FOXCloud: What’s on the Minds of FOX Members – October 2023
The following were the most talked about topics within the networks on FOXChat in October 2023:
Amex Centurion (Black Card)
Our principal would like to get an AMEX Centurion card and we're having a hard time getting an invitation. Any suggestions or contacts that could help? (Source: FOPeer)
- Here's a good article about it. You should be able to request it as long as you meet the criteria in the article.
https://www.cnbc.com/select/request-an-invite-for-the-amex-centurion-card/
Paternity Leave Policy
We are reviewing our current paternity leave policy and are interested in best practices among our peers. Can you please provide the number of weeks you are providing for paternity leave (paid or unpaid)? (Source: HCAP)
- We would also like to know what offices are doing for this policy.
- We just updated our policy to add 4 weeks of paid "bonding leave."
Bonding Leave: In addition to Child Birth Recovery Leave, eligible employees will be provided up to 4 weeks of paid bonding leave following the birth of the employee's child or the new placement of a child with the employee for adoption. In the case of adoption, the child must be age 17 or younger [or 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability at the time of the placement] for this policy to apply. Leave for the adoption of your spouse's or domestic partner's child is excluded from this policy if the child is not new to your home.
If multiple births or the adoption of multiple children occur (e.g., the birth of twins or adoption of siblings), it does not increase the total amount of bonding leave granted for that event.
Bonding leave under this policy must be taken immediately following the birth or placement of the employee's child. Bonding leave must be taken continuously. Bonding leave is paid at 100% of an employee's normal weekly pay. Employees are limited to receiving four weeks of bonding leave under this policy in a 12-month period rolling backward, regardless of whether more than one birth or placement occurs within the 12-month period.
Trust Protector Committee Compensation
We are in the process of selecting Trust Protector Committees for a few family trusts. The committee members will be compensated for their role, and we are trying to determine what is a reasonable amount of compensation and how to calculate such amount.
How have others determined compensation for this role? Should compensation be the same for all members (flat rate) or could you use an hourly rate if the member is a professional (attorney, CPA, etc.)?
If anyone has experience with this, we would be interested to learn how you determined the best way to compensate. (Source: FOPeer)
- My trusts use a definition of reasonable compensation which could use an attorney's normal rate. Not everyone has to have the same rate. It also allows for reasonable expenses.
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.)
2024 Compensation Adjustments
2024 budget: Does anyone have plans for compensation adjustments for next year? (Source: FOPeer)
Crypto Custodian
Has anyone used either Anchorage Digital or BitGo for custody of crypto? We are moving from NYDIG because of some fee changes they are making, and we are looking for a platform that will allow us to set up accounts under irrevocable trusts. These two platforms have been recommended to us. (Source: FOPeer)
Louisiana Estate Planning Attorney
I'm seeking an estate planning attorney located in Louisiana. Preferably an attorney that has worked with families in the maritime industry but not required. Any referrals would be greatly appreciated! (Source: ADVPeer)
Third Party Signing Services
We are looking for companies that provide third-party signing services (e.g., authorized signatories) on behalf of various business legal entities in order to maintain anonymity. Would appreciate any recommendations. (Source: FOPeer)
Timeshares
Does anyone have connections to firms that will broker deals to get out of timeshares? I have a client who has a timeshare in Mexico that is interested in getting out of the timeshare. (Source: ADVPeer)
Member Referrals Requested:
This section includes service providers that members have recommended and/or are looking to hear about other members’ experiences.
Bessemer Trust
Curious if anyone has any experience working with Bessemer Trust and, if so, would be willing to share any perspective or provide any feedback. (Source: FOPeer)
- We work with them on some IDGT's (intentionally defective grantor trust). Because of the nature of our trusts, we don't have a ton of involvement with them outside of direction letters. They offer many other services than what we use. Have had a few slow turnarounds as far as responsiveness but overall, they have been professional to work with and always seem to do a quality job.
Concierge Medical Services
We are researching concierge medical services for our single-family office. We are currently reviewing Private Health Management (PHM) in the USA and were wondering if anyone has used this company and would be willing to share your experience with them. We are looking for service in Ontario and Michigan. We are also open to finding out about any other strong service providers you have used in this space. (Source: FOPeer)
- We have used PHM. I would be happy to talk to you about our experience.
Equity Transfers
For those of you who have operating companies, who does the actual equity transfers for your company? Currently we use the core operating company resources to affect these transfers, which takes a lot of internal time. Has anyone outsourced this work or used a shared family office resource to do it? (Source: FOPeer)
- We use Nth Round. They are not entirely outsourced, but they would likely be a good option for you to investigate. Our contact is there is Graham McConnell at gmcconnell@nthround.com.
Entrepreneur Business Consultant
We have a client starting a new business in Massachusetts, and are looking for a good entrepreneur business consultant to help with a business plan and get the business up and running. Any recommendations would be appreciated. (Source: FOPeer)
- Looking for something similar in San Francisco.
- Feel free to reach out and I can share some referrals.
- Happy to share some recommendations, based on the industry. Feel free to contact me.
Louisiana Land Sale Attorney
Looking for an attorney to assist with a land sale involving frac sand in Houston area. Any recommendations? (Source: ADVPeer)
- I would recommend you speak with Nick Peters out of Foley & Lardner’s Houston office. His contact information is: Nick Peters at npeters@foley.com.
- Bryce Linsenmayer with Greenspoon Marder can assist at Bryce.linsenmayer@gmlaw.com.
- We have Texas attorneys with Holland & Knight with significant experience with this. Happy to connect you.
Private Foundation Talent and Management Consulting
A client has an established private foundation of size with a lean staff that they are looking to augment with talent that has experience in the management and administration of such vehicles. We are aware of outsourced providers of administrative services. They are probably not a candidate for a turnkey provider. Looking for independent expertise in recruiting talent, private foundation governance, administrative/management and strategic planning, not necessarily all from a single source. (Source: ADVPeer)
- Depending on the client's location, our teams would be happy to make introductions to other parties. Of course, Private Bank does have a philanthropy team that provides a turnkey solution but hear you loud and clear that will not be a fit. Please feel free to reach out to our Philanthropy Strategist Marguerite Stoglin marguerite.stoglin@bofa.com for guidance.
- I have a good friend who is a nationally recognized expert in NFP. He is with CLA but tells me that they have a cadre of retired folks that do consulting in this area. Let me know if you intend to contact him so I can alert him, otherwise he may not know from whom the communication is coming and will not respond.
- Our firm Hemenway & Barnes LLP has a dedicated non-profit practice that helps administer private foundations for clients if that is of interest to your client. We can assist with grantmaking, governance, and planning, as well as any legal issues that might arise related to the foundation. Happy to connect you to the professionals here in this area, and even if not a fit, we can help recommend others once we have more information.
Speaker for Family Meeting
Our family office helps put on two all-day meetings per year for our G4 and G5 ownership group, with about 40+ shareholders/beneficiaries in attendance, including spouses. Our meeting in February, where we bring in two partners from the Family Business Consulting Group, focuses more on the softer issues such as team building, trust, education, long-term shareholder strategy, getting to know one another, etc.
For our late February meeting being held in Nashville in four months, the Chairs of our Family Council would like to start a new tradition that would take place most years at the February meeting. They would like to start a Family Governance Speaker Series, where the Family Council Chair would bring in a speaker of their choice to meet with us for 2-3 hours to present and discuss a particular subject or area that they have experience and/or are knowledgeable about.
The goal would be that after the next 15 years, we would have met with a variety of experts, shared common learning experiences together as a group and become more educated in the important subject of how to keep our family ownership group successfully together through generations.
Our Family Council Chair has a couple speakers that she is considering but asked that I reach out to you and see if you know of or have had a good experience with a potential speaker/expert. The subject matter could be about anything you think might be appropriate. Let me know if you have anyone that we could consider. (Source: FOPeer)
- John Jennings is a great speaker and author of, The Uncertainty Solution. He runs a multi-family office and would make a great resource.
- I would recommend Meghan Juday. She is a G4 family member and Board Chair of her family's 105-year-old operating company (IDEAL Industries) and was Family Council Chair for a number of years before that. She's also a family/family business governance expert, advisor, author, and speaker. About - Meghan Juday
- I imagine you'll get inundated with opinions, but I'll throw a few out and happy to talk through this.
- First, at the risk of shameless self-promotion, but also free, I'd love to do this. I am a G2 family member, been running our SFO for 22 years, consult with other families, am the founder of leafplanner, which was founded to help families, etc. I think and speak about family governance, engagement, etc., often, and love doing so.
- Covie Edwards Pitt. Another who would be great on all sorts of topics but her newest installment of her Healthy, Wealthy & Wise touches extensively on relationships, pre-nups, etc.
- Jane Flanagan. Former FOX, now Northern Trust. Would be great on anything but has done some great research and work on succession.
- Kristin Keffeler. Another rock star, author of The Myth of the Silver Spoon and co-author of Wealth 3.0. She'd be awesome, particularly on those two topics.
- Steve Legler. Would be great on family systems theory and beyond.
- Arden O'Connor. Particularly strong on families with addiction or other issues.
- Amy Renkert Thomas. Particularly strong on family engagement and "engaged ownership."
- Rockstar Jill Shipley. She could talk about anything, but family governance and dynamics would probably be her sweet spot.
- Kim Schneider Malek. Yet again, many potential topics but awesome work on Building Bridges and Bridging Divides.
Software Reviews/Experiences
This section contains software platforms that members have recommended and/or are looking to hear about other members’ experiences.
Decision Approval Software
Any recommendations for simple software to facilitate family approval of various decisions, such as a new project at a residence, or a new investment? (Source: TODS)
Portfolio Modeling and Analysis Software
Does anyone have a software recommendation for portfolio modeling and analysis? We would mainly use it for tax and estate planning. Our investment team is currently using Addepar. (Source: FOPeer)
- Curious if you have looked at Addepar's Navigator since you are already using Addepar? Our understanding is that this is their investment analysis add-on. We have not used it yet but are in the process of evaluating it.
- We can't go that route because we use Mirador who has access to Addepar. I also heard that Navigator isn't the best. Also wondering how far out people project cash flow.
- I found a software (Canadian side) and hoping this will work. Apparently, it does the modelling for tax planning and cash flows. Will share the outcome and maybe with change of assumption this can work on the U.S. side. Based on my conversation, in a couple of months, we will be able to get the feed from Addepar.
- I would love to hear how it goes as well. I use Addepar and Navigator. It works, but I expected more from Navigator. Trying to see if there are better options out there. I thought Mirador worked with Navigator as well. Is it because they manage the key access? You should be able to use it if you add the integration. But as you heard, I think there should be better options out there.
- Regarding: "how far out people project cash flow" I could not resist commenting on your interesting question. Simply stated, cash flow should be incorporated in and projected carefully for the full strategic plan term. Periods of both lower and higher cash balances can be projected and quantified with appropriate variance risk factors identified and quantified. This allows management to construct and utilize investment tools involving short and/or long-term debt efficiently and effectively.
With these tools in place and utilized timely and effectively returns on excess cash flow can be maximized. Maintaining and effectively utilizing such debt and investment tools can provide a material boost to income while accommodating unexpected core investment opportunities by the enterprise. For full disclosure, I am an engineer and lawyer and not an accountant.
- We are currently modeling out seven years, with different levels of certainty for each succeeding year. We adjust the model every quarter based on what we experience. We feel a relatively high percentage of confidence in the two-year forecast, a bit lower for the three-year forecast, and after that in terms of confidence we are somewhere between throwing darts at a board and predicting next week's weather.
- The increase in interest rates has made us try to be more conservative and we are aiming for a cash to annual expense ratio of 2.5 to 3.0/1. However, we do not have a stable source of income from, for example, net rent from stable leases or dividends from an operating company that have been consistent throughout different business cycles.
- We are generally not optimistic about near-term economic growth and the wars in Ukraine and Israel give us grave concern about the world economy, how China might react, etc. We want to make sure our economic ship has a good amount of ballast for the storms.
- I'm with you! We also went out ten years, and I'm thinking five is as far as we can go without totally guessing.
- Analysis for at least two years ahead. Totally agree on how this is relevant with all the uncertainties. We are at the stage where we need to evaluate our options for estate planning purposes, so having an idea of what will be the picture in 5-7 years is something relevant. I am keeping hanging assumptions with everything going on. We only have passive assets, so it is easier to design assumptions and models.
Key to Network Acronyms
- ADVPeer: Advisor Peer Community
- FOPeer: Family Office Peer Community
- DIN: Direct Investing Network
- FLN: Family Learning Network
- HCAP: Human Capital Network
- LCN: Legal Counsel Network
- PTC: Private Trust Company Network
- RGN: Rising Gen Network
- TODS: Technology Operations & Data Security Network