We are in a period of extraordinary wealth creation and accumulation that is driving the need for more family offices and expanding the breadth and depth of services that support the important work and collective well-being of the family. It's about the sustainability of the family office and preparing it for the long run. With the future of the fa...
Entrepreneurs and business owners often put off wealth planning because they’re so busy with their businesses. Yet, wealth planning is a crucial part of protecting everything they’ve worked so hard for. That’s because their personal and business finances can be interconnected, but they aren’t always at the same stage of growth. This guide by BMO ou...
For business owners and their advisors, it’s probably not surprising that buying another company or other assets requires moving with speed and diligence. But gaining an edge—and winning—on the buy side is a bit more complicated. Effective companies tend to deploy a series of purposeful tactics and avoid common mistakes when pursuing acquisitions. ...
Today, digital customer experiences are table stakes. Yet, digital transformation is widely misunderstood by business leaders as being primarily focused on digitizing existing processes, moving to the cloud, or enabling scalability of the business. While this was true historically, today digital transformation requires fundamentally changing the di...
A family office may generally be described as an organization that engages in substantial, active management, oversight, and monitoring of a family’s business, investment, and personal assets in a purposeful, prudent, and business-like manner. As seen from the well-run family offices, there are many positive outcomes when families make an intention...
Effective pre-liquidity planning is always important for a business owner considering a business sale, exit, or other transaction. But several recent and upcoming developments—related to estate laws, small-business tax exemptions, residency trends, philanthropic endeavors, and high interest rates—make 2024 a uniquely challenging year. This article ...
While the market for private sales has slowed, private equity companies have record amounts of dry powder they need to put to work—for the right companies, this may be the ideal time to explore a business sale or capital raise. In this podcast episode of Business Insights, Terry Hill, Partner in BPM’s Advisory Practice, is joined by Tara Smith Kach...
Many successful family-owned businesses are managing embedded family offices within their existing operations to maximize the benefits and opportunities gained from the unique structure. But in time, the needs of both the business and the family shift for various reasons that include the family growing and earlier generations transitioning out of t...
The 2018 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth® study asked nearly one thousand high-net-worth individuals about their approach to building wealth and the extent to which they are using it to achieve their goals and support the causes they care about most. The study found that while wealth provides the freedom to do more, it also brings increased...
Family-owned businesses are an important part of the economy, and they face unique challenges due to the dynamics of family relationships. With family members involved in both ownership and management, decision-making processes can be complex and challenging, so it is crucial that family-owned businesses develop governance structures before a need ...
Family offices, much like the families that need them, are works in progress. You can’t just set up a family office ownership structure and think it won’t need some type of attention in the future. A number of factors, including regulatory changes, could compel you to revisit your ownership structure to ensure it still makes sense. See why it may b...
Most small businesses begin their financial lives using Intuit's QuickBooks, but if your business has moved beyond the entry level, your organization may be facing a number of challenges as you hit the limits of QuickBooks’ functionality. With the right framework and guidelines, you can assess the hidden costs of continuing to use QuickBooks along ...
At every stage, a Family Office needs the right team, governance, and processes in place to continue growing. With this Family Office Maturity Model that identifies the five different stages—embedded, early stage, developed, professionalized, and mature—you can assess areas for improvement and determine the right steps to progress. By understanding...