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Many newly wealthy families can credit their expanded fortunes to a major liquidity event, most frequently the sale of a business. For many in this group, recently acquired wealth creates a host of new and, sometimes unexpected, challenges. While the challenges will vary from family to family, the members of this group share some common n...

As families grow their investment function, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) must provide insight and flexibility to serve varied and changing investment platforms. While much of the CIO’s role is focused on investments and the investment decision-making process, many CIO responsibilities aren’t investment-centric and will impact the long-term su...

The Family Office 5.0 model is changing how advisors deliver services. Strategic partnerships can help family office service providers better focus on delivering core value-added offerings. A roadmap toward that goal will help you meet the evolving needs of family offices and provide best-in-class services.

As family offices have grown in number, size and sophistication, they have increasingly looked to invest directly. Largely, the pursuit of direct investing opportunities has been driven by several factors, including the desire for increased control, better alignment of interests, reduced fees and expenses, and higher returns. While the appeal of di...

For many individuals, philanthropy is one of the more gratifying parts of estate planning. Adding in a multigenerational component—one that involves the family’s needs, interests, assets, and goals—can make it even more meaningful and compelling. With the focus on the family and through open channels of communication, philanthropy can be an excelle...

Finding a way to facilitate trust, communication, and proper preparation and development of the necessary skill sets of the next generation can be difficult and will vary from family to family. Today, many families are finding answers to these questions through a private family foundation. If you’re thinking about staring a family foundation, here ...

Families are reconsidering their motivations for giving and how their philanthropy carries forward their values, aims, and objectives. It’s promoting deeper intentionality, humility, empathy, understanding, and trust. These shifts are prompting families to reflect on what they seek to build now and how it informs their legacy. It’s imperative to sh...

Based on “The Stanford PACS Guide to Effective Philanthropy” and “The Philanthropy Toolkit: An Introduction to Giving Effectively,” this Charitable Giving Guide provides donors with a comprehensive resource to help maximize the impact of their philanthropic giving. By selecting one or more sections that align with your most immediate needs, you can...

This issue brief examines the kinds of decisions that family foundations often face and sets out practical, easy-to-apply guidelines for ensuring that the foundation’s decision-making methods vary appropriately, as conditions and circumstances change. It includes factors to consider when selecting a decision-making method, guidance on how to commun...

In today’s investment environment, family offices require full investment capabilities to achieve the returns required by wealth owners. As there are many non-investment activities happening in a family office setting, the build or outsource approach to investment resourcing should include saving on both the costs and time associated with running a...

Just as government and businesses require sound governance to do their work well, so too do families—and their philanthropy. The Family Governance Pyramid provides a model and framework for philanthropic families that is even more relevant and necessary today than when it was first introduced nearly two decades ago. This article by the National Cen...

The way individuals are approaching philanthropy has evolved in recent years, with philanthropists taking the very best of the corporate world and adding more rigor and measurement to how they give back to social causes, reprioritizing how and where they invest, and going beyond financial contributions to direct both time and talent to their philan...

Teaching the joys, benefits, and responsibilities of philanthropy is often a top-down process. For most families, the starting point in encouraging a philanthropic mindset in children is to identify specific values that matter to them and to live by those values. Most important, continue to set a good example through meaningful actions an...

As noted in The New Family Office 5.0 Model, a rising number of family offices are allocating resources to direct investments, including building an in-house direct investment function to gain greater control, better diversification, increased flexibility, and income and estate tax benefits. From generating deal flow to due diligence, key cons...

Good meetings are a critical block of effective, impactful, and not least of all, enjoyable family philanthropy. This guide explores giving families' strategies, tips, and tools used to ensure that their meetings are also gatherings that family members look forward to. Constructive templates are also provided to help you think through the key ...