The more I learn from working with families, the more I realize that the relationships they have with their advisors are just like dating. One of the most important commonalities is the need to build trust, and letting someone in on all your secrets and vulnerabilities is scary. But if you don’t, the relationship won’t last and you’ll possibly miss out on an opportunity to grow.New relationships are scary. They can be especially scary for wealthy families, where social media poses a threat to their privacy and rampant litigation threatens their wealth. But there are undeniable benefits in almo...

It was the best of times. It was the…best of times (sorry Dickens). With significantly raised values since the economic downturn of 2008-2009 and rents at record highs, many of our real estate clients seem to be in fantastic positions to capitalize on a truly fairytale moment for commercial property. In spite of, or perhaps because of, this strong showing, a growing number seem to be ready to cash in their chips.We cannot say whether this indicates a peak in the market or frothiness in certain product types or geographic areas. Rather, our focus is to identify two tax-deferral strategies for o...

In putting together the FOX Guide to Family Education, we were able to identify a number of innovative strategies to enhance owner engagement and foster an ongoing education program for family members: 1. Central Website for Family CommunicationSuccessful families recognize the importance of keeping the family connected. Many rely on a family website as their communications hub for the family. This is where family members go to learn about the family history and the family tree, find out what their cousins are working on, access financial and trust documents and more. The FOX public...

Many of today’s ultra-wealthy philanthropists are looking for smart ways to make their donation dollars work hard for causes they care about deeply.They often value additional guidance on how much to give, through which funding vehicles, to which charities, over what timeframe, and with what purpose in mind.I’ll often encourage such clients to consider new choices in the shape of Purpose Investing. Purpose Investing combines charitable donations with investments in companies designed to build wealth and contribute actively to society. It allows clients to expand philanthropic impact by directi...

We all hear how cybercrime is a fast-growing crime, one of the fastest growing crimes and that the financial services sector is a target. There is no single solution to the problem, and unfortunately technology is unlikely to provide one in the near future.Threat protection technology typically lags behind the latest cybercrime tactics. However, there is one underutilized defense against cybercrime that family offices need to consider: educating their clients and employees so that they themselves can be the first layer of defense.Without this approach, research has shown, the easiest way to br...

I recently participated in a roundtable session at a CFA Society of Chicago career event with 12 moderators each leading a table discussion on careers in various investment specialties. My session was on family office careers. Almost everyone at my three consecutive table discussions started with the question: What is a family office?I appreciated the interest of the participants who wanted a quick snapshot, and found it challenging to explain what types of jobs may be available to investment professionals looking to enter this industry. By the third table group I was admitting that it is almo...

As impact investing is maturing, we’re seeing an evolution of that very definition.In an earlier FOX Insights blog post, FOX Thought Leaders Council™ member Mark Harder of Warner Norcross & Judd defined impact investing as “making investment with the intention of generating positive environmental or social impacts, as well as financial returns.” But even as this definitely has come to be widely accepted as the industry standard, the process of implementing such a strategy is far from universal.Gretchen Postula, Head of Investor Relations for North Sky and a speaker at the recent 2016 FOX W...

Margaret hired the neighborhood girl down the street to watch her children a couple days a week and run some simple errands for her. She never imagined that when she did that, she became an “employer” with all the legal implications that go along with that title. She is now being audited by the IRS and they are breathing down her neck, imposing fines and back taxes. Don’t let this happen to you.Before you decide to start paying someone to give you an extra hand, you may want to take a few added steps to be sure you are making the best decision and not creating potential legal problems for your...

Across all industries, client expectations are changing. Wealth management for the ultra-wealthy is no exception.With the advent of technological disruptors and on-demand everything, consumers now expect high-quality services that don’t just meet, but defy their expectations. This challenge is clearly a lofty one, especially for advisors servicing the ultra-wealthy community, whose members have (rightfully) come to expect world-class quality and service from luxury brands such as Mercedes Benz and Ritz Carlton.But with the right analysis and planning, any company can improve its client experie...

When former First Lady Nancy Reagan passed away in March, millions of Americans mourned the loss. On the day of her funeral, people across the country watched the ceremony live on TV, while hundreds of others—including former President George W. Bush and First Lady Michelle Obama, and the Reagan family—attended the service at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.While the events honoring Mrs. Reagan unfurled seamlessly, a dedicated team was hard at work behind the scenes to ensure the funeral was being conducted to Mrs. Reagan’s expressed desires.“We have been working for a lon...

FOX's comprehensive criteria measure whether a firm is providing an integrated wealth management solution. The LWA screening criteria is based on over 20 years studying the industry, and what wealth owners want and need at a level of liquid assets greater than $20 million.Each firm in the LWA Directory was evaluated based on each of the following 10 criteria. Firms also were evaluated in totality, with consideration given in situations where specific metrics may not be applicable.Financial Strength – Financial strength means the firm will have an increased chance of surviving through econ...

The Circular Economy, William McDonough explains, is an economic system that provides continuous benefit for generation after generation through design that allows for regular—if not endless—reuse of materials. It’s a system that embodies a particular philosophy: that by looking toward the future, businesses can increase profits today. “This is the largest business opportunity ever seen by our species, and the leaders of the economic future will be people who understand that by design, we can create perpetual assets and optimize them to create businesses that thrive and are enjoyed ...

In our work with ultra-wealthy families, we have seen that those families face some fairly unique risks that ordinary people or business would not typically need to think about. When family offices are doing a risk assessment, these are five questions I strongly encourage them to consider: 1) When was the last time your family clients reviewed their personal property and liability insurance?Successful individuals acquire assets over time, and it’s not unusual to engage with multiple insurance brokers or companies to respond to each immediate need. Be cautious if assets a...

A family office is more often than not founded around the concerns about the family’s privacy and data security. So the current news around the FBI request for Apple to unlock the password of the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists does have a passing interest. If you go beyond this specific case and look at the potential precedents it might set, then forward thinking is needed around its impact on our connected world—not to mention the future with the Internet of Things (IoT). The crux of the Apple/FBI wrangle is around a process that happens frequently to all ...

For our FOX Thought Leaders Council Report “Creating Memorable Client Experiences: Differentiation in the Ultra-Wealth Market,” we looked at 30 of the best client experience brands in the world, including Apple, Ritz-Carleton, Disney, and Tesla. We identified the following seven activation strategies to help organizations get on the road to improving their client experiences: 1) Construct a Client Experience Definition – Bring together your leadership team or family to contribute to and agree upon the desired client experience. 2) Appoint a Client Experience Leader – Inspiratio...

Recently, I was reflecting on how uncertainty impacts our lives. For instance, modern technology provided ample warning (aka “certainty”) to the East Coast ahead of January’s once-in-a-lifetime blizzard and yet, tragically, some people found themselves unprepared. This is in contrast to the life experiences of many Midwesterners, who over time have learned how to prepare for and coexist with winter storms. I carried this theme of uncertainty into my ritual reading of the weekend newspapers, and through this lens, I was collectively left with the realization that I had no idea of what is ...

Now, more than ever, the business of managing private wealth is exceedingly complex. Most family offices are doing the work of sophisticated financial institutions with limited staff, while relying on a patchwork quilt of software solutions that are hosted internally with little integration, security, or disaster recovery protection but considerable ongoing expense (e.g., hardware costs, annual software maintenance, personnel). Meanwhile, clients of the office increasingly want secure access to their financial information 24/7 on their computers, phones, tablets and other devices. In the ...

In December 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he would transfer 99 percent of his Facebook shares—a sum currently valued at $45 billion—to the new Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic endeavor that will be led by Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC raised the question about why some philanthropists choose a limited liability company (“LLC”) instead of a private non-operating foundation (“foundation”) to carry out their mission. The move sparked much discussion about their innovative approach to giving. For philanthropists consi...

"I'm wondering if it's time for us to add outside experts to our advisory board," Julie Jacks mused aloud to her cousins. "Experts who would bring fresh ideas and who would have some gravitas around here." Julie and her cousins were gathered at the brown-bag lunch session they held each week in order to connect, share ideas and concerns, and offer updates on their various lines of business. Since last year's leadership transition to their generation (the third), they'd used this casual forum to strategize how to work most effectively together as the next generation family leadership team...

I was recently speaking with the general counsel for a private family trust company (PFTC), and they told me a compelling story about their recent PFTC state situs evaluation that I believe many in the PFTC world will find both informative and relatable. With their permission, I have shared it below (the names have been removed to respect the family’s privacy): We first formed our PFTC just over a decade ago. It’s based in Wyoming and is unregulated, but over the years we’d had a multitude of family members complaining to us about how inconvenient it was to travel there. So ab...

Recently, a family I advise came to me looking to plan a family meeting. Inevitably, the question came up: “Well, should we do it at Thanksgiving or at Christmas?” My response? Avoid both. There has been a growing recognition by families of the need to prepare future generations to be responsible owners and stewards of the family’s wealth. Family meetings can play a role in this process. If it’s been awhile since the last family meeting, the holidays may feel like the perfect opportunity to share details about the family’s succession or charitable giving plans. However, convers...

For several years now, wealth advisors have been concerned about the rise of robo-advisors and the potential impact on the wealth management industry. There is a strong potential disruption from the new financial technology (or FinTech) start-ups, each with goals of becoming the “Uber” of peer-to-peer lending or the “Airbnb” of robo-advising. When I talk to people in the industry about this movement, some are truly excited about it, others are quite worried, and others still have no idea what to do. When reading about FinTech, you start to get the idea that these new companies ...

Stop for a moment and think about the leaders in your world. Consider friends, family members, teachers, colleagues and business partners. Which of these people would you consider to be the "best” leaders? Who stands out and what makes them stand out above others? Perhaps it's because they show you they care about you as a person, or because they are authentic, honest, trustworthy and reliable. Maybe they listen to you in a way that you feel heard. Maybe they believe in you, challenge you in a good way and, above all else, have your back. Perhaps it's because they are able to balance thei...

Jonah Wittkamper wants to start a conversation about wealth—and help rising generation family leaders find their life purpose in the process. “I think many people think that the meaning of life is to simply accumulate as much material wealth as you can,” says Wittkamper, Co-Founder and Global Director of Nexus, a global network of more than 2000 next generation wealth leaders. “I want to create a conversation and suggest that the narrative surrounding wealth should move away from materialism and other trappings of wealth, and more towards humility and responsibility. I think t...

For many, owning a horse is the realization of a lifelong passion. However, it can also increase your risk of financial loss or even lawsuits. Whether you board your horse on your own property or at a professional facility, it’s important to ask yourself, “Am I protected against the potential risks?” Here are the top five questions horse owners should ask their advisors about their equine coverage: 1) Do you have clear proof of coverage on your policies? Many owners assume their horses have coverage under their homeowners policies, but limitations or exclusions are common. That ...