Resource Search

Wealth amassed by affluent individuals is being channeled into family foundations, increasingly led by millennials. They sit at the crossroads between the forces driving the millennial generation and the weight of their families’ legacies. They want their financial resources to achieve the greatest possible impact. They question why all their investments weren't impact investments.

A foundation is a powerful platform through which families can address the challenges in society about which they care about most. Yet, most families only use a small portion of their foundation assets to pursue their philanthropic missions. As families grapple with the scale of funding solutions to the world’s toughest challenges, many are turning to impact investing as a powerful tool for maximizing a foundation’s assets for good.

There are many benefits to involving children in family philanthropy. One of them is the children’s realization of the positive impact their own participation has on the world (no matter how small); another is their excitement about making a difference. For the families who want to pass down the value of charitable giving to their children, there are a variety of ways to engage them on the philanthropy journey and strengthen the family bond.

Enterprising families are showing an increased interest in participating in direct investments around the globe. Some families have turned to private equity out of frustration with the volatility in the public markets and the unexpected correlations between asset classes that occurred during the 2008-2010 timeframe. The factors that impact their private equity portfolios’ success are complex in nature, and there are 15 key considerations that inform families’ preferences for private investments, and, ultimately, impact how well they will do.

As high-net-worth investors discuss plans for charitable giving and investing with their financial advisors, it is absolutely crucial for them to be on the same page in terms of the outcomes desired, both financially and philanthropically. For this reason, advisors and their clients need a set vocabulary of terms going into the first meeting. Only then can they discuss goals (and ways of achieving them) without stumbling over communication roadblocks.

We often think of Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday as ushering in the year-end charitable giving season. Year end is not only a time for gratitude, as families gather for the holidays, but also a time to start organizing financially for the close of the calendar year. But year-end giving does not need to be short-term giving. So even as you strive to be tax-efficient and timely in your year-end giving, those gifts can be part of a longer-term charitable giving strategy.