Families are working hard to juggle the competing demands of family and enterprise. This session explore s a multitude of dynamics coming at both systems simultaneously: generational shifts happening faster and with greater consequence; AI and climate change—both with the potential to alter the human experience; the rise of women’s wealth ownership and its impact in both the family and the enterprise, just to preview a few of the big waves Sara and Joline will tackle.
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Join the Tsotsorkov family’s journey over the decades, from its entrepreneurial roots going back 250 years to its modern-day enterprise. Gen 2 family leader, Dimitar Tsotsorkov, shares the story of, and learnings from, the family’s recent efforts to capture and codify the unique values that have shaped the enterprise family and its ecosystem throughout the centuries.
Trusts are valuable tools frequently used to transfer wealth within families, preserve and protect wealth, and reduce taxes. Understanding trusts and the role of the trustee is important for the people establishing trusts and the beneficiaries of those trusts. Building on this foundation, answers are provided to some questions about trusts and trustees that a family’s younger generation of trust beneficiaries frequently ask.
As enterprising families expand across generations, they often stray from their entrepreneurial wealth creation roots to a more risk-averse wealth-protection mode. However, if maintaining shared family capital across multiple generations is the goal, wealth protection mode is not an ideal strategy and may have some unintended consequences.
It is not uncommon for enterprising families to end up making sub-optimal capital allocation decisions due to limited visibility into, and planning around, the entirety of their shared family assets. To optimize the value of shared family capital, both the business and other entities or advisors in the enterprise ecosystem must work in harmony. With a well-defined shared family capital strategy and holistic framework, enterprising families will be in a better position to grow and sustain their wealth, promote family unity, and prepare for the road ahead with purpose.
Every family office is unique, and so are the governance structures needed to meet the family's objectives. This session will help attendees understand when a family office should implement more (or less) formal governance components - from committees to councils to bringing in outside directors alongside family members. Attendees will walk away with a solid understanding of the family office governance lifecycle, including indicators on when to add or remove governance elements.
Wealthy families have a significant positive socio-economic impact around the world, but lasting impact depends on those families prospering for generations. This is not guaranteed, however, and more intergenerational wealth transfers succeed if families adopt a modern Family Office model that suits their needs and goes beyond managing and growing the family’s financial capital over the long-term.
A well-functioning board is a crucial component to help the family business achieve longevity and growth. From risk mitigation to culture oversight, a good board can be an important resource for the company, shareholders, and stakeholders. In this discussion, Meghan Juday, IDEAL Industries Chairman and Founder of The Lodis Forum, a peer group for women in board leadership roles, will address key insights and lessons to establish or refresh a board.
At its core, a mission statement serves as a compass, continually steering an organization or business toward their goals. For the families who undertake the process of creating a mission statement, it provides a similar and essential navigational tool. To be successful, however, the mission statement must resonate and mean something to everyone in the family. It should ideally look inward to identify each family member’s personal values.
The past year challenged families to react to adverse trends to protect their enterprise and build capabilities to achieve their vision. The journey from uncertainty to impact requires an elevated enterprise mindset and determination to persevere throughout the four-stage evolution to position the family enterprise for long-term success and positive community impact.