Presenters

Tom Abendroth, Partner, Practice Group Leader, Private Clients, Trusts and Estates, Schiff Hardin LLP

Tom Abendroth is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP and practice group leader of the firm's Private Clients, Trusts and Estates Group. He concentrates his practice in the fields of estate planning, federal taxation, and business succession planning. Tom is a 1984 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, and received his undergraduate degree from Ripon College, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. He has co-authored a two-volume treatise entitled Illinois Estate Planning, Will Drafting and Estate Administration, and a chapter on sophisticated value-shifting techniques in the book, Estate and Personal Financial Planning. He is co-editor of Estate Planning Strategies After Estate Tax Reform: Insights and Analysis (CCH 2001). Tom has contributed numerous articles to industry publications, and previously served on the Editorial Advisory Board for ABA Trusts & Investments Magazine. He is a member of Duke University Estate Planning Council. Tom is a frequent speaker on tax and estate planning topics at banks and professional organizations. In addition, he is a co-presenter of a monthly teleconference series on estate planning issues presented by the American Bankers Association.  Tom has taught at the American Bankers Association National Graduate Trust School since 1990.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Lonny Agulnick, Senior Vice President, AIG

Lonny Agulnick is a Senior Vice President at AIG and oversees the Middle Market Financial Institution Portfolio for North America.   Amongst other things, he is responsible for setting strategy, direction and general underwriting appetite for this portfolio.  Lonny has over 14 years of experience underwriting various lines of business for financial institutions of varying size.  Lonny holds a BA and MBA in Finance from Monmouth University.

  Carlos Arena, Director of Business Development, R3

Carlos Arena is a Director for Business Development at R3.  His responsibilities include the expansion of R3’s consortium in Latin America, as well as Credit Rating Agencies and Credit Unions in the United States. Carlos previously worked in Goldman Sachs (13 years) and Deutsche Bank (2 years) covering Latin America for FX and IR derivatives and international debt issuances.  His clients included governments, state-owned entities and large corporates from Mexico to Chile.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Masters in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas in Austin. Carlos represented Mexico, in swimming in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Xandra Burnette, Chief Operating Officer, Signature Family Wealth Advisors

Xandra Burnette is the Chief Operating Officer at Signature Family Wealth Advisors. She works with the executive team to develop and measure firm strategy, policies, and procedures. She oversees the operations, technology, compliance, finance and accounting and human resources departments. Xandra has spent her career in financial services, most recently with UBS.

Susan Cotts, Managing Partner, C/D/H

Susan L. Cotts is a dynamic technologist and client advocate with over 25 years of experience cutting through the complexity of customer IT environments to create solutions that deliver business value.  Cotts has extensive experience developing processes, applications and solutions to modernize Family Offices that are adapting to new demands for increased transparency and efficiencies.  Her expertise extends to Data Management, Document Management, Cash Flow Forecasting, Project Management and IT Infrastructure & Consulting.  Within her Family Office consulting capacity, she has designed and implemented data governance methodologies, integrated data from Dynamics, Investran and SharePoint, and created robust reporting capabilities.  In addition, Cotts and her team developed a Cash Flow Forecasting Application to model alternative investments, build portfolio plans and provide procedural redundancy. 

Cotts is a Partner and Client Account Manager with C/D/H, a Michigan-based IT consulting organization focused on solving the toughest business challenges with user-centric technology solutions. In her role, she provides strategic project leadership for clients, developing a technology plan with executive sponsors and implementing project governance.

Cotts received her Bachelor of Science, Computer Systems Engineering from Western Michigan University.

Kim Laughton, President, Schwab Charitable

Kim is president of Schwab Charitable, a non-profit, donor-advised fund provider established with the support of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. to make charitable giving simpler and more tax-efficient for clients. She is responsible for the general management of Schwab Charitable and the fulfillment of its charitable mission, setting strategy and priorities and ensuring all contractual obligations and goals are met. Prior to joining Schwab Charitable, Kim held a variety of leadership, strategy, and general management positions at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Earlier in her career, Kim was a vice president for Citibank-Asia/Pacific and a Consultant for Bain & Company. She also has served on the board of the Educational Foundation of Orinda and as the head of its investment committee. Kim has been recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the most influential women in Bay Area business. She holds a BA in economics and a BS in biology from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Adam Levin, Author, Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves

Adam K. Levin is a consumer advocate with more than 30 years of experience and is a nationally recognized expert on cybersecurity, privacy, identity theft, fraud, and personal finance. A former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Levin is Chairman and founder of CyberScout (formerly IDT911) and co-founder of Credit.com. Adam Levin is the author of Amazon Best Seller “Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves”. Mr. Levin’s mission is to educate consumers, businesses and lawmakers about identity management, privacy, credit and security issues.

He is the security and credit expert for ABCNews.com and writes a weekly column that appears on ABC News, The Huffington Post, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, and MarketWatch. He is a contributor for Inc. Magazine and Newsmax and has written guest columns that have appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, Bloomberg View, American Express Security Center, The National Cybersecurity Alliance blog, Entrepreneur, and WIRED. Mr. Levin is a frequent guest appearing on many programs including MSNBC News Nation and MSNBC Live, CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, CNBC Closing Bell, America’s News HQ on Fox News, Varney & Co. on Fox Business, Inside City Hall on NY1, Bloomberg Surveillance, The Willis Report on Fox Business, Fox & Friends, Fox Business After the Bell, ABC World News Tonight, ABC News Nightline, Cavuto: Coast to Coast on Fox Business, Mornings with Maria on Fox Business, PBS Nightly Business Report and Al Jazeera, as well as radio appearances throughout the country, including NPR, ABC News Radio, Bloomberg Radio, Associated Press Radio, CBS News Radio, 1010 Wins, WTOP and SiriusXM, and features in The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and The Chicago Tribune.

John Lugiano, President, MPS, LLC

John leads the protective security program for the Mathile Family and their associated enterprises under CYMI Holdings. In this capacity, John manages the risk-based protective security operations related to the daily personal, cyber and asset protection needs of our multi-generational family and their related business and philanthropic endeavors.

Additionally, John assisted in the development and implementation of the Crisis Management Team (CMT), helping guide the family and businesses through sensitive security and public relations matters. He currently acts as its Chairman.

Prior to joining CYMI Holdings in 2003, John spent 21 years in the private sector, including 3 years as the Director of Security at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supporting its Benefactors and staff with comprehensive security and protection programs globally.

During his career, John has developed security programs, conducted risk assessments and protective operations in 40+ US States and 60+ foreign countries in risk environments from low to high.

Mike Miller, CFO and Family Office Director, Petty Group, LLP

Mike is CFO and Family Office Director for the Petty Family in San Antonio, TX.  He spent three years in corporate accounting before transitioning to wealth management for UHNW families and family offices.  He is a CFA Charterholder and a CAIA Charterholder.

Upon joining the Petty Family in September 2015, he was tasked with leading an internal controls audit with an outside consultant.

Cathy Molnar, Executive Director, CHS Management LLC (a single-family office) and FOX Executive Council '14 Member

Cathy Molnar is the Executive Director of CHS Management, LLC, a single-family office located in San Francisco.  Prior to joining CHS Cathy was a shareholder and wealth manager at Wetherby Asset Management and a vice president at Goldman Sachs. Earlier in her career, she was a CPA at Ernst & Young. As a wealth manager Cathy has drawn on her investment, legal and tax backgrounds to provide comprehensive financial advice to high net worth clients and their families. 

Cathy is on the Board of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, where she previously chaired the investment committee. She received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BBA in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.   

Robin Munro, CFO and Treasurer, Briar Hall LLC

Robin joined Briar Hall in 2008 and serves as Briar Hall’s CFO and Treasurer.   She manages the accounting department of 12 and is responsible for implementing accounting policies and internal control as well as the financial reporting for the trusts, partnerships, foundations, and individual family members. She is also responsible for some of the human resource functions of Briar Hall.

Robin has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry.  Prior to joining Briar Hall she worked for Spectrum Global Fund Administration, a hedge fund administrator, TCS Group, LLC, family office and Driehaus Capital Management, LLC, an investment adviser.

Robin is a licensed CPA and has a BS in accounting from Indiana University and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University.

Sarah Overman, Chief Financial Officer, Endurance Capital Management LLC

Sarah started her career in the Boston office of Arthur Andersen in the tax department and specialized in working with wealthy family groups.

After her time with Arthur Andersen, she became the tax manager at Billingsley Company, the management office for a wealthy family group based in Dallas, Texas that was primarily in real estate. She managed the upper-tier financial reporting, tax planning and preparation for the various single purpose entities, as well as all of the individual and children’s trust management for the family.

Sarah left the full-time employment of Billingsley Company and went on to start her own business servicing small businesses and family groups. One of her clients was a businessman who had recently relocated from Houston to Dallas. Sarah began working for him through her own business as a client, but eventually, as his business grew and she became more involved, she joined his Company, Endurance Capital Management as a fulltime CFO. In this position, Sarah oversees the day to day operations of over 100 entities made up of single purpose investment entities, various operating companies, family trusts and individuals. The various operating companies that the family owns employ several hundred people in various Texas locations. In addition, the family has farm and ranching ventures, real estate ventures, a cutting-edge non-profit clinical research facility doing Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for cancer research that was founded by the family, and a couple of different pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities located in Dallas and College Station, Texas.

Sarah is a Texas-licensed CPA. She is a graduate of Gordon College and holds an MA with a double major in Accounting and Business Administration and double minor in Economics and Computer Information Systems.
 

  Jeff Saccacio, Tax Partner, Personal Financial Services, PwC

Jeff Saccacio is a partner in charge of PwC's Personal Financial Services practice within the Private Company Services group in the Southern California, Arizona and Nevada markets.Saccacio brings over 30 years of experience to PwC from the financial services industry where he served as managing director and head of Wealth Planning for Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management for the Western United States. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he served as a managing director and senior wealth strategist providing services for The Citigroup Private Bank and Trust Company for the West Coast, Pacific Northwest and Manhattan offices.

Specializing in planning for high-net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, and closely held businesses, Saccacio has extensive experience in estate and trust planning and is widely published and quoted in financial journals. He is a frequent conference speaker, and also hosted a popular financial and tax planning radio show, "Talkin' $ with Jeff Saccacio," for over 8 years in Los Angeles. Saccacio has been named one of the "Best Financial Advisors" in the country by Worth Magazine for over 10 years.

Saccacio holds a BBA in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation from the American College.

Seth Spreadbury, National Family Office Practice Leader, Marsh & McLennan Agency

Seth Spreadbury is an executive liability consultant in Marsh & McLennan Agency’s Minneapolis office. His unique skillset and experience as a management liability insurance underwriter enable him to help professional service companies and other organizations grow by ensuring some of their most highly-technical insurance programs are in place properly.

Prior to joining Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA) Seth spent eight years with Chubb and Travelers, in both underwriting and alliance-building positions. His time with these leading insurance carriers gives Seth a wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience into how insurers price, structure and underwrite the technical policies within executive liability lines of insurance coverage. The technical know how he gained over this time gives clients confidence that their risks are being covered and transferred appropriately to insurance. Among others, he’s well-versed in errors and omissions (E&O), directors and officers (D&O), fiduciary, crime, cyber and professional liability insurance issues and products.

Additionally, his dedication to customer satisfaction, high standard of professionalism and always-on drive for improvement led him to being honored with the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies’ Sales Circle of Excellence award in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was also a Breakthrough Program participant in 2012 and honored with DecisionPoint Elite recognition in 2013.

Family Office Exchange

Sara Hamilton, Founder and CEO, Family Office Exchange

In 1989, Sara Hamilton started Family Office Exchange (FOX), the definitive source of information and best practices associated with the business of managing the family enterprise and the family’s wealth across generations. The strength of the FOX network is derived from the collective knowledge and experience of over 490 globally-minded family enterprises and their advisors based in 20 countries.

Since its founding, FOX has made financial solutions accessible to business owning families by fostering dialogue among wealth owners and wealth advisors. In 2014, FOX celebrated its 25th anniversary of service and remains true to its founding mission of objectivity in wealth management, member education and shared knowledge across a sophisticated global network of families and leading wealth advisors.

Sara is the co-author of Family Legacy and Leadership: Preserving True Family Wealth in Challenging Times, © 2010, Wiley & Sons. For the past 10 years, she has served on the Executive Education faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for the course on Private Wealth Management offered twice a year in Chicago. She is a member of the World Economic Forum‘s Global Advisory Council on the Future of Investing and a board member for the Private Directors Association.

Ms. Hamilton was recently named one of the Top 50 Women in Wealth Management by PAM and was honored with this award for three years running by Wealth Manager. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Wealth Management and Trusts and Estates magazine.

Amy Hart Clyne, Executive Director, Knowledge Center, Family Office Exchange

As head of the Knowledge Center for Family Office Exchange, Amy supports the firm’s extensive global community of ultra-wealthy families and advisors. Her effort is concentrated on knowledge acquisition, development, management and distribution.

Focused on transforming creative, best practice and innovative ideas into practical solutions, Amy collaborates with all of the teams within FOX to ensure that the firm’s collective learning is used to enhance existing member relationships, attract new members, and support the work of the consulting practice. Amy is also responsible for program design & development at FOX, including all forums, events and webinars. She is actively engaged in FOX strategic planning, relationship management, marketing and research planning, sales and training meetings, member events and workshops, and new product launch.

Ruth Easterling, Managing Director, Member Services, Family Office Exchange

In her role, Ruth provides relationship management for family and advisor members by aligning FOX services with the unique needs of each member. Ruth also co-moderates the Private Family Trust Company Network and works with the team at FOX to develop programming and insights for the Network.

Prior to joining FOX, Ruth worked with the professional services firm Smith, Bucklin & Associates, which provides management and consulting services to more than 180 associations. She served as executive director to professional associations ranging in size from 300 to 4,000 members, re-engineering membership structures and planning processes to better enable organizations to maximize their potential through efficient governance structures and member participation. In addition, Ruth often consulted with international and national organizations on strategic planning and governance design.

Jane Flanagan, Managing Director, Family Office Exchange

As a Managing Director with Family Office Exchange (FOX), Jane serves as Second Chair for the Owner Operator and Financial Executive Councils and works as a developer, writer and editor of FOX white papers and Guides.

Jane has been with the firm since 1993, and has served in a number of roles providing value to FOX members, including Director of Family Office Research, Director of Membership, and as a Senior Consultant to family offices and financial institutions on the wealth management process and family office operations.

Jane managed the firm’s annual Family Office Benchmarking™ research studies for several years and co-authored many FOX publications including: The FOX Guide to the Professional Family Office, 50 Best Practices for an Enduring Family Enterprise, and Financial Reporting in the Family Office. She is a member of the 100-Year Families Research Team led by Dennis Jaffe and contributor to Good Fortune: Building a Hundred Year Family Enterprise. She develops content for FOX learning events, including the FOX Family Office Design Workshop and the FOX Family Enterprise Workshop and serves as a content resource for the Membership and Consulting Teams at FOX.

Prior to her tenure with FOX, Jane was a Relationship Manager on the global custody Foundation and Endowment Team at The Northern Trust Company. She received a B.A. in Political Science from St. Norbert College.

Patience Marmer, Senior Relationship Manager, Family Office Exchange

In her role, Patience provides relationship management for family and advisor members by aligning FOX services with the unique needs of each member.

Patience has been serving as a trusted advisor to ultra-wealthy individuals and family office clients for 17 years. For ten years, Patience was embedded in a large single family office, where she built bespoke risk management programs for a multi-generational family. Patience created management frameworks for multiple museum-quality fine art and valuable collections and was the family office facilitator for multiple special projects ranging from large scale residential construction to risk and reporting technology upgrades. Patience served as partner at a Fine Arts Services company where she was the Director of the Private Client Practice and adjusted on fine art claims for leading collectors, galleries and museums. Her specialties include risk management, fine art collection management and loss prevention, and multi-estate luxury service operations for ultra-high net worth individuals.

Patience studied fine art and history at the University of Illinois and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Mariann Mihailidis, Managing Director, Councils, Family Office Exchange

Mariann Mihailidis serves as managing director and consultant to family office members of the Family Office Exchange. In her role she oversees the management of all domestic family office relationships. As a practicing tax and estate-planning attorney, she develops strategies in wealth transfer issues, taxes, and corporate structures. Mariann has served as an executor and trustee, and her fiduciary responsibilities included administrative, legal, and accounting duties of various trusts and estates.

Prior to joining FOX in 1996, Mariann worked in one of America’s leading family offices for four years as an accounting manager for the family’s investment partnerships and operating companies.

She also spent more than six years in public accounting, including work as an auditor for Price Waterhouse. Mariann received a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from IIT-Kent College of Law.

Alexander Monnier, President, Family Office Exchange

Alexandre oversees FOX globally and has extensive experience in creating, marketing, and delivering premium services to families of wealth in the wealth management, private aviation and healthcare industries—both in the US and internationally.

He joined FOX from PinnacleCare, a leader in private health advisory services, where he led the development of the business in the U.S. and in Europe. Earlier Alexandre ran Skyjet, Bombardier Aerospace’s private jet charter business, transforming the business from an emerging player to a leading private jet travel provider.

Previously, Alexandre spent 10 years as a management consultant serving some of the most widely recognized firms in the U.S. and Europe on issues ranging from strategy to operational and organizational effectiveness. He started his career in finance with Societe Generale.

Alexandre is a graduate of ESCP Europe, one of Europe’s leading business schools. He has been a member of Young Presidents’ Organization since 2005.

Karen Rush, Director of Membership, Family Office Exchange

Karen Rush is part of the advisor team that works to increase membership and provide member services. Formerly events manager, she was responsible for planning all external FOX events, including forums, workshops and regional events.

Prior to joining FOX in 2005, Ms. Rush spent 10 years at a large, multi-generational family office as the communications coordinator. She worked directly with the family office and family members to develop a family meeting process and younger generation education program.

Ms. Rush received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Illinois University.