2021 FOX Family Forum - October 27 Recap

FOX is back in person! Last week, family members, offices executives, and their advisors joined together to hear and discuss how families have achieved positive chnage and successfully transitioned to future generations throughout 2021. Read below to get a peek into the event, and click here to read an in-depth snapshot into one of the sessions -"The Role of Independent Board Members in Bringing New Insights to the Family" with Craig Duchossois and Pierre duPont.

FOX Family Forum - October 27, 2021

Update from the FOX Leadership Team – CEO Peter Moustakerski and COO Glen W. Johnson

• Peter shares his story of growing up in Bulgaria, moving to China, then to the US
• He got his Master’s Degree at Columbia University, Booz Allen Hamilton, UBS, Bridgewater, Voila Chocolate, News Corp, and then ultimately FOX
• Conversations with Sara Hamilton grew into the role of Peter filling Sara’s shoes in the FOX organization
• Peter is looking forward to the possibilities before him and FOX
  • He is focused on:
    • People
    • Purpose
    • Possibilities
• His priorities near term:
  • Transition
    • Talent, Legacy, Governance
  • Performance
    • People, Technology, Processes
  • Innovation
    • Digitization, New Products, Partnerships
• Long Term Priorities – the FOX Value Pillars
  • Collective Intelligence
  • Multigenerational Transitions
  • Practical Solutions
  • Seeing Around Corners
• FOX has a new brand look and feel! Updated and modern
• Disruptions and their impact on family offices – This is what members have told FOX they are focused on:
  • Transitions, talent, and technology
• Voice of the family office
  • Transition
  • Family succession
  • Family office succession
  • Family governance
• Talent
  • Retain, engage, and reward
  • Focus on comp and benefit plans
  • Employee development
• Technology
  • Owner-focused platforms
  • Tech enhancements
  • Changing family experiences
• Voice of the family advisors
  • Transition
    • Advisor succession
    • Client relationship continuity
    • Managing growth vs. service quality
• Talent
  • Retain, engage, and reward
  • Employee development and career path
  • Virtual work policies
• Technology
  • Standardizing & automating for scale and efficiency
  • Owner vs. advisor-facing platforms
  • Outsourcing and partner ecosystems

Evolution Across Generations – The Caroline Rose Hunt Family Story – John Dziminski, President, Rosewood Corp

The Rosewood Corporation history is discussed and their investment history, starting primarily with hotels.

Lines of business - Hotels, real estate, oil, and gas

• RMC family office - Then and now
• G2 to G4
• 6 households to 22
• 8 employees to 31
• Less than 50 tax returns to more than 500

They have structure of family directors, CEO, family office, private trust company, family holding company, and investment committee.

• Enterprise governance guidance:
  • Understandable
  • Fairness
  • Education
  • Trust
  • Transparency
  • Family Alignment
  • Constant Messaging

The Role of Independent Board Members in Bringing New Insights to the Family – Craig Duchossois and Pierre duPont

• What defines the family’s values?
  • Make sure the values are embedded in the leadership and let it trickle down
  • Holding onto the values and instilling them in family members at a young age is one of the most important goals
• Compensation Goals
  • Valued members should be compensated accordingly
  • Pro bono work did not seem appropriate for the value delivered
• What are the lessons learned from sitting on someone else’s board?
  • Be sure that before you join a board, you do the same due diligence on the candidate that they are going to do on you
  • Make sure there is something you can learn from
  • Be sure you understand the founders more personally to learn their objectives
  • Don’t tell a CEO what to do – ask good questions
• How do you get around the ‘group think’ as a board member?
  • You should be able to empathize, but then also present other ideas. You need to have an independent mindset
• How do you instill these values into younger children?
  • Learning specialists can help teach values
  • Young children can be taught in ways they can learn

Benefits of Age-Appropriate Learning Strategies – Mindy Kalinowski, Allison Lawshe, Jeff Strese

• Family learning is continuous and two-way
  • Mentoring + exemplifying
  • Reinforcing + amplifying + innovating
• Family-led learning
  • Family history
  • Family vision/mission/values
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Governance and board training
  • Responsible ownership and engagement
• External education
  • Finance
  • Leadership skills
  • Personal identity and growth
  • New industry and career skills and knowledge
• Family learning aims to:
  • Produce family entrepreneurs
  • Develop committed, unified, knowledgeable shareholders
  • Engage, inform, and foster a sense of ownership
  • Preserve family wealth while being philanthropic
  • Groom the next generation for succession management
  • Engage next gen and raise responsible children
• Family Learning Handbook, resources by age
  • Teen years, 13-17: Personal identity and growth, personal finance
  • Teen to Young Adult, 18-25: Personal finance, responsible ownership
  • Young Adult-Rising Gen, 26-40: Governance and board training, responsible ownership

Advisor Peer Dialogue – Erin Hulse as attendee

• Topics discussed:
  • Difficulties finding talent in today’s market
    • What are candidates looking for?
    • Competition for candidates is high
    • Jeff Strese discusses reverse mentoring as a tool for guiding junior people
• What is more important – IQ or EQ?
  • Can you teach EQ? Which should you hire for?
  • Should a company keep employees with low EQ?
  • Improv training can help teach EQ
• Companies need to focus on building a culture to attract and retain talent
  • Getting younger employees involved in client meetings
  • Learning to ask better questions
• Book suggestions:
  • Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
  • Humble Inquiry by Edgar Schein