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Every family office is unique, and so are the governance structures needed to meet the family's objectives. This session will help attendees understand when a family office should implement more (or less) formal governance components - from committees to councils to bringing in outside directors alongside family members. Attendees will walk away wi...

From risk management to objective perspectives to succession planning, boards are a crucial component to help the family business achieve longevity. Boards serve as a mechanism to clarify the mandates of the family and provide continuity and formal guidance to future generations. During this session, experts will share easy-to-implement governance ...

Many family businesses are undergoing or anticipating transitions, prompting the need for trusted advisors more than ever. This session features experts who have deep breadth of experience in helping families manage business transitions and the complexity that comes with them, including new liquidity, helping founders find their next purpose, and m...

The decision to sell or continue ownership of a family business is complex. Business owning families who recognize early the importance of both the financial and non-financial considerations of a potential sale are more likely to make good transition decisions.

The Board of Directors plays a pivotal role in the effective governance of any organization, including the private family trust company. Board members fulfill their roles and responsibilities, in part, by holding regular meetings that utilize a comprehensive agenda. One vital tool for an effective Board meeting is the meeting agenda. Here, ten sugg...

No matter what stage of the business cycle you are in, you should always have a defined strategy for your business operations and potential exit. For many family business owners, the sale of their business will be the single largest transaction of their lives. Yet many enter this transaction not fully prepared. To ensure you maximize your sale, the...

A volunteer position with a nonprofit organization can be an incredibly rewarding experience—both for the volunteer and for the organization. But the path to key leadership roles with such organizations can be tricky to navigate. While the process inevitably will vary from organization to organization, there are a few things that can help with maki...

Although public companies are most often the targets of shareholder claims and class-action suits, not-for-profit and private entities are not immune from litigation. As a director, you could be named personally in claims of fraud or financial mismanagement from which the entity’s indemnification provisions and business structure cannot always prot...

Lawsuit awards can be incredibly high, and individuals known to have substantial assets are particularly vulnerable. In some cases, the high-stake lawsuits can cause devastating reputational damage. Given the risks and exposure, the need for holistic liability protection is an important issue. Learn the different types of liability i...

While many business owners are struggling to find qualified successors, family members oftentimes oppose proposed sales to outsiders because they think they should have the chance to take over the business. Research from Rothstein Kass suggests that advance planning can minimize family squabbles and ensure smoother business transitions.

A high-quality board of directors with a range of talents and experience can be a powerful resource for your company. Taking steps to ensure your board is well-designed, well-informed, and properly engaged will reap significant benefits for your company’s shareholders and management team.

No matter if a family enterprise is establishing an Advisory Board, Fiduciary Board, or Owners Board, considerations must include the roles that family members might play and how best to prepare them for service. As a fourth-generation Pitcairn family member and family governance leader within a pioneering multi-family office, Andrew Pitcairn share...

Family wealth encompasses more than the financial capital of the family. From a multi-generational and family sustainability perspective, it’s about thinking beyond the private wealth and incorporating a holistic approach that prepares the human capital, enhances the intellectual capital, and builds the appropriate governance framework. This shift ...

It is not uncommon for enterprising families to end up making sub-optimal capital allocation decisions due to limited visibility into, and planning around, the entirety of their shared family assets. To optimize the value of shared family capital, both the business and other entities or advisors in the enterprise ecosystem must work in harmony. Wit...

As enterprising families expand across generations, they often stray from their entrepreneurial wealth creation roots to a more risk-averse wealth-protection mode. However, if maintaining shared family capital across multiple generations is the goal, wealth protection mode is not an ideal strategy and may have some unintended consequences. Building...