Family Office Best Practices

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Clean Up Your Electronic Junkyard
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"A surprising number of us who work with business organizations or professional service firms - in offices that are otherwise orderly - let emails just pile up in our inbox, sent folder and trash bin," says John F. Shonkwiler, a partner with Novack and Macey LLP. "Don't do this. It is not a smart business practice and, if your company becomes involved in litigation, it can cost an awful lot of money to sort through the mess.

Responsibilities and Risks as the Family’s Trustee
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Poor trust risk management and family disunity remain major if not the major threats to families seeking to remain together from generation to generation. Often embraced hesitantly by families, the most important risk management actions are basic and logical, only requiring families to understand and commit to them. Communication is often the key to both trust risk management and overcoming family disunity.Attendees will learn:

The Trustee Risk Crisis and Its Impact on Finding/Selecting the Best Trustees
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Private Trust Companies were created and constantly evolve to meet the needs of wealthy families for trustees not adequately met by the traditional alternatives of institutional and individual trustees. The foundations for choosing the right trustee for a family are(i) identifying the role they need their trustee to play, and(ii) understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each type of trustee for filling that role.

Supervision and Examination of PFTCs
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Regulated PFTC’s are licensed and supervised by state banking regulators. In exchange, families are given the only non-federal, permanent corporate/LLC charter allowing them to provide trust services and, without registration with the SEC, act as an investment adviser. The main price they pay is the burden of state regulations and examinations. This session makes transparent the supervisory regime.Attendees will learn:

The Private Family Trust Company—A Strategic Solution for the Family Enterprise
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The PFTC represents an elegant evolution of the family office by solidifying the role of the family in managing all of the family assets (more than just trust assets) and implementing its strategic plan. In this session, expert advisors and a family office executive share how to successfully integrate the PFTC with the family enterprise.Attendees will learn:

Using a PFTC to Optimize Multi-Generational Investment Management
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PFTCs provide significant flexibility with respect to investment management. The governance models afforded under PFTCs allow families to carefully craft the role of investment management, from the what, to the who, to the how. Modern trust laws in select states will allow you to create this flexibility through PFTCs, or for those less inclined, through a directed trustee arrangement.Attendees will learn:

In the Driver’s Seat and Under the Hood - Creating and Operating a PFTC
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For those considering a PFTC or in the early stages of developing one, this session provides the core information needed to get started, including identifying the right state and right structure for your family, chartering or licensing, and insight on the day to day realities of operating a PFTC.Attendees will learn:

Data Architecture: A Tool Well Worth the Investment
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This case study, coauthored by Pitcairn and Oakbrook Solutions, discusses the value proposition of data architecture to the Pitcairn family office. With many family offices striving to provide better quality client reporting experiences, this study will provide lessons learned and some insight on the value of client data and its stewardship and governance.

Tax Return Compliance and Due Diligence Considerations for S Corporations
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The validity of a corporation’s S election is a primary consideration with respect to federal and state tax return compliance and due diligence efforts. For an S election to be valid, a corporation must satisfy strict eligibility requirements. Among these requirements, a corporation must (1) have no more than 100 shareholders, (2) have only permissible shareholders, and (3) have only one class of stock. Businesses operating as an S corporation should make sure they are familiar with these requirements in order to avoid an inadvertent termination of their S election.