FOXCloud: What’s on the Minds of FOX Members – May 2023

The following were the most talked about topics within our networks on FOXChat in May 2023:

Banking Relationships

We’re evaluating our banking relationship. Anyone happy with their relationship? If so, would you mind sharing who you are with and what do you like best? We’re looking at treasury management for 80+ entities and access to a small line of credit. Currently with a local regional bank but wanting to explore other options. Access to local physical office seems less relevant in today’s world. (Source: FOPeer)

We have a great, collaborative relationship with JP Morgan private bank.

Charleston Meeting Space

Does anyone have any meeting place recommendations for a family meeting in Charleston? (Source: FOPeer)

If staying in downtown Charleston is preferred, suggest you look at the Lindy Charleston Renaissance Hotel. If you are willing to stay outside of Charleston would suggest you consider the Sanctuary Hotel (800.654.2924) on Kiawah Island which is about 40 minutes outside of Charleston. You could also contact the Kiawah Island Resort (888.601.4904) which has a new Meeting/Convention Center. They can also arrange for lodging in numerous condos which are located near the Convention Center.

Assuming it is a fairly big family, I would say Kiawah, Seabrook or Wild Dunes from a beach resort perspective and Charleston Place or Hotel Bennett to be in historic Charleston.

E-Learning

I am exploring options for asynchronous video learning on fundamentals of entrepreneurship as well as investing. Interested in any recommendations the learning community can provide to supplement online research. Anything from university certificates, reputable YouTube channels, or otherwise welcome. (Source: FLN)

I would recommend the Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship at Ivey Business School. They have on demand learning with webcasts and podcasts. They offer undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs.

Family Member Confidentiality Agreements

We are considering how best to implement confidentiality agreements to be signed by our family member clients. Family-wide data (including financial information) is shared in certain family-wide family office meetings and we want to ensure that the family members are not disclosing family-wide information. One idea is to have an engagement/arrangement letter between the family office and a family member (which could address confidentiality and scope of services). However, family members are seeing things and experiencing events outside of the family office setting, such as traveling to each other's homes, and we'd like to ensure that those experiences are kept confidential to the maximum extent possible. We routinely address confidentiality in prenuptial agreements and would plan to address them in a divorce settlement agreement. We're looking for insights and tips on how to implement it in a non-marital setting. (Source: FOPeer)

Back pre-covid days our Family Council looked at this...we had a hard time figuring out how to do it in a binding manner that also felt good. And how do you really make it enforceable. We landed on putting it in our family Code of Conduct policy that people approved/signed, but not a binding agreement.

Family Office Document Software

Is there a software that acts as CRM for family office where all files are kept that works better than saving on one drive? (Source: FOPeer)

I suggest looking into Orca (withorca.com). The software has great capabilities.
I've seen Leafplanner as well, and very impressed. Seems to be getting a lot of traction.
SharePoint

Family Physical Security Review

We are looking to engage a firm to evaluate existing physical security protocols for our Principal and the family and to provide recommendations to enhance their safety, security, and risk management (e.g., BCM/DR). Has anyone performed a similar assessment and have guidance and/or lessons learned that they could share? Suggestions on what to include within the scope of the engagement would also be appreciated. (Source: FOPeer)

We have been grappling with issues of home/personal security for family members. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground between ADT/SimpliSafe and Prince Harry levels of security.

We would be interested in thoughts and approaches between the extremes.

Internet Clean-Up

We are looking for recommendations for the best way to clean up our internet presence. We have heard about BlackCloak and Net Reputation. Anyone willing to share their experience with either of these? Are there others we should consider? (Source: FOPeer)

You might consider having a conversation with 360Privacy. This is their primary focus.

IRS Refund Agent

We have a large IRS refund that the IRS has held up for almost 3 years. Does anyone know a CPA/Tax Attorney who could help expedite this refund within the IRS? (Source: FOPeer)

It’s been a good while, but we’ve used Deloitte to expedite refunds from the IRS in the past. I’m guessing all Big 4 firms have people that used to be in the upper ranks of the IRS that could assist.

I highly recommend Anthony Daddino at Meadows Collier law firm. You can find his vCard and bio at: https://www.meadowscollier.com/anthony-p-daddino

We had this situation several years ago; it was a tens of millions of dollars amount. We invested in CPA’s and lawyers, but no one got results. Finally, we had the idea to go to our local member of the House of Representatives and their office intervened and got the wheels moving and the refund processed. I suggest you go that route if you can.

This also worked for us…twice. In addition, we found using the office of the taxpayer advocate quite helpful.

Chuck Jesser at Jesser Ravid (in Chicago). Chuck is terrific and used to work at the IRS.

Microsoft 365 Admin/SharePoint Designer

We are looking for an outsourced IT provider that specializes specifically in highly functioning Microsoft SharePoint design, Microsoft 365 administration and effective use of Microsoft's 365 tools for business enablement. If you know of a good consultant or service provider in this focus area (not an MSP) we would appreciate knowing the company name and contact information for someone we might reach out to. (Source: FOPeer/TODS)

What tools are you looking to use? Is this a brand new project with SharePoint, fix, or edit? Is this a continuous management of 365 or just a one-time set up?

I would start by using the Microsoft Partner Program website. Go to https://appsource.microsoft.com and click on partners at the top to get started. You can narrow down Microsoft competencies of different partners. Be mindful that there are granted certifications listed along with vendor provided lists of competencies. Naturally the former would have more weight.

The goal is that this is a continuous relationship with a person or company that will become our manager of 365's suite of products. I would like an ongoing relationship with a 365 expert that provides the majority of services for us for years to come and if there are specialized things they need to outsource as we work together my expectation would be that they have a network of people to tap for specialized needs if our needs stretch outside of our providers skillset.

Our needs are quite broad around SharePoint involving design and build-out of sites that function as family member portals and a site that serves as a centralized "homepage" for our family office staff. So it is built then stay on to fix and edit. We already have quite a few SharePoint sites serve as document libraries. We have a lot of security groups and management of permissions within our sites that this person would ideally administer moving forward. We also have a very robust Teams environment that is used to organize communication by topics across various functions.

My hope is that this 365 expert will help us understand the suite of Microsoft Tools available to improve our operations and then is the person to also assist with implementing those tools if they need much work to be implemented.

Paid Parental Leave

We are interested in hearing from other Family Offices on their Paid Parental Leave policy. Particularly time off allotted for Primary care givers (i.e. 18 weeks) and non-primary care givers (i.e. 4 weeks). This is assuming the paid time off is running concurrently with Short Term Disability and Paid Family Leave. (Source: FOPeer)

We do not have short term disability. We pay 100%, 11 weeks for primary and 3 weeks for non-primary, for all full-time employees. A full-time employee can request up to 6 months leave, but the additional amount would be unpaid. A part-time employee can request up to 6 months leave, but it would be unpaid.

We offer parental leave for full-time employees after having been employed for 12 months. It is 8 weeks paid for mom or dad. It runs concurrently with FMLA. Group benefits continue while on leave provided the EE pays their portion of the premium. If the EE has STD, the policy requires them to file a claim.

Password Management Software

Can you please share what password vault app you use at your family offices? Are you happy with the app, do you have regrets, why did you choose that app vs. others? I welcome your feedback from any perspective - usability, cost, security, support, features, ease of use, IT administrative controls, etc. (Source: TODS)

We use 1Password. I like it, very easy to organize any shared passwords and the private vault is nice. Cool benefit: with a business subscription, employees get a free family account. I personally used LastPass prior to 1Password and find 1Password works much better auto filling and saving passwords.

We've used both LastPass and 1Password. Both are competent systems as far as I can tell. I can't assess the real damage of the LastPass news of the past months, so I've thought about moving us to 1Password but the idea of the move exhausts me! Cost is cheap. Ease of use is mostly pretty simple. The sharing mechanism, at least in LastPass, could be easier but it's not a problem. Hopefully you'll get better technical answers from others but from a user standpoint, these are certainly "best practice" today and are pretty simple to use and maintain.

We have been using KeeperSecurity for just over a year now. We've been happy with it. Cost is very reasonable and it allows for administration over the accounts so you can globally enforce security measures like MFA, password length, etc. If an employee leaves, the admin is able to move all those password records to someone else so you don't risk losing access to any company credentials. You can of course restrict access to a user account if necessary. It allows very easy sharing of records individually or you can set up a shared folder. You can also get alerts to know when a record has been shared in case that's an issue. It has a lot of great features we've found beneficial. Ease of use is probably similar to most password managers.

Password Management Software

One of our families wants to store their passwords in a digital location, that is safe and accessible/shareable to their spouse, and others granted access. Is anyone using any specific app for something like this? (Source: ADVPeer)

I use 1Password. You can keep separate “vaults” for different users and can share access. It works from my home and work computers (Mac and Microsoft), my iPad, and my iPhone. I highly recommend it. Makes password management and creation of complex passwords much, much easier.

Property Management Bill Pay

Curious what others recommend when it comes to clients’ international homes that require a property manager to pay bills in the local currency (in our case, property is in Mexico). We have experience with the property manager issuing payments directly out of his/her own account and our sending fund replenishments but looking for a possible tool or preferred international bank that is easy to apply/work with. (Source: ADVPeer)

There is a commercial tool we [Bank of America Private Bank] have made available to family office clients from time to time, essentially enabling local, low-value (ACH/EFT) payments in a limited number of countries (including Mexico, in MXN) from a US-based, USD-denominated deposit account.

Bill.com can do international payments.

Wealth Transfer Planning Jurisdiction Comparison

This reference summary of state laws from Willow Street Group is provided for consideration when establishing wealth transfer plans and structures, including taxation, trust laws, asset protection, and regulated and unregulated private trust companies. This updated summary includes a broader aggregation of top U.S. trust jurisdictions, including Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Tennessee. Jurisdiction Comparison for Wealth Transfer Planning | Family Office Exchange (Source: LCN)

This is great and a nice addition to other versions of this I've seen from other sources. I'm curious because of a presentation I heard recently from the Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises pointed out that there is an entire area of case law impacting a fiduciary's right to claim privilege or to pierce that privilege. I haven't seen any of these summaries of jurisdictional differences mention this and it struck me as a pretty interesting concept/question. Has anyone seen a jurisdictional summary that addresses the state of this issue in these jurisdictions?

I spoke with the author of the piece and unfortunately the question is too technical to share in a state comparison chart. They noted: The question goes to attorney-client privilege when a trustee seeks legal advice and whether the trustee may then assert that privilege against the beneficiaries. This is sometimes called the "fiduciary exception" to privilege. The idea is that the trustee is really just a representative or agent of the beneficiaries and therefore the beneficiaries are the "real client." It looks like a minority of states (maybe 10 or fewer) have either statutes or case law on point. I am not aware of any WY law or applicable case addressing this issue. Of the other "leading trust jurisdictions," DE has adopted the fiduciary exception in the Riggs case (1976), FL and NH have abolished it by statute, and I haven't found a view yet from SD or NV. The UTC is silent on the fiduciary exception, seemingly by design.

Additional Topics of Interest Seeking Peer Recommendations, Feedback, or Insights

(Your comments can be submitted as a reply to the message on FOXChat or emailed to networks@familyoffice.com for FOX to post and share anonymously on your behalf.)

Bay Area Estate Planning Attorney

Does anyone have recommendations for an estate planning attorney in the San Francisco Bay area? We have a client that needs to update their will and other documents. The client has a simple estate plan and will not reach the point of being subject to estate taxes. We would love to find someone close to Vallejo, California as the client is elderly and travel could be an issue for her. (Source: FOPeer)

Chief of Staff & Estate Manager

Our client is seeking a Chief of Staff & Estate Manager who can coordinate the activities related to her three residences and her family office. She maintains residences in Palm Beach and Cape Cod as well as a condominium in Boston. She also has a family office that provides investment advisory, accounting and reporting services. The position would involve travel between the locations. A full job description can be provided upon request. If anyone is interested or can refer an individual to us, please advise. (Source: ADVPeer)

Elan Payment Systems

Does anyone use elan's Payment Plus virtual pay for their accounts payable? If so, would you recommend it? (Source: FOPeer)

Frost Bank

Does anyone here use Frost Bank for treasury management? Would appreciate any brief feedback you can provide or happy to have FOX connect us. (Source: FOPeer)

Mississippi Estate Attorney

Does anyone happen to have a solid estate attorney or firm in Mississippi? Working with an UHNW client there who needs a new option. (Source: ADVPeer)

Operational Due Diligence Questionnaire for LP

Has anyone used the Operational Due Diligence Questionnaire (DDQ) from ILPA on private investors? If used, can you share your experience and feedback on the process. (Source: FOPeer)

Operating Company Into Trust

Has anyone had experience or a good advisor on possibly setting up operating company into a Trust for deductibility? (Source: FOPeer)

PTC Trustee Engagement Letter

We recently received approval to form a regulated PTC and are working to establish service agreements that will be used for the PTC to serve as a trustee/for trustee related services. Would anyone be willing to share a template they use? (Source: FOPeer/PTC)

Pure Life Adventure Program

We have a family member with a 20-year-old who needs a "reset." Considering Pure Life Adventure Program in Costa Rica. Has anyone had any experience, positive or negative with this program? (Source: FOPeer)

Remote NY Online Notary

Does anyone have a recommendation for a New York State-approved RON (remote online notary) vendor geared towards small offices? I am having smaller quantities of documents. (Source: FOPeer)

Shared Legal Counsel

We are wondering if anyone is "sharing" legal counsel between two family offices. For us, this person would oversee estate planning, review contracts, and manage legal work for the family. In addition, they would assist in family governance and conflict mitigation. (Source: FOPeer)

Singapore Staffing Partners

Looking to identify strategic staffing partners in Singapore if anyone has any proven resources to refer. Primarily operations, real estate, and administrative professionals. (Source: FOPeer)

Succession Planning Checklist

I am looking for a checklist or a template regarding succession planning. (Source: FOPeer)

Transferring money to Mexico

Our client is looking to transfer $100K to someone in Mexico who they supported through an orphanage since he was a child. Does anyone have experience with this? Any best practices you are willing to share? (Source: FOPeer)

Member Referrals Requested

This section includes service providers that members have recommended and/or are looking to hear about other members’ experiences.

Forensic Analyst for Digital Footprints: Global Intelligence Consultants/Insight Risk Management (Source: FOPeer)
Washington State Estate Lawyer: Perkins Coie (Source: FOPeer)

Software Reviews/Experiences

This section contains software platforms that members have recommended and/or are looking to hear about other members’ experiences.

1Password
AssetVantage
KeeperSecurity
LastPass
Leafplanner
Microsoft 365
Orca PaymentPlus
SharePoint

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FOXCloud: What’s on the Minds of FOX Members – May 2023