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More than ever before, families and individuals are creating trusts and limited liability companies and transferring legal ownership of one or more of their properties to these entities. Very often these arrangements are an important component of a family’s overall financial and wealth management strategy. But without an insurance program that properly reflects the structure of these arrangements, they can create unintended risk exposures.

For a number of philanthropists, philanthropy is a family affair: a means of passing on key values to the next generation as well as giving back or doing good. How are millennials in family foundations, with the weight of legacy on their shoulders, approaching philanthropy? This fascinating generational shift is explored in more detail in this new report.

Wealth amassed by affluent individuals is being channeled into family foundations, increasingly led by millennials. They sit at the crossroads between the forces driving the millennial generation and the weight of their families’ legacies. They want their financial resources to achieve the greatest possible impact. They question why all their investments weren't impact investments.

A beautiful summer home on the beach or keeping a home of your grandparents for all family branches to gather, relax, and enjoy sounds ideal. What happens when your cousin comes with her five kids and three large dogs for a month? Or the taxes and maintenance are being split equally and you barely use the property? Or what if some family members leave the property in disarray? Unfortunately, sometimes a good idea intended to bring the family closer together can, if not managed properly, create more tension and conflict.

Over time, successful multi-generational families develop their governance processes and structures. Two common building blocks of governance—the Family Assembly and the Family Council—are particularly important for the flourishing of each family and enterprise. These governing bodies provide critical forums for communication, education, problem-solving, and inter-generational connection and provide much-needed opportunities for developing shared agreements and making mutual decisions.

A number of seismic shifts occurring around the world are likely to lead to different outcomes for investors in the decade ahead than those experienced by investors in the decade past. For investors, the important question becomes: “Am I positioned to take advantage of the changes happening in the world around me?

Anyone who has participated in the acquisition or sale of a company will recognize the typical path of a deal: from flirting to tough questions to hard bargaining to—finally—handshake. Inevitably, however, the road detours from the exhilaration of accord to the anxiety of suspicion. The buyer wants assurance that all the seller's promises are true and that there are not going to be any surprises once the acquisition is consummated.

An increasing number of private clients are contemplating scaling back or exiting their fossil fuel-concentrated holdings as governments around the world fortify plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions amid heightened awareness around the negative effects of carbon discharges on global warming. Even as many investors have committed to the movement that is broadly referred to as fossil fuel divestment, many more have researched and decided to not pursue divestment at this time. Private clients should weigh all factors prior to making any decisions regarding divestment.

On September 7, Equifax, one of the three major credit agencies, announced that it had suffered a major data breach.

The raison d’être for families to form a Private Family Trust Company (PFTC) is to maximize their lawful control over their wealth held in trust. A cynic might suggest families want that control just to inflate current distributions to family members, but in practice that isn’t what motivates families. What motivates them is that control gives them the capability to devise and implement a strategic plan for managing and deploying their wealth in the ways they believe give them the best opportunity to realize multigenerational hopes and aspiration.