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Families of significant wealth rightfully expect their attorneys, investment professionals and CPAs to be creative, effective advisors. It's time they expect the same from their banker.Banking is one aspect of wealth management that affects the family every single day. Yet, despite the increasingly complex needs of families with significant wealth,...

Earlier this year, one of my clients came to me with a question about her family’s trust portfolio. She was worried that, despite it going against her own personal social values, she (along with the rest of her family) was investing in cigarette companies. “Do we really have to invest this money in cigarette companies?” she asked me. “I mean, there...

Many FOX members have asked about what considerations should go into developing a family wealth strategy after an operating company is sold. To them, I’ll often tell the story of Thorndale Farm CEO Oakleigh Thorne and his 20 year plan.After Oakleigh completed his MBA in 1986, he went to work at Commerce Clearing House, Inc.—a company his family sta...

There is a big change just starting to impact the way the Internet, and its related apps, are used: they are moving away from a silo approach to one of interoperability.Essentially, instead of having to go to one particular website or application to make use of the functionality and service it offers, you will instead be able “call” the functionali...

FOX has been working to determine what makes for a great experience for the client of a family office.Throughout 2015, FOX studied more than 30 businesses across a variety of industries—including notable brands such as Apple and Ritz-Carlton Hotels—in pursuit of determining what constitutes an optimal client experience and understanding how it can ...

He may be one of the most visible figures in the emerging movement, but Charly Kleissner realizes that there is still a lot of healthy skepticism surrounding about impact investing.“I know there are a lot of questions,” Kleissner says.If anyone is in a position to answer some of those questions, however, it’s Kleissner—particularly given how he has...

From a historical perspective, the private family trust company (or PFTC) is a relatively recent structure employed by successful, strategically-oriented families. Those who manage these structures have been, in most cases, focused on those entities’ organizational and operational requirements. However, many of those managing PFTCs have been quick ...

Is the real estate market overheated? In October 2014, PwC published a report based on interviews of dozens of leading real estate professionals across a number of sectors and disciplines. The report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2015,” predicted that the momentum of the last five years would continue but cautioned investors to take ...

For many, owning a horse is the realization of a lifelong passion. However, it can also increase your risk of financial loss or even lawsuits. Whether you board your horse on your own property or at a professional facility, it’s important to ask yourself, “Am I protected against the potential risks?” Here are the top five questions horse owner...

Jonah Wittkamper wants to start a conversation about wealth—and help rising generation family leaders find their life purpose in the process. “I think many people think that the meaning of life is to simply accumulate as much material wealth as you can,” says Wittkamper, Co-Founder and Global Director of Nexus, a global network of ...

Stop for a moment and think about the leaders in your world. Consider friends, family members, teachers, colleagues and business partners. Which of these people would you consider to be the "best” leaders? Who stands out and what makes them stand out above others? Perhaps it's because they show you they care about you as a person, or because t...

For several years now, wealth advisors have been concerned about the rise of robo-advisors and the potential impact on the wealth management industry. There is a strong potential disruption from the new financial technology (or FinTech) start-ups, each with goals of becoming the “Uber” of peer-to-peer lending or the “Airbnb” of robo-advising. ...

Recently, a family I advise came to me looking to plan a family meeting. Inevitably, the question came up: “Well, should we do it at Thanksgiving or at Christmas?” My response? Avoid both. There has been a growing recognition by families of the need to prepare future generations to be responsible owners and stewards of the family’s wealt...

I was recently speaking with the general counsel for a private family trust company (PFTC), and they told me a compelling story about their recent PFTC state situs evaluation that I believe many in the PFTC world will find both informative and relatable. With their permission, I have shared it below (the names have been removed to respect the...

In December 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he would transfer 99 percent of his Facebook shares—a sum currently valued at $45 billion—to the new Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic endeavor that will be led by Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC raised the question about why some...