Search Results

How does one manage a vibrant, multi-dimensional family business with family members and stakeholders scattered across the country? That’s the 21st century challenge for business-owning families, and creating a family enterprise is the first step in an effective strategy to address it.Many successful family businesses I’ve worked with have tr...

51% of decisions in family businesses are made by senior generationsOver the last few years, business owners have inquired about ways to integrate the younger generations with the purpose of preserving the family business. In a recent FOX study, 70% of survey participants said that generations 1 and 2 are leading the business. Furthermore, as indic...

The adage “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” became a well-known prophecy because it is, unfortunately, true. And it appears to be true in virtually every culture. In Ireland, the saying is, “Clogs to clogs in three generations.” In Italy, it’s, “Stable to stars to stable” in the same time frame. In Japan, “The third generation rui...

Based on financial news articles and television shows, everyone should be aware that money is being constantly withdrawn from active managers and placed into ETFs and other index funds. Undoubtedly, active managers are striving with even greater urgency to beat the indexes against which they are judged, seeking some edge. Here are two typical large...

Social impact bonds, sometimes known as “Pay for Success” projects, are contracts with the public sector in which commitment is made to pay for improved social outcomes, which may result in public sector savings. Despite their name, social impact bonds are not bonds; they are public or private partnerships in which investors are repaid if and when ...

Interest in Direct Investing Increases: The 2017 FOX Global Investment Survey reveals a growing focus on direct private equity investments for family offices, reflected in asset-allocation and staffing trends.

After an unsolicited offer from a competitor, a family reflects on what they’ve built and the uncertain road ahead.The majority of family-owned businesses have no formal succession plan or successor leaders in the wings. Equally troubling are the studies showing only 30% of family businesses surviving through the second generation.Successful transi...

“What is your family office’s number one threat? If it happened today, could you function tomorrow?”These are the questions that one family office executive asked her peers as she finished sharing the story of her office’s move to the cloud. If you can answer, “Yes” to the last question, you’re in great shape and may not need to keep reading....

While many principals sense that their current investment programs aren’t likely to produce satisfactory risk-adjusted net returns in coming years and beyond, most have difficulty pinpointing with actionable precision the root causes of their discontent. We’ve assembled a list of the defects we encounter most frequently, rank ordered by their frequ...

David Lough’s wonderful, engrossing, nightmarish study of Winston Churchill’s reverse Midas touch (Picador, 2015) inspires our old friend Michael Harkins, chief of Levy, Harkins & Co., to draw a monetary and investment lesson.No More Champagne, written by a former banker who knows his money, chronicles the long-running calamity of Churchill’s p...

According to the 2016 FOX Family Office Compensation and Benefits survey, only 30 % of offices offered long-term incentive plans.Family offices are often looking for talent with specific expertise and understanding of a family office environment. Long-term incentives can be pivotal in attracting and retaining talented employees. Knowing such plans ...

At first glance, the clothing company Patagonia, the cleaning products manufacturer Method, and the funding platform Kickstarter might seem radically different. After all, they come from vastly different industries.However, they are all benefit corporations, which means they belong to a new class of corporation in that they voluntarily meet h...

Jackie Kennedy Onassis once said: “If your children turn out well, nothing else matters. If your children turn out badly, nothing else matters.”Having the young people in your life turn out well is as important as anything else you do in life, right?The children’s happiness depends on it. Your happiness depends on it. And if you’re part of a ...

Transitioning a family business to the next generation is one of the most important and toughest business decisions a family firm owner will ever make. No other challenge has as much potential to exacerbate the special stresses—or, conversely, highlight the unique advantages—of operating a family-owned company.A family business should consider how ...

More advisors to families of wealth are wondering if an asset-based pricing structure has out-lived its useful purposeIt seems long ago that wealth advisors could charge an asset based fee that covered the cost of providing investment services with a "cushion" leftover to cover additional services such as planning, education and advice. And, if all...