Succession Planning for Family Office Management

As the baby boomers retire, many family office and multi-family office executives in key roles who have served the same clients for years will be leaving their roles. This change has significant implications for family members who lean on these leaders for insight and comprehensive knowledge of the family’s interests, advisors who look to them to coordinate services and the staff who rely on their leadership. In this 2012 FOX Fall Forum session, Jill Barber of CYMI, Ltd. and Drew McMorrow of Ballentine Partners, LLC shared their experiences in preparing and implementing for these crucial transitions to ensure service continuity.

Some key takeaways:

• Baby Boomers retiring at an accelerated rate. Every day for the next 18 years, 10,000 baby boomers will reach age 65. By 2030, fully 18% of the nation will be at least that age, according to Pew Research Center. It is estimated that 1-3 million will retire each year.
• Increasingly complex challenges and speed of change that require agile leadership. At the same time, there is increased competition for experienced talent.
• Leadership should reaffirm the values of the firm.
• In a perfect world, your organization should be able to “grow” nextgen leaders. That's not always the case.
• Allow for time when planning for succession: Preparation 6-12 months, execution 6-8 months.
• Be careful when elevating one member – you don’t want to create winners/losers.