FOXcast

Today, I'm excited to speak with Chris Volpe, Managing Director of Zephyr Financial Solutions, an award-winning asset and wealth management software platform. Zephyr is part of Informa, a leading global provider of digital-first and data-driven products and services. Chris and Zephyr Financial Solutions are FOX Technology Resource Partners, and we are happy to have the unique tools and expertise they bring to our membership community. Alternative investments are an increasingly meaningful component of family office investment portfolios, and this segment of the investment landscape is also rapidly evolving. Chris shares his views on what is happening in the world of alternatives and what trends are shaping this unique space. Separately managed accounts (SMAs) are becoming increasingly popular for a multitude of reasons, especially in the realm of private and alternative investments. Chris talks about the latest developments in the SMA space and highlights the challenges and opportunities investors face when comparing, selecting, and evaluating different SMA options. Chris offers his practical tips and suggestions for our listeners on how to gain access to and navigate data on private and alternative investments that is available out there in the marketplace. Chris and his firm developed and launched Zephyr, and its PSN Data tool, specifically for the purpose of allowing investors to compare SMAs and to make dynamic data-driven investment decisions. He describes how Zephir works, the benefits the PSN Data tool offers, and how family office investors can leverage this new technology platform. Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the leading players in the fast-evolving space of alternatives and SMAs.

David MacMahan, founder of FairSplit.com and an expert in estate division, shares his journey of helping families navigate the emotional and logistical challenges of dividing personal property. He discusses the innovative tools his company provides, emphasizing the importance of structured processes to maintain family unity. Learn about practical strategies to minimize conflict and the unique bidding system that simplifies asset allocation. David highlights the need for empathy and clear communication during these difficult times, ensuring families can ‘divide things, not families’.

Today, I am pleased to welcome Betsy Miller, Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Betsy teaches leadership development, change management and negotiation skills, and her research and writing focus on Polarities ("Both/And" thinking), which is the study of opposite forces that need each other to succeed. Betsy's 25-year career has spanned positions in federal and local government, defense and plaintiff law firms, and academia. Through 2023, she was Chair of Cohen Milstein's' Public Client practice, where she represented state Attorneys General as their lead outside counsel in investigations and litigation involving large-scale consumer fraud and privacy violations, including the national opioid litigation that delivered more $25 billion in relief, and the $2.2 billion resolution of federal and state litigation against the largest credit rating agencies for their misconduct in connection with mortgage-backed securities. Betsy was the 2021 recipient of the Givens Visionary Award from The National Law Journal, was awarded a Wasserstein Fellowship by Harvard Law School, and was named Special Advisor to the Commission on Women in the Profession by the President of the American Bar Association in 2023. Betsy offers an introduction to the idea of polarities and "Both/And Thinking" and a high-level overview of these concepts and the science behind them. There are numerous such baffling polarities in the family enterprise and family office world. Even the name "family office" is a bit of an oxymoron encapsulating the polarities it contends with. One common polarity of diametrically opposed forces enterprise families experience is the importance of preserving and growing the family capital vs. putting it to work to make a positive impact. Another one is the tension between the desire to learn from and build on the wisdom and success of the older generation vs. the need to empower the rising generation to chart their own course. Yet another is the tug of war between the mission of the family office to steward and invest the family's financial capital vs. its role to educate and educate the human capital and ensure family members are happy and fulfilled. Besty shares her thoughts about these and similar polarities that affect enterprise families and provides some insight into how to best think about and deal with them. A great practical tool Betsy offers is the 2-dimensional chart that helps people visualize the polarities they are facing and understand and manage both the benefits and the overuses of each extreme end of the polarity continuum. She talks about this tool, how it can be used to not only understand the opposing forces and tendencies, but also to harness the benefits of each extreme while minimizing the counterproductive overuses. Betsy also describes some of the other practical and educational resources she recommends to those who wish to learn more about polarities, become better equipped to spot them, and develop their skills at applying a Both/And Thinking approach in their interactions with their fellow family members or with their family clients. Do not miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading researchers and educators in the field of polarities and Both/And thinking.

Join John Castrucci, National Director of Family Office Advisory Services at RSM, and Ben Berger, Partner and Family Office Enterprise Markets Leader at RSM, as they dive into the evolving landscape of family offices. They discuss the rise of operational lift-outs, analyzing when they are beneficial. The duo explores the complexities of family office structures, innovative models such as the catamaran approach, and the balance of insourcing versus outsourcing. Their insights also touch on the growing impact of next-gen leadership and the societal role of family capital.

Today, I am pleased to welcome back to FOXCast Cassindy Chao and Shannon Lundgren, co-founders of Boutique Matchmaking, a high-end personal advisory practice that provides curated matchmaking, date coaching, and strategic consulting for multigenerational families of wealth. Cassindy and Shannon, and their firm Boutique Matchmaking, have been part of the FOX community as official marketing partners for the past year, and we are thrilled to have their expertise available to our FOX members. In this episode, we tackle the topic of marriage and how it is handled among multigenerational enterprise families today. The commanding majority of never-been-married adults say they would like to get married someday, and probably all single people are hoping to at least find their soulmate. Parents often care about this topic at least as much as their single children do, and both generations want to see the other find happiness. Cassindy and Shannon share their experience on how families approach this important subject and describe the major shifts in norms, beliefs, and attitudes towards marriage among families of wealth. Last time we spoke, we talked about the cloud that often hangs over the topic of romantic relationships and nuptial happiness, but this seems to be changing – people are increasingly open about acknowledging the importance of romantic relationships and nuptial happiness and are willing to utilize all the tools at their disposal to find the right person. Cassindy and Shannon talk about how family members – both young and older ones – can get the sophisticated help and best resources available to them in their quest for romantic happiness and a lifetime partner. One practical consideration for multigenerational families is how the family's values can or should play a role in the process of educating and helping younger rising-gen members find their romantic partners? And conversely, there is the reality of different perspectives that exist among generations, and the likelihood that the younger generation might have different worldviews or even values. Cassindy and Shannon offer some tips on how to manage this reality and rising complexity. Finally, Cassindy and Shannon provide their advice and suggestions for parents who want to give their input on their children's choice of a romantic partner, while at the same time, ensuring that both parents and adult children can set healthy boundaries regarding dating advice and involvement. Enjoy this insightful conversation with two of the most experienced professionals on a topic of high importance for all members of multigenerational families.

Today, I am pleased to welcome Kristen Oliveri, editor of Crain Currency, a family office publication for families managing wealth and legacies. Kristen has built a successful journalistic career in the wealth-management and family-office space by creating exciting content, establishing business connections, and curating high-touch, content-driven events. Prior to Crain Currency, she held a number of content and editorial roles, including Director of the Family Office Institute and Content Director of the Family Office Network at Institutional Investor. Family offices and the media are not exactly a match made in heaven. Kristen leans on her ample experience over the past couple of decades, to describe how enterprise families and family offices have managed public relations and their interactions with the media, especially given the natural tension between their significant presence in and impact on their communities and their desire for privacy and discretion. With younger family members starting to play a role in multigenerational family enterprises, attitudes to the media are changing and so is the family's tolerance for their presence in the public eye. Kristen shares her views on how families' preferences and interactions with the public have evolved in recent years. Kristen has had great success working with families and helping them share their stories in a fair, nuanced, and complete way, without betraying the privacy and safety of their individual family members. She offers her advice and suggestions for enterprise families who are either being thrust into the public discourse by exogenous factors or are considering a more proactive stance toward their public image – or even intentionally developing a family brand. Kristen also has some tips and suggestions for the reporters and media outlets who are increasingly focusing their attention on multigenerational families and their enterprises, philanthropies, and family offices. She provides practical advice to journalists looking to cover enterprise families and their impact on society, the economy, and the world. Enjoy this informative conversation with one of the best recognized and prolific journalists in the family office and family wealth space.

Today, I am excited to speak with René Sonneveld, a Leadership and Family Business Coach and Honorary Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uruguay. René a has rich history as Managing Director, CEO, and Chairman at Fortune 500 companies and family-run businesses across four continents, and he now leverages this vast experience to coach leaders and corporate teams. Besides leadership and family enterprise coaching, René is deeply committed to sustainability. He aims to create a green hydrogen supply chain from South America to Europe. Throughout his career, René has served many multigenerational families and has found that often, as he puts it, there's "an elephant in the room" that gets in the way of families collaborating effectively and achieving their goals. He talks about what "the elephant in the room" is and how to best approach it and, eventually, dispense with it. René eventually discovered coaching and dedicated his life to this noble calling. He shares his beliefs on why coaching is the best tool to empower families to succeed and how it helps eliminate "the elephant in the room" that holds them back. One technique René deploys in his coaching work is what he calls "the icebreaker". He describes how it works and what the benefits families and family enterprises can reap from this practical tool. Families and family enterprises are complex organisms, commonly involving a great number of players who are entangled in complicated and often emotionally charged relationships. These can include family leaders, blood family, children, in-laws, advisors, to mention just a few key constituents. René offers his advice on when to bring in whom in the coaching process with the family in order to achieve the best results. Enjoy this insightful conversation with a world-renowned leadership coach and family advisor.

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Özge Doğan, Founder of Karman Beyond, Türkiye's first independent multi-family office. Karman Beyond is a boutique advisory service for leading families in Turkey (and beyond) and Özge manages all the relationships with the firm's client families. Özge is a next-gen member of a prominent Turkish family enterprise, and she founded her multi-family office firm in response to her own family's wealth management needs – and the lack of an available solutions in Türkiye. We start with a quick overview of family enterprises and family wealth in Türkiye and Özge describes the most common profiles of enterprise families in the country, as well as the most pressing needs and challenges faced by enterprising families, and how are they dealing with these challenges. Özge outlines the current context of the family wealth and wealth management industry in Türkiye, and she talks about the ecosystem of family wealth advisory firms, service providers, and peer communities that serve multigenerational Turkish families. One practical advice Özge offers to Turkish families – which is probably relevant across other cultures as well – is to understand and embrace the next-generation mindset, including the generational differences in values, preference, investing styles, etc. Can you talk about that and how families can successfully apply this mindset. Another practical reality for families in Türkiye, and all over the world, is their increasing interest and exposure to global assets and jurisdictions, including investing, operating, and relocating across multiple geographies globally. Özge shares her views on the client needs and behaviors she is observing, and offers her recommendations for the knowledge, services, and resources families should seek to be successful in their global strategies. Please enjoy this enlightening conversation with a young rising-gen owner and founder of the first multi-family office in Türkiye.

Today, I am delighted to welcome Scott Peppet, President of Chai Trust Company, the private company that administers trusts established for the benefit of members of Sam Zell's family and that serves as the Zell family office. Scott was a Professor of Law at the University of Colorado from 2000-2018, where he focused on bargaining and dispute resolution, transactional law, and the complexities of multigenerational family enterprises. He is also an ordained priest and transmitted Soto Zen teacher in the related lineages of Kobun Chino Otakawa and Keibun Otakawa. He practices at the Hakubai Zen Center in Boulder, CO. Scott is a good friend of FOX, and he and the Chai Trust Company are long-time valued members of FOX and are very generous and insightful contributors to the FOX community. Throughout his career, Scott has seen and participated in his fair share of enterprise family journeys and has had the opportunity to observe and synthesize what it takes for families and their family offices to be successful. He shares his views and accumulated wisdom on the subject of what it takes for a family to be successful in the long run. We at FOX think and talk a lot about the concept of time capital – how we all deploy our most precious and finite asset. Scott points out that a simple yet powerful way to assess and guide the strategic role and effectiveness of a family office is to look at how it allocates and spends its resources – especially, how the family office leaders and employees spend their time. He describes the importance of – and potential cognitive dissonance associated with – how family office time capital is managed and expended. One practical suggestion Scott offers to families and their family offices is to invest in cultivating, educating, and engaging the whole ecosystem of human and intellectual capital that serves the family – not just the family members, but also the family office employees, and even all the external advisors who are integral to the family enterprise. To up-level and educate an entire system is such a tremendous undertaking and families are not the only ones who can and should lead and invest in it. All the other participants in the ecosystem also have a part to play. Scott provides his views on what family office executives and employees, as well as external advisors, should do to ensure the entire enterprise family ecosystem is flourishing. This is a must-hear conversation with one of the most prominent and celebrated thought leaders, practitioners, and enterprise family leaders in the family wealth and family office field.

Today, I'm excited to speak with Brian Argrett, Chair of the Board Directors and President and CEO of Broadway Financial Corporation and its banking subsidiary City First Bank, the largest Black-led minority depository institution (MDI) in the nation. Impact investing is an increasingly important topic for enterprise families and family offices. Our conversation today focuses on a truly unique and attractive avenue for positive impact available to enterprise families and family offices, which is made possible thanks to the Advancing Communities Together Deposit Program, or ACT – an innovative program that provides an easy and fully insured way for family offices to invest their excess cash directly in the financial institutions dedicated to lifting up communities in need. Brian describes the greater goals of the ACT program, why it is needed, what the issues or challenges it is meant to address, and what opportunities it is designed to unlock. The ACT Deposit Program was launched in the summer of 2024 by the national trade associations representing Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs). Brian explains how the ACT program works and defines the role of CDFIs and MDIs in delivering the intended impact and benefits of the program. He shares his views on why this program has strong appeal to family offices and enterprise families. Delving into the practical details of how the ACT program functions, Brian details the mechanics of the program, including some of the key elements family members and family office executives should be aware of, such as minimum deposits, interest rates earned, minimum maturity, etc. Brian also talks about what families and family office leaders can do to get involved with and take advantage of the ACT program. He offers an overview of existing resources and tools for them to get educated and ready to participate and contribute to the positive impact of this program. Enjoy this timely and informative conversation with a leading champion of the ACT program and long-time thought leader and practitioner in the impact banking space.