Resource Search

Sidney Reso, president of Exxon Company International, was kidnapped from the driveway of his home and ultimately murdered in 1992. Edward Lampert, one of the nation’s wealthiest investors, was kidnapped in the parking garage of his offices in 2003 and was released after promising $5 million to his kidnappers. These are only a few examples, but events such as these have led to an increased use of executive protection services by wealthy families in order to better protect and safeguard themselves, their loved ones, and their property.

CWP Management, Inc., is a busy family office based in Chicago, Illinois. They look after the financial affairs of 10 households and 31 family members across 3 generations, but an ageing IT infrastructure was weighing down on its president’s time and budget. When disaster struck and their data center was compromised, CWP used the opportunity to migrate to a secure, hosted cloud desktop.

EY teamed with Kennesaw State University and surveyed the world’s largest family businesses with a focus on seven success factors: succession; women in leadership; governance; communication and resolving conflicts; branding; corporate social responsibility, philanthropy and sustainability; and cybersecurity.

Cloud computing continues to transform the way businesses work. But not all clouds are equal. We’ve collected the key features of cloud computing for family offices into a straightforward checklist and added explanations of what they are and how they matter to family offices. We’ve also highlighted what to look out for when a family office is ready to make a decision.

Wealth transfer planning is a complex process with an ever-changing set of risks, opportunities, and regulations. Subtle changes to wealth transfer techniques—including applying commonly used risk management and sophisticated planning strategies—can dramatically increase the likelihood of success and enhance financial results.

How and when should wealthy parents educate their children about their assets and potential trusts? Having “The Talk” about wealth is a topic that provokes uncertainty and delay. Avoiding the exchange, however, only compounds the difficulties. Anxiety and reluctance about "The Talk" are understandable given the many risks associated with inherited wealth. Without the right guidance and values, this is a valid concern.

The low interest rate environment presents a number of opportunities to advantageously move assets between family members, including the currently popular practice of intra-family lending. It may seem as if lending within the family can be a casual affair, but those who explore the option should be sure they are taking the right steps to truly create a “win-win” scenarioDo it by the bookInvestigate creative loan optionsMake the most of existing trusts

It’s a small business world – and getting smaller every day, which opens up new pathways to global expansion. Indeed, mid-sized companies are more and more frequently finding that international trade is a critical component for growth. Launching a foreign presence invites a heavy dose of risk. Forethought, planning, and an understanding of the local environment can help improve the odds substantially. Business owners should consider three crucial elements as they look for international opportunities:

The white paper, “Sudden Wealth: Managing the Transition,” provides helpful guideposts for handling new wealth, regardless of the circumstances – whether the wealth represents a recent windfall (the immigrant experience) or having control of a large amount of money for the first time (the inheritor’s experience). The paper highlights common examples of steps to take and to avoid, the typical reactions and emotions experienced by the suddenly wealthy, and a recommended timeframe for making decisions that focus on important personal priorities.

The phrase “private equity liquidity” once felt like an oxymoron, but the picture is rapidly changing.Liquidity has traditionally meant something very different for private equity than it has for other types of investments. While investors in other vehicles could trade their positions quarterly, monthly, or daily, those in closed-end private equity funds typically agreed to have their capital locked up for a number of years before they saw a return. But as private equity investment vehicles and trading venues advance, that difference is now diminishing.