Knowing what Wealth Managers find crucially important when structuring insurance solutions for their clients can help you differentiate yourself amongst this highly influential group of trusted advisors. The insights in this article can help you strengthen your referral network and increase your pipeline of UHNW business.
The volume of information in businesses is doubling every two years, creating significant challenges for businesses of all types and sizes, including family offices. Besides the cost of storage, the information in records and data can pose risks that may surface in audits and litigation. One way to successfully tame the rising tide, is to implement...
Sidney Reso, president of Exxon Company International, was kidnapped from the driveway of his home and ultimately murdered in 1992. Edward Lampert, one of the nation’s wealthiest investors, was kidnapped in the parking garage of his offices in 2003 and was released after promising $5 million to his kidnappers. These are only a few examp...
CWP Management, Inc., is a busy family office based in Chicago, Illinois. They look after the financial affairs of 10 households and 31 family members across 3 generations, but an ageing IT infrastructure was weighing down on its president’s time and budget. When disaster struck and their data center was compromised, CWP used the opport...
EY teamed with Kennesaw State University and surveyed the world’s largest family businesses with a focus on seven success factors: succession; women in leadership; governance; communication and resolving conflicts; branding; corporate social responsibility, philanthropy and sustainability; and cybersecurity.
Cloud computing continues to transform the way businesses work. But not all clouds are equal. We’ve collected the key features of cloud computing for family offices into a straightforward checklist and added explanations of what they are and how they matter to family offices. We’ve also highlighted what to look out for when ...
Wealth transfer planning is a complex process with an ever-changing set of risks, opportunities, and regulations. Subtle changes to wealth transfer techniques—including applying commonly used risk management and sophisticated planning strategies—can dramatically increase the likelihood of success and enhance financial results.
The low interest rate environment presents a number of opportunities to advantageously move assets between family members, including the currently popular practice of intra-family lending. It may seem as if lending within the family can be a casual affair, but those who explore the option should be sure they are taking the right steps to truly crea...
It’s a small business world – and getting smaller every day, which opens up new pathways to global expansion. Indeed, mid-sized companies are more and more frequently finding that international trade is a critical component for growth. Launching a foreign presence invites a heavy dose of risk. Forethought, planning, and an understanding...
The protracted wrangling over deficit reduction and tax codes in Washington in recent years has raised concerns about the negative impact on charitable giving. Would the elimination of tax deductions act as a disincentive for the wealthy to give, possibly crippling the nonprofit sector?Such fears appear unfounded, according to recent research from ...
At a Daily Journal annual meeting in Los Angeles earlier this year, Charlie Munger – the 91-yearold Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway – shared his opinion on the investment landscape when asked about negative interest rates in Europe and persistently low rates in the United States:"This has basically never happened before in my w...
In the wealth management world, basis points mean everything. Hedge funds may charge 100 to 200 basis points plus a performance fee. Fund of funds typically charge 50 to 100 basis points plus a performance fee. The model for wealth management firms could be 50 basis points for managing a $10 million portfolio.Based on our observations, we know weal...
As the autumn winds begin to gust in 2015, Jeremy Siegel’s disciples seem ubiquitous across the world of institutional investing. Allocations to equities are massive with the mentality being “of course we all know a correction is coming but I would rather suffer through a correction than miss the next leg up.” Eager to buy i...
There are two reasons for including hedge funds in a traditional asset portfolio. First, their betas with respect to the S&P 500 are often substantially less than unity, which makes them attractive diversifiers. Second, they may provide an additional source of return and risk after adjusting for their exposure to the U.S. equity market, which h...
Trusts have gained enormous popularity over the last 20 years. The top 1 percent of the wealthy have 38 percent of their investment assets in trusts, and the next 4 percent have 43 percent of their investment assets in trusts.1 This powerful trend is largely due to the fact that the modern trust can provide a family not only with powerful tax and a...