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One question that is often asked when working with family offices is “What are families like mine doing”? The interest in the answers is even greater during periods of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the world’s best investors and wealth stewards share their thoughts and insights into the unique challenges facing family offices, including investment management and opportunities, tax and estate planning, responsible investing and philanthropy, and governance and operations.

Family business leaders face unique challenges during this global pandemic. In addition to the health and economic factors facing all businesses today, many family business leaders have close personal ties to their employees and communities, some going back for generations. Family business leaders can use this time to enhance communication and education within the family system, reinforce their family values, strengthen business resilience, and offer support to employees and their communities.

In this conversation, Peter Begalla—a well-known family enterprise consultant and a trained family therapist—talks with Amy Hart Clyne about the pressures that families are experiencing and how family decision making and governance have become truncated during this unprecedented time. Peter offers an insider's perspective and shares how he believes the COVID-19 crisis will impact family governance.Topics discussed:

In this episode, Amy speaks with Dr. Dennis Jaffe, an organizational consultant, clinical psychologist, and one of the leading thinkers on how multi-generational families can enhance governance and empower next-generation leadership. Dennis and Amy talk about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and how the uncertainty in today’s world plays out in wealthy families and increases the temptation for rash or reactionary decision making. Topics discussed:

The unprecedented speed, intensity, and uncertainty of COVID-19 has created a host of new and complex challenges for wealthy families that are playing out across both financial and family dynamics. There's no doubt it is a financial and business challenge, but it is also a very human one. To assist family office leaders and the families they support see and solve the issues in the most effective ways, a set of discussion questions are provided to help leaders prioritize and address both the financial and logistical considerations, as well as the very human ones.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented the entire world with unprecedented challenges. Although it may be uncomfortable to contemplate, the reality of the growing necessity of funeral planning presents family offices with a sudden and unexpected series of events that must be faced.

Governance is a word often misunderstood by families and family offices, but it is essential for a long-lasting family legacy. Strong governance establishes a process for decision-making and conformity within a multi-generational family to promote communication and strengthen unity, helping to preserve wealth and solidarity for future generations. Although high-net-worth families and individuals increasingly recognize the importance of instituting formal governance structures, doing so presents a complex task, and it can be difficult to know where to start.

For many wealth creators, amassing wealth took a lot of work, but passing down the knowledge and tools to the next generation for successful wealth transition can be an even bigger challenge. Wealth creators may not know how to start or know the best approach. Through an infographic and video, learn the best ways to pass down the knowledge and tools to the next generation for a successful wealth transition.