 years, he has worked with his siblings and cousins to evolve the family enterprise and family office structure, refocusing it on creating a shared purpose and positive impact.
As a rising-gen family leader who is carrying forward the legacy of a nearly 300-year-old family, Guglielmo shares the story of his family and the fascinating recent intergenerational transition within his own family branch. This latest transition process, which passed control of the family enterprise from Guglielmo’s grandfather (G1) to the current generation (G3) of family leaders, was a remarkable success story. Not only was the succession smooth and conflict-free, but the G3 family members emerged highly motivated, aligned, and fulfilled by the exercise.
A fundamental part of the transition process was the joint work the family did to draft and formalize a family constitution. Guglielmo offers his views on how important a family constitution is and how critical it is for the family to undergo an intentional, high-quality process to create and agree to one. The family constitution process resulted in fundamental changes to how the family operates and the way family members regard the purpose of the family wealth. Guglielmo explains how the family governance structures and behaviors evolved and the changes that drove to their collective definition of what “impact” and “value creation” means to them as a family.
Guglielmo provides practical tips and lessons learned from the family constitution process – especially since it was a very positive experience for all family members and unified the current generation behind a shared value system and purpose. He goes over the choices and decisions they made as a family, which ultimately resulted in greater unity and happiness among the family. He also offers his insights into the practical steps that led to one of the most important outcomes for the family – aligning behind a shared vision and purpose, which is centered around delivering measurable positive impact on local communities and alleviating negative economic externalities.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear directly from the G7 family member of a remarkable enterprise family with nearly 3-century-long history of success and impact. First-hand family case studies like this one are scarce and are a wonderful benefit of being a member of the FOX community.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Tom McCullough, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Northwood Family Office. Tom is an adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Wealth Management, and a member of the board and faculty of the UHNW Institute. He is an accomplished author and frequent speaker on issues relevant to families of wealth and their trusted advisors.
Tom recently published his influential article, The Rise of the Integrated Advisor, in the Journal of Wealth Management, and in this episode, he shares his views and work on the role of the “integrated wealth advisor” and the value it creates for UHNW clients. He talks about the challenges of identifying, hiring, and developing integrated wealth advisors, especially in an industry, where deep technical, quantitative expertise has traditionally been overvalued and qualitative skills and emotional intelligence have been undervalued. Tom offers practical tips for families who are looking to find or select an integrated wealth advisor and shares his thoughts on how to decide who is best positioned to play that role for the family: a family member, a family office employee, or an external advisor.
Tom introduces his framework of the “Four Markers” of integrated wealth advisors, which summarizes the personality traits and skills needed for one to be successful at this complex and important role for the family. He provides actionable advice to professionals who are interested in becoming integrated wealth advisors, including how they can prepare and equip themselves for this role, what formal educational programs or informal career pathways they can pursue to acquire the knowledge and hone the skills they will need to be able to play the integration and coordination role for their UHNW clients.
Don’t miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the best recognized thinkers and practitioners in the Family Wealth Advice field.
This week, I welcome to FOXCast Michelle Jezycki, President of Trifecta Consulting, a US-based human resources management company. Michelle is the former Director of Human Resources for the United States Senate, and a Visiting Associate Professor at the American University in Bulgaria teaching Leadership in their EMBA program.
Michelle shares insights from her work with families and family offices, which focuses on their human capital and often centers around change. She describes the challenges many people face with change, especially when different people have differing expectations and visions. She offers her views on how best to handle communications and expectations during a change-management process, such as family succession or family vision and values or rising-gen engagement and education.
She also covers another hallmark of the human-capital advisory work she does, which is that it often wades into topics and relationships that are difficult and emotionally charged. She emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence during these family and family office change-management projects and offers suggestions on how best to navigate the complexities that arise.
Michelle talks about one practical implement she frequently deploys in her work with families – a family retreat or facilitated family meeting. She shares her thinking on how family retreats can be used to facilitate change and effective communications among family members and puts forth practical tips for conducting successful family meetings and retreats.
Finally, Michelle delves into the importance of the individual development of family members and even key staff of the family office. She outlines her philosophy on IDPs (individual development plans) and how to apply them with family members, especially younger members of the rising gen, and provides tips on how families can employ this important human-capital tool effectively.
Enjoy this instructive and practical conversation with a uniquely experienced professional in the field of human capital management and key talent development.
I am pleased to welcome John Coyle, CEO and Founder of Speaking Design Thinking, to FOXCast. John is a sought-after keynote speaker, best-selling author, and former Olympic medalist in speedskating. Known as #TheTimeGuy, he is a thought leader in the field of chronoception – the study of how humans process time.
John talks about the brain science of chronoception, unpacking the intricacies of how we perceive and interact with time. He argues that “there is no such thing as chronological time”, shattering some commonly held beliefs about time as a concept and introducing a lot more complexity and nuance to our relationship with time.
Jonh has formulated the Three Laws of Experiential Time, and he discusses how they work and what their implications are for those of us seeking to maximize our return on this most precious and finite asset. He shares a number of practical applications of his Three Laws and offers suggestions to leaders of families and enterprises for how they can better manage their time capital and achieve better return on time invested by understanding and applying these fundamental laws.
John also introduces the concept of the Time Investment Portfolio that helps families and family office professionals understand and manage the interplay between quantity and quality of time spent and thus maximize what he refers to as the “memory value of time”.
Don’t miss this fascinating, mind-bending, and yet, highly practical conversation with #TheTimeGuy – one of the world’s foremost thought leaders on time capital.
This week, I’m speaking with Vincent Kavanagh, Executive Vice President and Head of Sales at Four Corners Aviation. Vincent has nearly 20 years of experience serving the aviation needs of UHNW clients in Europe and the US. Vincent and his firm, Four Corners Aviation, are a Specialist Advisor member at FOX and an active and generous contributor to the FOX community.
Vincent offers an overview of the macro trends and developments that have been shaping the private aviation space in the past couple of decades. He describes how products and offerings have evolved, and explains how technology and business model innovations, as well as changing client needs and behaviors, have advanced the private aviation industry.
Vincent offers practical tips for clients who fly private, starting with those who are experienced with private aviation, including families or enterprise leaders who already own and operate aircraft or are active users of fractional and other shared solutions. He also provides many invaluable suggestions for those who are just starting out in this complex and technical space – especially families, family offices, and business owners who are considering or evaluating private aviation solutions.
Enjoy this conversation with one of the leading private aviation experts in the FOX community and the very helpful insights he shares relating to this niche and specialized UHNW service sector.
This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Kristin Keffeler, Chief Learning Officer at the Johnson Financial Group. Kristin is a celebrated author of such influential books in our industry as the recently published Wealth 3.0: The Future of Family Wealth Advising, and The Myth of the Silver Spoon: Navigating Family Wealth & Creating an Impactful Life. She is also the Dean of Family Positive Psychology at the Purposeful Planning Institute.
Kristin is passionate about the challenges and opportunities facing the rising-gen members of enterprising families, a subject she covers in depth in her influential book, The Myth of the Silver Spoon. She delves into the topic here, especially focusing on how the strengths-based approach can unlock the rising gen’s potential for success, happiness, and impact. She also describes the challenges that are potentially holding back rising-gen members and their parents – the things she calls “clutter” in her book – and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.
Kristin also talks about the core theses of her other recently released book, Wealth 3.0, which she co-authored with Jim Grubman and Dennis Jaffee. This visionary book has been widely seen as primarily focused on or aimed at the family wealth advisor profession and its impending evolution, however, Kristin talks here about the clients, the families who are served by the advisor community, and the role they too play in the Wealth 3.0 evolution. She describes how family member education, awareness, and expectations of what Wealth 3.0 is and how it should serve them are critical drivers of the coming change.
Kristin also offers some practical tips and tools for family members, including parents and the younger generations. She indicates what parents can do to enable a positive strengths-based engagement and to catalyze the evolution of their family and advisor interactions and processes toward the Wealth 3.0 model. She also outlines the opportunities for the younger generation and the role they can play to bring about and drive the positive, strengths-driven Wealth 3.0 approach of engaging with their family, the family enterprise, and the advisor ecosystem that surrounds them.
Don’t miss this engaging conversation with one of our industry’s foremost thinkers and practitioners specializing in the rising gen and their success and well-being.
This week, I am thrilled to be speaking with Cassindy Chao and Shannon Lundgren, co-founders of Boutique Matchmaking, a high-end personal advisory practice that provides curated matchmaking, date coaching, and strategic consulting for multigenerational families of wealth. The fact that we are talking about high-end professional matchmaking, date coaching, and curated singles education for UHNW clients, shows just how far our field is progressing toward embracing the full spectrum of qualitative, human-capital needs, and wellbeing of our UHNW clients.
Cassindy and Shannon provide an overview of how the professional matchmaking field has evolved over the past 10-20 years, and how this highly consequential service is gradually maturing from being shrouded in stigma and mystery to being professionalized, supported by research and best practices, and provided by professionally trained and sophisticated advisors and consultants.
Many of the qualitative wellbeing topics in our field are still considered somewhat sensitive, controversial, or even taboo for families and advisors to engage in openly and professionally, and romantic coaching and matchmaking services are right up there on the list of difficult or hush-hush topics. Cassindy and Shannon shed some light on the challenges and risk these stigmas create for single UHNW clients, their families, and their family enterprises.
The co-founders of Boutique Matchmaking dip into their rich experience and share some of the most common client situations they face. They also offer many practical tips and suggestions for UHNW clients who are either starting for the first time to look for a life partner or are thinking of reentering the dating scene later in their life.
Nowadays, it is increasingly likely for wealth advisors, family office executives, and other trusted professionals who surround and serve the family to be exposed to the personal and even romantic aspects of their clients’ lives. We have had instances within the FOX community where family office professionals have had to deal with challenging situations involving romantic fraud, dating-app etiquette, and other “non-traditional” family wellbeing topics. Cassindy and Shannon offer some advice for professional advisors and family office employees who find themselves involved in and have to navigate well these sensitive areas and moments in their principals’ lives.
Please enjoy this unique and eye-opening conversation with two of the trailblazers of professional matchmaking, date coaching, and romantic consulting. Cassindy and Shannon, and their firm Boutique Matchmaking, have just recently joined the FOX community as official marketing partners, and we are proud to offer their expertise and thought leadership to our members.
This week, I am speaking with Paul Westall and Tayyab Mohamed, co-founders of Agreus group, a resourcing and recruitment consultancy dedicated to working exclusively with family offices. Paul and Tayyab share their insights into the unique needs of family offices related to recruiting, developing, and retaining talent, and examine how well these needs are being met by the broader ecosystem of traditional and boutique recruiting firms.
Having witnessed the evolution of family offices and the substantial changes that have reshaped the sector over the past 13 years, Paul and Tayyab comment on the most significant trends that are impacting the human capital needs and practices of family enterprises and family offices today – the most significant one being the increased professionalization of the family office operations and governance.
With increased demand for highly skilled talent, family offices are having to figure out how to compete with larger corporations and private equity firms to attract topnotch professionals, how to compensate and motivate them, and how to offer a compelling career path and incentive plans to ensure their long-term retention and engagement. Paul and Tayyab offer practical tips for family offices looking to upgrade and upskill their talent in a number of important and competitive technical areas. They also provide some ideas and guidance for family offices that are actively weighing whether to hire in-house or outsource some of their critical functions.
Please enjoy this instructive conversation with two of the best-recognized specialty recruiters serving the global family office community.
Today, I am particularly honored to welcome Prof. Michael Feiner, President at Michael C. Feiner Consulting. From 2000 to 2010, Michael was Professor of Management and Ethics Fellow at Columbia Graduate School of Business, and I was lucky enough, as an MBA student at Columbia Business School in 2003, to take his High-Performance Leadership class, which in many ways has shaped me as a business leader. Prior to teaching and consulting, Michael was a senior executive at Pepsi for 20 years and was Senior VP and Worldwide Chief People Officer for the consumer-packaged goods giant. He now advises a wide variety of organizations, including private equity firms, Fortune 500 companies, and fast-growing start-ups.
Michael talks about how the field of high-performance leadership has evolved over the past 20+ years and how learning institutions and business organizations are teaching the required skillsets and developing high-performance leaders. We unpack the reality of high-performance leadership and examine whether the discipline is now fully embraced and practiced by HR departments and governance board or are leaders still generally left to “learn on the job”.
Michael draws on his nearly 5 decades of experience as a human capital leader, executive coach, and leadership guru to share some practical tips for leaders who want to master the art of high-performance leadership and apply it in their day-to-day work with their teams. He also sheds light on what team members can and should be doing to best engage their leaders and to encourage and incite high-performance leadership from their superiors.
Please enjoy this insightful and practical conversation with one of the most celebrated people leaders and leadership thinkers, and sample some of the most valuable and enduring leadership lessons that I personally have learned from Prof. Michael Feiner from my days at Columbia Business School and have tested and applied throughout my own (ongoing) leadership journey.
This week, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Dennis Jaffe, Senior Research Fellow at BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors, trusted advisor to numerous enterprise families, and celebrated author of such iconic books in our industry as the recently published Wealth 3.0: The Future of Family Wealth Advising and Borrowed from Your Grandchildren: The Evolution of 100-Year Family Enterprises.
Dennis shares some of the key findings of his immense catalog of research and thought leadership in the field of family well-being and wealth management, particularly drawing on his ongoing study of the Resilience of 100-Year Family Enterprises. He emphasizes the criticality of positive thinking, motivation, and engagement and the importance of not succumbing to popular negative myths about enterprising families of wealth.
Drawing on his decades of advising successful multigenerational families, Dennis highlights some of the practical tools families can put to work to emulate the success of the enduring, “generative” families he has studied. He has created some of the most widely used tools in the industry, such as The Values Edge and Family Enterprise Assessment Tool (FEAT) and provides tips on when and how families can peruse them.
Dennis also offers some reflections and recommendations for family wealth advisors for how best to serve enterprise families and help them engage their family members across generations in a positive, generative, and inspiring way.
Don’t miss this enlightening conversation with one of the pioneers and best recognized thought leaders of the family wealth advisory profession.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Ellen Perry, founder and Managing Partner of Wealthbridge Partners. In 1989, Ellen co-founded GenSpring Family Offices, which became one of the leading fee-only multifamily office firms and was acquired by SunTust Bank in 2001. The GenSpring brand continues to this day as part of Truist Bank. She is the author of “A Wealth of Possibilities – Navigating Family, Money and Legacy” – a vital resource for families who seek to better understand the qualitative issues associated with their human capital.
Ellen talks about her discovery and immersion into family systems theory and shares the key learnings she derived from this body of knowledge and their applications in her work with families. Ellen reflects on the most important priority for any family, and any family system – ensuring the well-being of their children and the success and happiness of the future generation.
Having worked with many families to help them prepare their rising generation and pass on the family ethos and values, Ellen shares her observations on how well families are doing today at this all-important task and how successful parents and family leaders are in nurturing the young members of the family to be happy and fulfilled and how they are engaging them to become the future leaders of the family.
Ellen offers her tips on the practical frameworks she uses with families to engage and empower their young family members, such as the “Four Meaningful Questions” and the “Life Values Inventory” and talks about how she uses these tools to guide families to establish deeper connections, emotional intimacy, and enhanced well-being for their members.
Finally, Ellen contemplates the role of the family’s advisors in this process – both the ones working inside the family enterprise or single-family office and the trusted external advisors working for outside firms. She shares her views on what the family wealth advisory industry should be doing to advance the cause of stronger connections within the family and to help families flourish across generations.
We hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the most influential and thoughtful founders and shapers of the family wealth advisory field.
I am absolutely delighted to speak today with Joline Godfrey, highly respected family advisor, educator, and author of many books, including the all-time classic “Raising Financially Fit Kids”. In 1992, Joline founded An Income of Her Own, the first non-profit focused exclusively on financial education for girls and women, and subsequently started Independent Means Inc. to provide financial education to girls and boys, which was acquired in 2015. She is now the Founder of Bounce10, a brand-new startup financial parenting platform offering highly bespoke financial education to families.
Joline has been a pioneer and industry trailblazer in the field of family education, especially in helping families prepare and equip their rising generations with the life skills and financial fluency required for them to be successful. In this episode, she shares her views on the current state of how ready and prepared families feel to cope with the future and the constant change they face and offers some valuable and practical learning and engagement tools.
Joline shares her unique insights from working with the youngest family members, those in their 20s and younger, and talks about the unique challenges Gen Z family members face today and how are they different from what young people in prior generations have had to contend with throughout history. Given the unprecedented disruptions young people face today, Joline offers some practical and important steps families can, and must, take to help ready their future generations and highlights some of the best tools, frameworks, or solutions families can utilize to educate and inspire their young members.
Finally, since nowadays families rely on an ever-growing constellation of family wealth advisors to accomplish their goals, Joline provides some suggestions and ideas for family advisors, many of whom come from deeply technical and quantitative disciplines. She shares her ideas on how advisors can be more supportive and relevant to their clients by helping the families they serve better prepare, educate, and engage their younger family members for the uncertainties of the future.
Enjoy this fascinating conversation with our industry’s best known and highly regarded pioneer of family learning and rising-gen education.
I am speaking today with Bill Benjamin, partner at the Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP), and an expert in emotional intelligence, performance, and leadership. Recently, Bill delivered a keynote address at the 2023 FOX Family Office & Wealth Advisor Forum in Chicago to some 130 FO professionals, which was very enthusiastically received.
Bill unpacks the concept of the “Last 8%” in human behavior and interactions and outlines the characteristics and implications of building and fostering a “Last 8%” organizational culture. He delves into the brain science that underlies this concept, and particularly the “amygdala hijack” phenomenon that most commonly gets in the way of achieving the right balance of human connection and social courage.
Finally, Bill emphasizes the importance of cultivating and demonstrating empathy and offers practical tools for bridging the “understanding gap” in human interactions and interpersonal relationships, which is critical to successfully building a high-courage, high-connection culture.
Please enjoy this illuminating, yet practical, discussion on one of the most relevant and consequential human capital topics affecting our industry.
This week, I’m speaking with Josh Kanter, Principal at Josh Kanter Wealth Advisory Services and Founder of leafplanner. Over the past 20 years, Josh has been an “owner-operator”, leading his family’s family office and consulting with other families. He is a long-time FOX member and an active and valued contributor to the FOX community – especially by generously and frequently sharing his knowledge, connections, and insights with his fellow FOX members on our popular member-only peer-chat application, FOXChat.
Josh starts by sharing the very personal story of how he came into his current leadership role within his family enterprise at a difficult time for the family when his father’s health was deteriorating – and the lessons he drew from this transformative experience about what it means to be fully prepared or to be able to pass down all the knowledge the family needs. From these lessons, Josh synthesizes some of the common challenges faced by owners during such times of family transition or untimely disruption.
Josh describes the importance of having a 360-degree view of the family’s information and introduces the concept of a “family owner’s manual” that can allow a family to identify blind spots, educate family members and advisors, and prepare a family for an effective, comprehensive, and efficient succession. He talks about the different approaches and tools in the marketplace to create and maintain this kind of single-source family knowledge and information hub and shares the reasons he decided to create leafplanner, first as a solution for his own family’s needs and now as a comprehensive digital platform for other families to benefit from.
Enjoy this informative and practical conversation with one of the most active and generous members of the FOX community and a leading expert on family governance, estate planning, and family information management.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with our very own Jeff Strese, a human capital expert and executive coach focused on family-owned business leaders and senior wealth advisors. He works as consultant at FOX to develop transformational leadership programs and support our councils with thought leadership on human capital, generational transitions, and family dynamics. Jeff also teaches in the Executive Education program at SMU’s COX School of Business based in Dallas, TX.
In this podcast, Jeff shares his definition and scope of human capital and offers insights into why so many organizations struggle to understand and manage the unique challenges of finding, retaining, and growing talented professionals. He talks about the role and importance of culture in retaining and developing human capital and offers his views into how organizations can take a “diagnostic” approach to culture and human capital.
Jeff’s background is truly unique, combining several fields of people management expertise, including HR, organizational development, and family systems. He talks about how he integrates these distinct disciplines when working with leaders and advisors from SFOs and MFOs. The role of culture and the scope of people management in the family office space is uniquely expanded, compared to the regular corporate world, since traditional human resource topics and skillsets are often intermingled with family psychology and interpersonal dynamics that arise only when working with or supporting multigenerational families of wealth and their complex enterprises.
Finally, Jeff talks about some of the most important – and maybe neglected – skills and abilities that families and their advisors need to develop to best cultivate their human capital, both within the family and its family office and across its broader ecosystem of advisor firms. Jeff provides a practical overview of the tools and resources that exist today for families, family offices, and family wealth advisors to grow, enhance, and retain their human capital, while equipping the family and the family enterprise with the right mindset, education, and capabilities to succeed and flourish across generations.
Please enjoy this enlightening conversation with one of the experienced, connected, and well-liked human capital professionals the family learning and family wealth management space.
This week, I am excited to speak with Ken Franasiak, Chairman & CEO at Calamar Enterprises – a major privately owned full-service, vertically integrated real estate organization comprised of finance, development, construction, and asset management divisions with over 100 separate LLC’s under its umbrella. The topic of our discussion is the current state and likely future of commercial real estate both as an investment asset class and as an operating business sector.
As a third-generation family enterprise leader, 30-year veteran investor and operator in commercial real estate, and former advisor to the New York Federal Reserve Board, Ken brings a unique perspective to this conversation. He shares his views on the economic, demographic, and behavioral trends that are currently reshaping commercial real estate and their effects on investors, developers, and operators.
Ken also offers valuable insights into the impact of these current trends on the financial and operating ecosystem that surrounds commercial real estate, especially the state of the credit markets and the financial institutions that fuel and support the industry.
To his fellow direct-investing families and family offices, who are active investors in real estate as an asset class, Ken extends his views on what to watch out for right now and how to protect their investment portfolios against the adverse trends impacting commercial real estate. But he also makes it clear that not all is doom and gloom and offers his tips on the sub-sectors where he sees bright spots and attractive opportunities for families to invest in commercial real estate – something Ken and his family enterprise, Calamar, have been doing successfully for over three decades.
If you are even remotely interested in commercial real estate, you would not want to miss this enlightening conversation with one of the most experienced and thoughtful family investors in this sector.
I am speaking today with Dan Tarlas, Senior Managing Director at Asset Consulting Group (ACG) – a seasoned investment consultant who has provided comprehensive investment expertise to multigenerational families for over 30 years. Dan, along with his firm, ACG, is also a long-time member of the FOX Thought Leaders Council.
Dan and ACG have worked with numerous enterprise families over the decades, and he shares the insights he has accumulated on the opportunities families have to optimize the returns and costs of their investment portfolios. Often families’ portfolios have been constructed, or in many cases merely accumulated, over time without an overarching strategy or comprehensive oversight, and thus there are redundancies and inefficiencies that are weighing on the net returns.
The opportunities to optimize are not just limited to the costs and returns of the family portfolio but also extend to the risk side. For many families, there are risks inherent in their investment portfolios that they may not even be aware of or are managing sub-optimally. Dan talks about the concept of the family having and managing an “investment program”, rather than just an “investment portfolio”, and how that approach can be essential for optimizing their typically fragmented public investments.
With many enterprise families being very active in private equity and direct investing, Dan also shares his experience helping them and their family offices better understand, manage, and optimize the family’s growing and increasingly complex portfolios of private investments.
Enjoy this enlightening and practical conversation with one of the most experienced and prominent investment consultants in the FOX community who has spent the better part of the last 30 years helping and advising multigenerational families.
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Leslie Voth, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President of Pitcairn. Leslie has been with Pitcairn for 30 years, serving in a variety of leadership roles, and is the first chairman of the board who is not part of the Pitcairn family. She is a prominent senior executive and thought leader in the multifamily-office (MFO) industry.
Leslie shares the story of Pitcairn, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary, and its evolution from a firm initially established to serve the needs of one family to its status today as a premier player in the fast-evolving MFO space. We discuss the factors that enabled Pitcairn’s continued presence and enduring relevance as a top MFO, and Leslie offers her thoughts on the on the formula for MFO longevity and enduring success.
As the MFO model continues to gain popularity among private wealth clients and companies in this space experience growing interest from families, Leslie offers her perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by many firms established in this segment as well as those that are transitioning into the MFO model. We talk about growing and developing scarce human capital, building a sustainable and profitable business model and pricing structures, and nurturing an ecosystem of specialized and reputable partners to meet the increasingly complex and niche needs of enterprise families.
Leslie and I also discuss what families need to know and what parameters to evaluate as many of them consider whether to build their own single-family office or outsource their service needs to an established and capable MFO.
Please enjoy this illuminating conversation with one of the most distinguished CEOs in our industry, who is successfully leading one of the most storied MFO brands into its second century of success and prominence.
Today, I sit down with our very own, Mindy Kalinowski Earley, Chief Learning Officer at FOX. Mindy leads the FOX Learning Center and is our in-house expert on all matters pertaining to family learning and rising-gen education and engagement. As one of the leading industry authorities in this field, her work is focused on helping families to be forward-thinking, cohesive, and thriving.
In this conversation, Mindy shares insights from her work with families and their rising-gen members over the past 15 years, delving into the main areas of interest, importance, and concern to younger generations within enterprise families. Rising-gen family members bring their unique perspectives into the family conversations and the enterprise strategy, and integrating these diverse worldviews and ideas is of ever-greater importance to forward-looking families.
And since the topic of the rising-gen is inextricably connected to the topic of education, Mindy talks about how the most sophisticated enterprise families are approaching education as a priority and how they are building robust learning capabilities into their strategy and their enterprise system.
Mindy also unveils some of the key learnings and themes that emerged from a recent research study FOX conducted examining the needs, aspirations, and challenges that are specific to rising-gen family members. She offers some valuable pointers as to the top opportunities for families to motivate, engage, and inspire their younger members.
Finally, Mindy provides a practical overview of the resources and tools that are available to families – both within FOX and more broadly across the industry – to develop programs, initiatives, and strategies aimed at developing, preparing, and engaging rising-gen members to become capable wealth owners, family enterprise leaders, and happy and fulfilled human beings.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the most knowledgeable and best-connected experts in the field of family learning and rising-gen engagement.
This week, I am speaking with Wally Head, founder and principal of Personal Fiduciary Advisors, LLC, founding board member and treasurer of the UHNW Institute, and good friend and former President of FOX. The topic of our conversation is hot in our industry and of great consequence to multigenerational enterprise families – the emergence and importance of integrated wealth advisors.
Wally offers an instructive overview of the definition and role of an integrated wealth advisor, as well as the value of this most advanced discipline of family wealth advice. He describes this emerging discipline in the context of the evolution of the wealth management field and the rise of “Wealth 3.0” as the new paradigm for serving multigenerational families of wealth – a topic I recently discussed with Dr. Jim Grubman.
We explore why and how clients should think about and seek out integrated wealth advisors, what to expect from them, and how to distinguish the truly legitimate integrated wealth firms and practitioners from the inflated marketing claims in the market.
Wally also outlines the challenges and opportunities wealth management firms and providers face as they look to evolve into true integrated wealth advisors and the capabilities they need to build or acquire as they seek to elevate their talent, their processes, and their business models to deliver on their clients’ ever-rising needs and expectations for integrated wealth advice and holistic wealth management.
Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the family wealth space.
This week, I sit down with Scott Helfstein, Head of Thematic Solutions at Global X, to discuss where the economy and markets are headed and what investment themes are emerging as the most attractive long-term bets for families and family offices to pursue. Scott offers valuable insights on the interplay between growth and value opportunities for investors, particularly for patient long-term investors, such as families, their offices, and their enterprises. He highlights the sectors that hold the most potential and shares his views on how families can best position themselves and their portfolios for long-term success and impact.
To bring the different investment themes to life, Scott describes the ecosystem of opportunities he sees across a targeted subset of attractive market sectors, which include frontier themes, such as AI, robotics, IoT, data storage, and cybersecurity, as well as exciting traditional sectors, such as infrastructure and health care. Global X is a leader and innovator in manufacturing and deploying thematic exchange traded funds (ETFs), and Scott offers his views on how family investors and family offices can best make use of ETFs as an efficient vehicle to pursue thematic investing, as well as on what to watch out for and examine when choosing ETFs for their thematic strategies.
Enjoy this insightful and instructive conversation with one of the foremost thought leaders in the field of thematic investing.
Global X ETFs was founded in 2008. Over the past 15 years, our mission has remained unchanged: Empowering investors with unexplored and intelligent solutions. Learn about our full product lineup, which includes over a 100 Thematic Growth Equity Funds, Commodity and Income ETFs with thoroughly researched perspectives and commentary on the trends shaping global markets, and more at globalxetfs.com.
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Jim Grubman, a prominent thought leader, researcher, and advisor to multigenerational families in our industry. Jim and his equally prominent co-authors, Dennis Jaffe and Kristin Keffeler, have just published their latest book, Wealth 3.0.
Jim and I discuss the Wealth 3.0 concept and the new paradigm it introduces for our field of private wealth management and family wealth advising. We talk about how Wealth 3.0 thinking and practices fundamentally differ from the established practices of the past 3-4 decades.
The change in mindset and behaviors this future paradigm entails will have a broad and far-reaching impact on the wealth management industry at large, and will outright transform the more niche, specialized, and fast-growing field of family wealth advisory services. Everything from how the industry organizes itself to how it conducts research to how advisors are trained and certified to the language and terminology they use in day-to-day conversations with their ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients.
The book is a quick and fascinating read, and will likely become an important manifesto, and required reading, for future generations of family wealth advisors. Clients can also benefit greatly from this concept, which can help them evolve their own thinking, their interactions within their family, and their expectations of their trusted family advisors.
Enjoy this conversation, and look for the Wealth 3.0 book, which just came out this week on Amazon.
I am delighted today to speak with Bob Jordan, retired Emmy-Award-winning TV journalist and owner of Jordan & Jordan Communications, Inc. Bob has spent his distinguished career as a journalist reporting on the stories that shaped the news of the day for over 5 decades. But over the last 25 years, he has also taken on the worthy task of helping enterprising multigenerational families capture the stories of their ancestors and pass on their defining values and legacy to their descendants.
For all of us in the private wealth and family office space, it is becoming increasingly apparent how important it is to be nurturing and building the human capital of the families we serve. Ensuring the people within the family, across all its generations, are engaged and flourishing is often more important – and more difficult – than securing and growing the family’s financial capital. As FOX founder, Sara Hamilton, recently wrote, “Families have come to realize over time that preserving the family in the midst of wealth is more difficult than preserving the wealth.”
There are many ways to engage and energize the family’s human capital – family purpose and values, robust governance, formalized learning and education, and regular family meetings are just some of the established and reliable tools sophisticated families employ. Through his creative and profound experiences as a family videographer, Bob highlights the galvanizing and unifying power of one still relatively underused tool – family histories.
Tune in to learn about the many ways and formats families can capture and pass on the stories of their origins and of their ancestors’ formative journeys – from books to videography to heirlooms and artifacts to DNA analysis. Bob shares invaluable insights on how to get started recording family stories and how to select the service providers who can help guide the family through these complex, emotional, and sometimes even difficult discovery and storytelling projects. He offers priceless hard-learned lessons and proven recipes for overcoming the many challenges families face as they embark on the path of recording and passing the stories that comprise their family heritage. Most importantly, Bob illustrates with multiple examples from his long career as a family videographer, that the ultimate reward families enjoy as they successfully capture and convey their family histories is the shared purpose and meaning these stories instill among their family members across generations.
Today, I am excited to launch our new podcast series on “FOXCast” – in this show, we will offer you expert analysis and insightful conversations with the key players, foremost thinkers, and leading practitioners in the family capital, family enterprise and family office space.
My first guest needs no introduction. I have the utmost honor to kick off this podcast series by speaking with industry legend and renowned thought leader, Jay Hughes.
I am sure you have heard frequent references to “the five forms of family capital” - a term Jay coined many years ago to describe the full range of assets and capabilities families of wealth possess. In this conversation, Jay offers the most comprehensive and intuitive description I have ever heard of the five capitals, and the important hierarchy and interplay among them. With just a wave of his hand, he leaves us with a memorable visual framework to understand and remember how to position financial capital so that ultimately it nurtures and serves the purpose of the family’s most important asset - its human capital.
In a similarly surprising, but obvious in retrospect, revelation, Jay examines the true meaning of the word “wealth” - a word all of us in our industry probably use hundreds of times each day. Yet, we rarely contemplate its origins and the forgotten meaning buried in its etymology. A meaning that, if rediscovered and embraced by both private wealth advisors and the families they serve, would help transform the wealth management industry and the outcomes it delivers for its exclusive clientele.
Finally, Jay shares a sneak peek into his latest research and upcoming book, where he asks the surprising and provocative question: “Will the family live in the plan?” Can you guess the answer his preliminary research is uncovering? Can you fathom why that is the emerging answer and what to do about it? Jay’s meditation on how to bring purpose, humanity, and ultimately success to the highly technical advisory disciplines that surround the average enterprise family is both a wake-up call and a marvelous inspiration for the future generations of wealth owners and their trusted family wealth advisors.
FOX Learning and Leadership Consultant Jeff Strese sits with Family Wealth Consultant Jim Grubman to discuss Jim's upcoming session at the 2022 FOX Family Forum and the new wealth management approach coined by Jim, Wealth 3.0.
To learn more about the 2022 FOX Family Forum and to register, visit: https://www.familyoffice.com/learning-programs/forums/2022-fox-family-forum
FOX Learning and Leadership Consultant Jeff Strese sits with Family Wealth Consultant Jim Grubman to discuss Jim's upcoming session at the 2022 FOX Family Forum and the new wealth management approach coined by Jim, Wealth 3.0.
To learn more about the 2022 FOX Family Forum and to register, visit: https://www.familyoffice.com/learning-programs/forums/2022-fox-family-forum
In this episode, Learning Center Program Manager Allison Lawshe and Chief Learning Officer Mindy Kalinowski discuss Mindy’s upcoming whitepaper, The Time is NOW for your Rising Gen. In the article, Mindy cautions families on waiting too long to involve their future family leaders. Outlaying personal quotes from members of the rising generation and relaying best practice first steps, she argues that when starting family learning and leadership skills…there is no time like the present. After listening, visit lp.familyoffice.com/rglp to learn more about our Rising Generation Leadership Program, a four-part learning series that uses a multi-disciplinary approach to help Rising Generation family members become prepared, informed, credible, and contributing leaders to the family enterprise.
FOX Learning Center Program Manager Allison Lawshe sits with FOX Learning and Leadership Consultant Jeff Strese and Managing Director David Toth to discuss the new Family Advisor Training Program.
The program features a paced learning approach with a cohort of peer advisors and family office professionals that begins with two virtual prep sessions, a two-day in-person intensive learning program, and a virtual application and accountability session.
Please visit https://www.familyoffice.com/learning-programs/workshops/fox-family-advisor-training-program to get more information on the program and to register.
Jonathan Kosares, Chief Operating Officer, USA Gold, sits down with Glen W. Johnson, President of Family Office Exchange, to discuss how current trends in the American economy, including inflation, debt, and Federal Reserve policies are affecting the gold market, and stoking investor demand for gold. Also included is a discussion on gold’s relationship to crypto.
Jonathan Tunner, Director of Private Investments at FOX, and Jeremy Lee, Principal Product Specialist at Owl Rock, discuss direct lending and its many uses in the direct investing landscape.
Jonathan Tunner, Director of Private Investment Opportunities at FOX, and Jeffrey Hodge, Managing Director at Marsh McLennan spend some time focusing on the role of insurance and its many uses in the direct investing landscape.
In June, the IRS announced that it will begin a new campaign to audit hundreds of high net worth individuals after they reopen their offices on July 15th, 2020. To learn about who should be concerned and what to do, Scott Winget, Enterprise Market Leader for Family Office Exchange interviews Leigh Griffith, a partner with Waller Law. Leigh recently wrote a related article, entitled “New IRS Coordinated High Wealth Audit” which is available in FOX's Advisor Thinking section of the website.
In this episode, Todd Kellerman and Tim Wray from V3 Limited discuss lessons learned from the past and current trends in private equity fund and direct investing. V3Limited provides customized investment advice, active management,and realization execution services for Advisors and Investors holding Tail End private funds and direct investments.
In this episode, **Jacqueline Valouch**, head of philanthropy at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management talks about the role of philanthropy in onboarding the next generation, creating successful partnerships within your family, and even working with other families to make a larger impact.
In this episode, we pick the brain of Robb Lanham, Chief Sales Officer at HUB International. In his role, Robb works with family offices to develop creative solutions for complex risk. And speaking of complex risk, losses due to natural disasters are on the rise worldwide and the insurance world has had to dramatically shift in response to recent catastrophic events. He explains why, for the first time, we're seeing the cost of insurance driving the home-buying process.
In this episode, we sit down with Karen McNeill, Director of Family History at Ascent Private Capital Management of US Bank, to discuss her fascinating role in researching family histories as part of a comprehensive wealth planning platform. Here, she discusses how applying historical knowledge to family culture can play an enormous role in supporting family preservation and success.
In this episode, Tina Milligan, Managing Director at BMO Family Office, part of BMO Wealth Management, illustrates the importance of family meetings. With over 20 years of experience, Tina knows that holding family meetings and having open lines of communication are vital elements for families who are connected through wealth. She covers family meeting guidelines suitable for different family needs.
The yacht insurance market is dramatically changing in terms of available capacity and cost. As vessels get bigger and more sophisticated, clients worldwide are experiencing premium increases. In this episode, we sit down with Sean Blue, Global Head of Watercraft Insurance at AIG Private Client Group, a division of the member companies of the American Insurance Group, Inc. (AIG), to get caught up on how yacht-owning families can plan ahead to mitigate the overall cost of risk.
In this episode, we get into it with Cary Nourie, who recently took on the role of Director of the Direct Investing Network at Family Office Exchange. He has noticed a surge in interest in direct investing from FOX families, especially if there are opportunities to co-invest with other families. He has also noticed more rising-generation family members becoming engaged in direct investing projects and having a lot of fun in the process. Families often find opportunities through the FOX Direct Investing Network (DIN) platform, or by attending a FOX DIN Dinner (there are several coming up around the country).
We sit down with Mark Galante of PURE Insurance to talk about how having a strong internal culture is a product of having happy, talented, engaged, and emotionally intelligent employees. Perks like having volunteer time-off and being encouraged to pursue interests through company-sponsored passion courses are only a part of story. More importantly, PURE is committed to maintaining an environment where employees find purpose and are personally fulfilled in their work lives. Here, we talk about how PURE got to this place.
"Every investment dollar has an impact." In this episode, Paulina Cromwell covers recent trends in values-aligned investing and discusses how families and family offices are thinking about aligning their capital with their values.
In this episode, we sit down with Dan Tarlas, Senior Managing Director at Asset Consulting Group (ACG). Dan talks about what it takes to partner with families as an investment consultant, always representing the family's best interest and tailoring investment programs that will work for each member of the family. He also discusses investment approaches to market volatility and risk, and why the most successful families take a long-term view.
What is the difference between a life insurance review and a life insurance audit? Steve Herlihy, Senior Partner at Wellspring Associates joins us to shed some light on some life-insurance-related topics that families should know more about. Steve describes why even the most sophisticated families can benefit from an audit, and explains some life insurance basics that younger-generation family members show know.
We sit down with Susan Colpitts, one of the founders of Signature Family Wealth Advisors and Signature's Chief of Client Experience. She talks about approaching estate planning in a way that alleviates anxiety and seriousness through planning. She also presents a refreshingly unique strategy around philanthropy.
In this episode we sit down with Ruth Easterling, Managing Director of Member Services at FOX. Ruth, an expert in the development of private trust companies, discusses the impact of language on the trustee/beneficiary relationship. She also gets into the importance of having a strong family culture, transparency in the distribution process, and other best-practices related to establishing trusts.
Mindy Earley, Chief Learning Officer at Family Office Exchange describes her experience—working in higher education, then with large and small family offices, and now with a network of family offices. She is known for creating learning programs for families and the rising generation that will help them navigate the unique world of family enterprises. She is inspired by helping people the way that they will make personal and productive contributions.
Bob Jordan, well known Chicagoan and FOX Advisor Member, joins FOXCast to talk about how important it is to record and preserve your family's story. He is a journalist, author, retired news anchor for WGN, and he owns the production company Jordan & Jordan. His company is devoted to the creation of video biographies for legacy families and is the premier company for preserving family histories.
We check in with David Toth, Managing Director at FOX about his recently-published study, Transformation of the Ultra Wealth Business.
How is the Ultra Wealth Industry Transforming?
David Toth: It’s pretty remarkable. I guess there’s just a point in time where we found it was time to declare that it is transforming. And perhaps it has been all along.
The point in time, for us, is tied to the great wealth transfer that we’ve talked about. And we’ve heard numbers all over the place—e.g. $40 trillion—whatever it may be. We just know that it’s massive and we know, demographically, it’s going to begin.
So, if you’re an advisor today and you see this coming, you think, “well that’s a terrific opportunity.”
What’s the business of the future that we need to build around this? Because it’s not going away. It’s not a one-time event. The stretch of time of this “great transference of wealth” is at least a decade, if not more.