Search Results

For many entrepreneurs, the experience of selling their business may involve a loss of identity and purpose, despite the financial security that usually accompanies the sale. This paper addresses the personal challenges entrepreneurs face during the transition as well as issues created by a significant change in the nature of their wealth, from ill...

Family dynamics often play a critical role in the long-term success of family businesses, and women's relational and interpersonal skills tend to make them well-equipped to manage these issues. Effective leadership within the family business is, now more than ever, dependent on the inherent relational skills that a woman can bring to the busine...

A business transition plan should provide a good fit: for the business, for family members and for the owner. A transition road map also should provide clear instructions in the event of the owner's incapacitation or death – a sound reason to establish a plan sooner rather than later.

Given the evolution and complexity of the insurance industry, due diligence on carriers, products and advisors is more important than ever, especially for families of significant wealth. Examination of carriers must go beyond rating services; analysis of products must go beyond illustrations, and selection of an advisor must go beyond initial numbe...

The major rating agencies have published a number of reports highlighting the favorable trends for the life/annuity and health insurance industry. This paper provides a synopsis of recent reports from A.M Best, Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's.

While the tax advantages of life insurance are important, pricing is also critical. Access to policies priced specifically for ultra-wealthy individuals can enhance planning effectiveness and deliver significant value over time.

Researchers tested the effectiveness of life insurance's investment characteristics in three estate scenarios under a Monte Carlo analysis involving three different investment portfolios. Their results show life insurance creates more wealth regardless of when death occurs for even the most liquid, well planned estate.

Policy owners must avoid projecting today's economic environment forward for an extended period, causing them to choose products that lock in long-term mortality and interest rates. Such a move not only virtually ensures long-term underperformance but also sacrifices the flexibility necessary to take advantage of conditions as they change.

In light of the current environment, it is easy to lose sight of the proven policyholder protections that the life insurance industry continues to provide, including regulatory and third-party oversight, as well as mechanisms to support policyholders of troubled companies.

One of the most important aspects of a family’s legacy planning can be philanthropy. Family philanthropy can be thought of as the organized charitable giving by several members of a family to achieve a unified goal. It is more than the annual giving of one individual or married couple, though such giving is critically important in its own right. P...

The most successful family foundations are strategic about how money is given away, to whom it is given and for what purposes, and in evaluation of the programs funded and the role of the funder. This paper examines eight strategies that distinguish the most successful family foundations from the least successful ones.

Wealth advisors have a fiduciary responsibility to not only provide clients with unbiased, trusted advice but also to protect the information they deem most important. Clients’ privacy and, more importantly, peace of mind are at risk if advisors do not address and increase their security protocols and procedures.

Grant-making used to require the manual distribution of information, but now grant program administrators can receive, organize, manage, and distribute applications online. The author highlights the benefits of application management systems and provides guidance in selecting the right system for your organization.

Portfolio volatility needs to be considered in making asset allocations at a given level of risk, and that volatility can take on extreme values that depend on the volatility of volatility, or vovo. This paper from the National Association of Active Investment Managers explores vovo-related concepts and offers insights on tactical asset allocation.

Disasters bring out the urge to help, but would-be donors often are not sure about where to donate. Schwab Charitable Fund looks at the hierarchy of disaster relief, considers the importance of general disaster expertise vs. local expertise for a charity, and discusses how to encourage accountability. A targeted list of recommendations for donors i...