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The family enterprise provides a strategic framework for families to stay together and accomplish the shared goals of growing wealth and managing risks through the generations. Within the enterprise, the Private Trust Company (the PTC) provides a beneficial mechanism to support the enterprise and the family’s growth and development. In addition to managing trustee duties, a PTC can institutionalize the family ownership and governance functions and may invest in the development of capable trustees and knowledgeable beneficiaries.

In this 2019 edition of FOX Foresight, we review how business owners need to shift shift to an enterprise mindset, and how family offices seek to redefine their role, and as a new generation of family members prepares for leadership in a time of great transformation. FOX Foresight is presented in 7 chapters:

FOX has been tracking family office interest in direct investing for the past decade, and our recent Family Office Study confirms that FOX families remain focused on this opportunity and are increasingly active. The opportunity to invest in privately-owned family businesses has clearly captured the attention of many families, and the growing influence of direct investing families is evident across the private equity landscape.

FOX Foresight keeps FOX members up to date on the latest thinking on matters that affect enterprise families. It summarizes what we have been learning from our members and our subject matter experts over the last year. Please share it broadly within your family, your office, and your advisors. FOX Foresight is presented in 8 chapters:

Trends Impactive Families, a chapter from the 2018 members-only publication FOX Foresight, identifies the three main forces—distrust in all major institutions by individuals, the rapid pace of innovation, and people everywhere living longer—that are influencing wealth management and affecting enterprising families. It summarizes learning by FOX subject-matter experts over the last year.

The process of identifying the right technology solution for your family office can be tough, especially if you don't know where to begin. This article details the steps you'll need to take and provides a breakdown of the key business objectives and goals associated with family office technology and software. It also offers a sample family office systems architecture and a look at a new approach to technology costs.

The nature and variety of investment alternatives, ever-changing tax laws and rigorous regulatory constraints make the work of managing multigenerational wealth more complex than ever. The common use of the term “wealth advisor” makes it difficult to distinguish between product providers and independent advisors who are paid to look out for the owners’ best interests.

The shift to a full cloud-based model for infrastructure and application delivery is here for family offices, if they choose to use it. The future of the wealth management will include hybrid and convergence solutions (such as co-source), providing a transition from ‘on premise’ to the cloud, especially as legacy vendors try to extend the life of their aging applications. Ultimately, there will be little on-premise IT left. If you are a small- to medium-size family office, many of the benefits are attainable today, and this approach should be part of your strategy.

Recognizing that enterprise families are unique, this research report provides the 50 best practices across 10 important aspects—from family governance to family learning and measures of success—that have the greatest impact on long-term sustainability of families of wealth across generations.