Resource Search

Harris Associates LP was founded in 1976 by six investment professionals (Joe Braucher, Roger Brown, Peter Foreman, Victor Morgenstern, Myron Szold, and Ralph Wanger) who believed that delivering successful investment results for clients required a consistent investment philosophy, a commitment to superior investment research and a high level of client service. As the roster of clients has grown over the years, these basic beliefs have remained unchanged.

A family foundation is a wonderful vehicle for realizing many family goals: expressing values, teaching and sharing family values, working together on something worthwhile, learning more about and keeping in touch with other family members and giving something back to the community. If approached from a perspective other than tax advantages, the family foundation can be a satisfying and even joyful joint effort that brings together more than one generation of far-flung relatives.

Developing an effective family office can be a formidable challenge. Keeping it headed in the right direction is a constant process of assessment and adjustment. The rapid pace of change in virtually every aspect of the world around us necessitates this monitoring and redirecting process to ensure and maximize the effectiveness of the family office.

Over the last year, Perrybell Investments, Inc., the family office of the James Ford Bell family, has made cutting-edge changes in the structure of family office ownership. The resulting company, Family Financial Strategies, now contracts with the Bell family for comprehensive family office services and has also accepted a limited number of new families.

We hear much these days about how difficult it is to put together a career. The "younger" generation seeks more than jobs. They want their work to be fulfilling and to make a difference, and they need to earn a salary that they can live on, have medical benefits and maybe even save enough to one day retire. This is a tall order in these times of corporate and government downsizing and greater competition among nonprofits for shrinking resources.

The world is changing at a frantic pace. New bestsellers appear weekly on management techniques, time management skills, effective leadership, philanthropy, tax planning, investments, law, etc. Many concepts in these books are revolutionary; others just repackage the "idea of the week."The knowledge necessary for a professional just to stay "average" is overwhelming. Access to quality programs in a time efficient manner is no longer a luxury, it is a requirement for an organization to keep its professional edge.

Regardless of the size of your family office staff, annual employee performance reviews are an integral part of keeping talented people. Performance reviews document an employee's job performance, outline strengths and weaknesses, and align the employee's career goals with the family office goals.

Donors' charitable gifts to their family foundations are not always administered by successor trustees in the manner in which originally intended. Donors must carefully articulate a mission for the organization — their private foundation — that will be the repository of a significant portion of their wealth.

Enumerating the tasks family office employees must fulfill is only part of the goal-setting process. The decisions and actions of every employee impact a family office's success in serving its clients, so it is critical for employees to understand the mission of the office and how their roles, targeted goals, and "behavioral competencies" will help the office meet its objectives.

Governance is a critical issue for family groups who make a conscious decision to work together for some common purpose, possibly wealth preservation, over a long period of time. For families who believe there is value in preserving wealth, governance gives them the tools to achieve that goal.