FOXcast

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Patricia Angus, Founder and CEO of Angus Advisory Group, an independent consulting practice serving enterprise families. A former international trusts and estates lawyer, Patricia is a thought leader in the field of multi-generational family governance, wealth and philanthropy. She has been advising global families and their companies, family offices, and foundations, for three decades and is the author of The Beneficiary Primer, among numerous publications. She founded the Global Family Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School, where she teaches graduate and executive education courses, and is a Fellow and board member of the Family Firm Institute and a frequent speaker at industry and family events. Patricia is a long-time friend and collaborator of FOX. Patricia is one of the pioneers in the family wealth space and has been at the forefront of the industry for over 3 decades. As she reflects on the past 30 years, she shares what she believes has changed significantly and what has stayed the same. As Mark Twain famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Today, we find ourselves once again in a time of significant geopolitical and economic shocks, armed conflicts at home and abroad, and the return of populism and authoritarianism even among western democracies. Patricia offers some of the lessons she has learned and would like to pass on to families and their advisors on how to best weather such times of conflict, instability, and disruption. Throughout her career, Patricia has developed a number of practical tools for families – one prominent example of a tool she utilizes with her clients is the Trustee and Beneficiary Primer. She tells us more about these tools, what is in them, and how families and their advisors can benefit from them. In the family wealth space, there is a mix of practitioners and academic programs aimed at helping families of wealth achieve success throughout their multigenerational journey. Patricia provides her insights into how families should think about utilizing practitioners vs. academics, highlighting the utility and limitations of each of these resources and offering tips into how families can achieve the right balance between the different kinds of knowledge and tools both academia and practitioners provide? Do not miss this deeply insightful conversation with one of the veterans and original thought leaders of the family wealth space.

Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Samantha Reynolds, Founder & CEO of ECHO Storytelling Agency. Since 1999, Sam and her firm have been trusted by hundreds of prominent families and global companies to preserve their legacies in books and videos. In 2005, Sam was named one of British Columbia’s “Top 40 under 40” and is also a Forbes Magazine Council Member and writes a monthly article on how to use authentic storytelling to drive business results. Sam and her firm, ECHO, are Specialist Advisor members of FOX, and we are excited to have her expertise and thought leadership within our membership community. In the family wealth space, we are increasingly talking about the importance of telling the family story and passing the history down to future generations. Sam talks about the neuroscience behind sharing authentic stories – both stories of success and of adversity. Can you talk about this and connect it with how you see the significance of the family’s story throughout their journey. There’s a delicate balance between sharing enough and sharing too much – both among family members and with external constituents. Sam shares her views on how families should navigate this balance and determine how much to share internally and with the public and their employees. One practical tool Sam has developed and uses with her clients is a list of questions rising-gen members can ask of their elders. She tells us about this list and highlights the top questions to ask and the best settings in which to ask them. Sam also describes some of the modern technology-enabled tools and resources she recommends to families to help them with their effective communications and storytelling – or as she calls it “memory insurance.” Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the storytelling and legacy preservation space.

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Clubb, Founder and CEO of myFloc, an innovative fintech company addressing the unique financial needs of the aging population and their families. Prior to myFloc, Elizabeth was President and Chief Strategy Officer at an innovation and growth consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients across a broad range of industries. Elizabeth is on the Board of Directors of Lenbrook, a nationally renowned Continuing Care Retirement Community, where she serves on the Strategic Planning Committee and the Marketing Committee. She is an active member of the AARP Agetech Collaborative and The Business Collaborative for Brain Health and an Advisory Board member of The Famtech Collaborative. Across our society, there are lately more conversations about and recognition of the impact of age on financial decision-making and the associated risks. Elizabeth talks about how the topic is being broached and addressed in the wealth management space in general, and in the world of wealthy families and family offices in particular. A related, and unfortunately relevant and frequent, topic is financial fraud targeting older people. Elizabeth describes the latest trends and developments in the space and elaborates on how the threats and risks evolving are and how the risk-management, education and protection strategies and tactics are developing to respond to those threats. One practical tip Elizabeth offers is that, in addition to all the technical and quantitative solutions and strategies, families and their family offices should also focus on the human element of fraud prevention – specifically, talking to and educating family members about fraud sooner than later. She shares the best practices and approaches for families she has observed in that area. Finally, she provides her top list of useful fraud prevention tools for families and family offices that can help them protect family members from financial exploitation. Please enjoy this highly informative conversation with a leading expert and practitioner specializing in the unique financial needs and risks among the elderly and their families.

Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Roy Moëd, Co-Founder of LifeBook Memoirs, a company dedicated to helping parents and grandparents preserve their life stories in beautifully crafted, private autobiographies for their families. The inspiration for LifeBook Memoirs came from Roy’s own experience when he helped his ageing father rediscover a sense of purpose at a difficult time in his life. Since then, Roy and his company have created over 20,000 private memoirs for families in more than 40 countries. Prior to that, Roy co-founded Pourshins Limited in 1978, which grew into a global enterprise employing over 600 people in 4 countries around the world. Throughout his career, he has built businesses not just with commercial success in mind, but with a heartfelt desire to connect and impact people and families in ways that matter. Roy begins by explaining it is important for families to share their history with their children and future generations and for founders and family leaders to tell the story of their life and achievements in their own words. Nowadays, there are so many storytelling formats to choose from, yet in his business, Roy has adhered to a single traditional format – the autobiographical printed book. Roy talks about why the physical book is still the best medium for older generations to share their life story with their progeny. Many family leaders may feel overwhelmed by the notion of writing a book that captures the essence of their life’s journey and achievements. Roy offers his advice on how to get started on the journey of writing an autobiography that will speak to and be appreciated by future generations. Roy provides some practical resources that he recommends to families and family leaders who wish to consider embarking on a book-writing journey to memorialize the family’s origins, values, and stories. Enjoy this illuminating conversation with a veteran storyteller and publisher of limited-edition biographies exclusively serving enterprise family leaders and founders.

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Amy Castoro, President and CEO of The Williams Group, where she leads a team dedicated to ensuring the smooth transfer of wealth across generations. Amy is a recognized expert in preparing high-net-worth families to successfully transition wealth while maintaining family unity and control over assets. She is also an accomplished author, keynote speaker, and senior family coach known for her direct yet compassionate approach, which fosters long-term relationships and delivers measurable results. Amy is the author of Bridging Generations—Transitioning Family Wealth and Values for a Sustainable Legacy. She is a long-time friend of FOX and has been a speaker at FOX events and council meetings. Amy has helped many UHNW families navigate intergenerational transitions, and she shares her experience on what are the hallmarks of a successful wealth transition and what role trust and communication play in achieving such successful transitions. Throughout her career, Amy has created a framework for how to build, repair, and manage trust in a family. She tells us about this framework and highlights how families can successfully leverage it. One practical tip Amy offers to many families is how to have challenging conversations and how to structure this often-uncomfortable process. She provides her recipe for success with necessary but difficult discussions within the family. Another practical tool Amy has developed is her “10 Questions Quiz” that she uses to help families strengthen relationships with each other and prepare for a smooth and successful intergenerational wealth transition. She describes the 10 questions and how she applies the quiz to help families succeed. Enjoy this insightful conversation with a leading advisor of UHNW families and practitioner in the field of family transitions and wealth transfer.

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome back to FOXcast Jeff Strese, a valued member of the FOX team. Jeff is a human capital expert and executive coach focused on family-owned business leaders and senior wealth advisors. He works with FOX as consultant to develop transformational leadership programs and support our councils with thought leadership on human capital, generational transitions, and family dynamics. Jeff also teaches in the Executive Education program at SMU’s COX School of Business based in Dallas, TX. One constant in our space is the fact that families – and their enterprises and family offices – are often in a state of transition and change. And change is not easy for anyone. Jeff talks about the most common and challenging types of change that families and family offices undergo. There are many theoretical and practical models for helping people and organizations go through change smoothly. Jeff has found that Janssen’s “Four Room Model” is particularly effective with families undergoing change. He describes this model, how it is constructed, and how families can apply it to manage the process and risks of change. We delve into the practical tips Jeff has for family leaders on how they can apply the Four Room Model to champion and lead smooth and successful change within their family and the extended enterprise. We then also turn to those who are on the receiving end of change and transformation – both family members and others within the family enterprise or family office. Jeff offers his suggestions to them on how best to engage with the process to ensure the best outcomes and experience. Do not miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading human capital experts and practitioners in the family wealth and family office space.

Today, I’m excited to speak with Drew Mason and Christianna Mason. Drew is Managing Partner at St. Joseph Partners, a precious‑metals brokerage and wealth protection firm serving individuals, families, and family offices across the U.S. and internationally. He is a G2 principal of Andrew Mason Associates, a family business founded in 1979 as a strategic management consultancy and later pivoted to acquiring and building businesses, with three ultimately sold to private equity. Christianna is Drew’s daughter and a G3 member in their family office. She is a CPA who has advised Fortune 100 and private equity clients on global M&A from PwC’s New York office. Earlier in his career, Drew held positions at major Wall Street firms including Lehman Brothers, where he witnessed first-hand the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, an experience that triggered a personal and professional search for true financial safe havens in times of stress. This ultimately led to him founding St. Joseph Partners, and over the past fifteen years, the firm’s services have expanded to include: an online trading engine, secure domestic and international storage, private-label minting, audit and insurance facilitation and logistics. In this episode we focus our conversation on gold. Drew and Christianna share their views on what is so unique about gold as an alternative investment asset and why investors should be paying particular attention to gold right now. They also address the skeptics and risk managers out there, who may not be convinced, and explore what the worst-case scenario might look like for gold. Drew and Christianna delve into the options and intricacies associated with investing in physical gold vs. financial instruments that emulate the performance of gold. And for those who are worried they may have missed the gold rally and are wondering whether it’s too late to get in now, they provide a perspective on where their think gold is headed from here. Enjoy this instructive conversation with two of the leading experts on multigenerational families investing in gold and precious metals.

Today, it is my absolute pleasure to speak with Amy Hart Clyne, Chief Knowledge & Learning Officer at Pitcairn. Amy is responsible for Pitcairn’s Family Engagement Services function and leads the firm’s thought leadership and learning initiatives. Before joining Pitcairn, Amy served as Executive Director and Chief Knowledge Officer at FOX, and led our knowledge, learning, and education strategies serving our community of families and multi-disciplinary advisors. Amy is the co-author of the book Finding Her Voice & Creating a Legacy: Portraits of Pioneering Women Leading Wealthy Families – an exploration that draws from intimate, in-depth conversations with over 40 women of wealth about how they came to wealth, their role in the family, and the obstacles they overcame. Amy holds a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation and an Advanced Family Business certification (ACFBA) from the Family Firm Institute where she is also an FFI Fellow. She, and her firm Pitcairn, are valued wealth advisor members of FOX and we are thrilled to have their expertise as part of the FOX membership community. Finally, Amy is a former member of the FOX team, and I am thrilled to welcome such a distinguished FOX alumna to FOXCast. Amy’s book, Finding Her Voice is a groundbreaking book and, in my view, required reading in the family wealth space. Amy shares with our audience the story of the book, including what motivated her to write it and what methodology she used for gathering the insights and stories captured in the book. Having captured the fascinating and unique stories of these 40 women, Amy talks about the main revelations and learnings that she took away from her research and that she is passing on to the readers of the book. We then talk about the more practical outcomes of Amy’s research and the applied learnings for female wealth owners, starting with some practical tips and suggestions for the women who are founders or wealth-creators and built their wealth from scratch. Next, we discuss the advice and suggestions Amy would offer to female inheritors – those who are the recipients of generational wealth being passed on to them. This is a must-hear conversation with one of the pioneers of family wealth learning and education, and a groundbreaking researcher, writer, and thought leader in the field of women in wealth.

Today, I’m excited to speak with Amy Wirtz, Senior Consultant with The Family Business Consulting Group. Amy works closely with families to identify their goals around values, ownership, and financial wealth, and helps them establish family offices, councils, and enterprise governance systems to support these goals. She served as a lawyer for 27 years, with the last 10 years practicing collaborative law. In addition, Amy is a trained mediator and skilled facilitator in conflict resolution, communication, and listening skills. She serves on multiple family business advisory boards and frequently teaches and speaks at business forums, including YPO, YPO Family Office, Private Company Governance Conference, and The Exit Planning Institute. In today’s conversation, we’ll zoom into generation-skipping trusts, which are both powerful and popular estate planning vehicles deployed by UHNW families and their advisors. We start with the basics, and Amy providing a definition of what generation-skipping trusts are and why are they so commonly utilized by families of wealth. Like all estate planning, risk management, and tax optimization strategies, there are both pros and cons and complexities associated with generation-skipping trusts. Amy talks about the long-term implications for families who establish and subsequently must live within these legal structures. Amy offers some practical tips and suggestions for families who are just starting to consider generation-skipping trusts, helping outline what they should know and beware, and how they should prepare the family for these structures. Amy then offers some pointers and advice for families who already have established generation-skipping trusts, sharing her insights into how they can live their lives in accordance with their goals and preferences while still managing and complying with the complexities of these existing legal structures. Please enjoy this deeply insightful conversation with one of the leading practitioners and consultants in the area of trust and estate planning for UHNW families.

Today, I am pleased to welcome Bob Weinhold, Partner at Velocity Advisory Group, an advisory firm helping clients accelerate organizational success through leadership development, executive coaching, cultural alignment, and strategic execution. Bob oversees the firm’s Family Business Advisory and Executive Coaching practices. He began his career in healthcare working with executives in 1996 and later that year was fortunate to support the Atlanta Olympic Games with his individual and team performance enhancement experience. Bob supports the development of next generation leaders to prepare for succession and help senior family members transition responsibilities while mitigating risk. In his work with families, Bob talks about the concept of “mental scripts” that family members have in their heads that, while helpful in some cases, can also get in the way of successful transitions, communications, and relationships within family enterprises. He elaborates on this concept and gives some examples of how these mental scripts form and manifest themselves within families of wealth. One common challenge related to the “mental scripts” topic is the “fear of screwing up” mentality that so often guides and derails progress among enterprise families and their members. Bob explains why this “Don’t Mess It Up!” attitude is so pervasive both among older generations looking to transition control and their next-gen descendants who are looking to step into leadership. He also offers some insights into what families can do to avoid or navigate this common pitfall. One practical tip Bob offers is for family members to really mind their language – to study the phrases they use in their conversations. Bob delves into why language is so important and unpacks what family leaders and members can do to make sure how they speak to each other helps them grow and succeed rather than derail or hold them back. Another practical tool Bob uses and recommends is “the list”, which often older generations have in their mind before they can be comfortable transitioning power and control. He talks about this mental list – what’s often on it, how to deal with it, and how rising-gen members can manage toward and around this list. Enjoy this instructive conversation with a prominent and experienced thought leader and practitioner in the field of intergenerational transitions and succession within UHNW families.