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The death of a loved one is a difficult and emotional time for a family. There is often additional stress if you are appointed as the executor of the will and trustee of your family’s trusts, especially if the deceased had been the sole manager of substantial family assets and wealth. For an untrained person, it can be a daunting role. For these re...

When done well, a trustee’s service can have a profoundly positive impact on a family; when done poorly, a trustee’s service can create or exacerbate fissures within a family, dissipate family wealth, create personal liability for the trustee, and create a public spectacle that sullies the family’s good name and reputation. For key employees in fam...

Ultimately, how well your wealth transfer plan fulfills your legacy and meets the needs of the next—and future—generations depends on whom you name as your trustee(s). This makes your trustee selection one of the most critical aspects of an already complex wealth planning process. To help navigate this selection process, work with a framework built...

Serving as a trustee for your family can be a valuable experience for you, while also providing an important service to your family. But before you accept the position, make sure that you understand the role you will play for the family and are willing to accept the responsibilities and liability that come with it.

To effectively serve as a trustee, it's crucial to understand your fiduciary duties. Even trustees with the best of intentions can create liability for themselves by being unprepared for the job or by not fully understanding their obligations. Learn more about some of the common mistakes family trustees make that can lead to lawsuits and other...

A dynamic portfolio can help address a number of investment challenges that families of wealth face, including varying multigenerational preferences, unique tax considerations, domicile requirements, and specific beneficiary needs. Yet there is also such a thing as overcomplexity, which can waste time, cause confusion, decrease potential returns, a...

The traditional 60/40 portfolio—a mix of 60% stocks and 40% bonds—is suffering through one of its worst periods in history. Although the demise of the 60/40 portfolio has been predicted before, investors may now face a new regime of high inflation and rising correlations between equities and fixed incomes. For investors in hard-hit 60/40 portfolios...

Choosing a trustee is a major decision—one that may impact you and your family in many ways for generations to come. Essentially, when you establish a trust for the benefit of others, you are handing down your values through the terms of the trust and your contributed financial assets. And with an increasing number of trusts lasting for multiple ge...

The expectations of an economic soft landing and favorable equity market in both 2023 and 2024 were possible due to the positive underpinnings of a healthy labor market, falling inflation, and a Fed pivot to rate cutting. In 2025, however, expectations are higher, policy shifts are underway, and several new factors that include tariffs, trade wars,...

Effectively transitioning a business to the next generation of owners through a business succession plan that incorporates estate tax planning will result in the most value being retained by the owners and their families. Whether the business is entirely family owned or has unrelated owners, each scenario comes with its own complications but with c...

Typically, investors focus on more traditional asset classes, like stocks and bonds, where information is often readily available and digestible. Sometimes, however, sophisticated qualifying investors increase their capital allocations to private markets for reasons they believe are compelling enough to make it worth taking the risk. This primer wi...

Despite the hurdles and distinct challenges that come with adding private markets to an investment portfolio, many of the most sophisticated institutional investors are allocating to private markets. Historically, the asset class has generally outperformed public markets due to a range of factors, including the broader investment landscape, informa...

Given how significant accounting processes and applications are prime targets for top business risks, it’s important to take control and start your risk management analysis. Take an important step toward that end by using this fillable and interactive segregation of duties form. After answering the questions, you’ll have a high-level view of functi...

While 2024 saw global asset prices reach record highs, family office investors may benefit from reassessing both their expectations and how their investable assets are positioned for the future. We explore the possibility of a shifting investment landscape and why the years ahead may present a more challenging backdrop for sustaining and growing we...