FOXcast

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Pat Soldano, President of Family Enterprise USA, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, whose mission is to promote the growth of generational-owned family businesses in the US. Pat is also President of Policy and Taxation Group, a non-profit she formed in 1995 that works to reduce onerous tax and economic policies for successful families, family offices, and family businesses. Before that, she spent over 30 years providing family office services as owner of Cymric Family Office Services and then as Managing Director of the Western Region for GenSpring for 5 years. Pat and Family Enterprise USA have been doing great work representing the interests of family enterprises. She talks about legislation that is either being considered or has recently been passed in Washington, DC that can potentially affect enterprising families and their businesses. Pat also shares some highlights of the results and findings from the annual Family Enterprise USA survey of family businesses, which was just recently completed and received over 700 responses from family businesses across the US. Pat offers some practical tips for family businesses and families of wealth on how they can stay abreast of legislative and political developments in Washington, DC that might affect them. She also makes valuable and actionable suggestions for family business owners who not only want to stay informed but also have an impact on legislation or other government actions that impact their enterprises and their families’ wealth and well-being. Do not miss this important conversation with an industry doyenne and the most prominent advocate for family businesses and enterprising families in the US.

Today, I am delighted to welcome Danielle Oristian York, Executive Director and President of 21/64, a nonprofit practice serving next-gen and multigenerational families. She is an expert facilitator, trainer, and keynote speaker, and has been a consistent leader in the field, spending 18 years helping families, leaders, and communities have complicated conversations about change, identity, and the future. Danielle is a member of the Collaboration for Flourishing Families and the Professional Advisors Committee at The Boston Foundation. In her 20-year career of working with enterprising families, one of the critical challenges Danielle has seen them struggle with is making decisions together effectively, especially as the number of family members grows. She discusses this challenge and how she sees it manifested among the families she advises and trains. She also talks about her non-profit organization, 21/64, its origins, and the meaning and purpose embedded in its name – a reference to the two most important milestones in the lives of most people. She describes the bridge, or the “third space”, that she and her colleagues pride themselves for being able to build between generations who often are very far apart. She elaborates on this concept, defines what “third space” means, and describes how it works to connect and unify the generations within a family. Danielle then delves into many of the practical tools and approaches she teaches and applies with families who are on their multigenerational journey and looking to become more cohesive, more united, and more effective. She also shares her insights into the applied skills, frameworks, and tools she teaches or recommends to family advisors and other professionals serving the family who attend the various 21/64 training and educational programs. Please enjoy this instructive conversation with one of the most skilled and recognized family engagement and education professionals in our space.

This week, I’m especially honored to welcome Dimitar Tsotsorkov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Asarel-Medet, the largest and most advanced copper mining and processing company in Bulgaria. Dimitar is the G2 family leader of the Tsotsorkov family, former Chairman of the Management Board of the family’s operating business, and active philanthropist through the “Lachezar Tsotsorkov” Foundation, which he established in honor of his father, who was the G1 wealth creator of the family. Dimitar was recognized as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Pioneer for Digital Transformation of the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable (UNGC) development initiative and became the first manager of a mining company to win the prestigious award in 2022. As a G2 family leader of a highly enterprising family, Dimitar is carrying forward his father’s great legacy and laying the foundations on which his family can continue to flourish in the future. He recounts the rich history of his family and shares his personal journey as a business owner and family leader, tapping into the captivating stories of his family’s entrepreneurial achievements over the past 100+ years. Dimitar and his family are firm believers in the importance of a strong culture, and they even undertook a thoughtful and systematic process to craft and formalize their “family brand”. Dimitar talks about this exercise and sheds light on the reasons why a family brand is important in his view and how he and his fellow family members arrived at their family brand. The Tsotsorkov family also made a concerted effort to distill and formulate the shared values of their family – or as they call them, their “values in action”. Dimitar reflects on the importance of values and describes how they went about defining theirs, and what they mean to everyone in his family. Throughout these important and systematic undertakings, Dimitar and his family identified a number of helpful practical tools, such as rituals and life milestones, which they deployed with the entire family to build their brand and establish the family culture. Dimitar describes the importance of these tools and how he uses them with his family members. Another pillar of his family culture is continuous learning and development, and to achieve that goal, Dimitar has instituted individual development plans (IDPs) for all family members. He describes this practice and how it is working for his family, not only with the younger G3 rising-gen members but also with the older “now” generations. Don’t miss this exceptional conversation with one of the most enterprising, forward-thinking, and generous multigenerational enterprise families within the FOX community.

This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with Maryann Fernandez and Paul McKibbin, co-founders of Shaking the Tree Interactive Productions, an independent educational nonprofit that uses theater and interactive audience forums to teach family dynamics and to promote philanthropy. Maryann is currently Managing Director at Strategic Philanthropy Ltd. and has worked in wealth management and philanthropy for over 25 years, including at the UN World Food Program’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and Harris Private Bank. Paul is a Managing Director in Ernst & Young’s Americas Family Office Advisory practice, and prior to that was a Managing Partner at Family Office Metrics and the Founder and President of Private Family Networks. Maryann and Paul reflect on the challenge they perceived back in 2000, when they founded Shaking the Tree, with how families and their advisors were approaching and addressing family dynamics issues. They describe how and why they reached the conclusion to apply theater and dramatized productions to family dynamics and share the reasons why this creative approach is often more effective than more traditional ways of engaging family members during difficult or transitional times. Over the years, Shaking the Tree has amassed an impressive online library of videos illustrating different situations and case studies. Maryann and Paul talk about how families and advisors can make use of this resource and apply these case studies in the work they do with their family members. Beyond simply using the existing inventory of online videos, Maryann and Paul also shed light on the other theatrical and creative tools and methods that families and their advisors can deploy to engage and educate family members more effectively, including creating their own original video content to utilize within their family structure and broader family enterprise. Please enjoy this illuminating conversation with two of the most experienced and creative veterans in the space of engaging and educating multigenerational family members.

Ned Rollhaus and Luke Jernagan from Matter Family Office discuss the emerging trend of hybrid family offices, combining single and multi-family office models. They highlight the benefits, risks, and practical tips for families considering this structure, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, managing family dynamics, and long-term planning. The podcast also touches on transitioning single family offices, building family unity, and legacy creation.

Today, I am delighted to welcome Coventry Edwards-Pitt, CFA, CFP®, Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Ballentine Partners, an independent multi-family-office firm. Covie is the author of three popular books: Raised Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, Aged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, and Engaged Healthy, Wealthy & Wise. She has been quoted widely, including in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Investment News. Covie is a trained opera singer and pianist, and a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization and the Collaboration for Family Flourishing. Covie works with many families of wealth looking to “prepare their next gen to be good stewards of wealth” and often she finds there is a rift between what the parents want and what their children actually need when they embark on this journey. She shares the insights she has uncovered over the course of her career about this tension. She also highlights another problematic aspect she has experienced – this one has to do with the solutions the family wealth industry offers. These solutions are intended to do good, but often create many unintended, damaging side effects. To remedy that, Covie advises her clients to “take 10 steps back,” and deploys with them such practical tools as a “facilitated reading journey” utilizing her Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise books. She describes how that approach works and the benefits it creates. An area where rising gens often first get involved in the family enterprise is the philanthropic strategy and giving activities of the family. Covie shares her ideas of another practical tool, which actually doesn’t exist yet, but in her view, should and would be of great value to philanthropic families and their younger generations. She outlines her vision of a vehicle that would act as a “national CLAT” (charitable lead annuity trust) and delves into how this idea would create value to families and their communities. Please enjoy this informative conversation with a celebrated practitioner and recognized author in the domain of rising gen engagement and development.

George Kinder, founder of The Kinder Institute of Life Planning, discusses the concept of 'Fiduciary in All Things' (FIAT) and its benefits for society. He elaborates on the 'Three Domains of Freedom' in financial life planning and offers practical tips for family leaders. Kinder also explores mindfulness in financial planning, emphasizing its transformative power in personal and professional life.

Today, I am pleased to welcome Wesly Pate, Senior Portfolio Manager at Income Research + Management (IR+M), a bond management firm specializing in US fixed income for both institutional and private wealth clients. In his role, Wesly is focused on portfolio construction, sector analysis, and contributing to the investment decision-making process, and works closely with IR+M’s wealth management team and family office clients. Wesly starts by sharing his views on the macroeconomic context in which we find ourselves today. IR+M specializes in fixed-income instruments (bonds in particular), and we find ourselves in a relatively high-interest environment for the first time in decades. Wesly talks about how and why bonds are performing strongly or positioned to add value to investors’ portfolios right now. He then looks at the current macro environment from the perspective of family enterprises and family offices. IR+M is itself a family-owned, multigenerational business, so Wesly and the firm leadership are no strangers to the needs, priorities, and investment mindset of family enterprises. Wesly shares hid views on the opportunities, ideas, and actions family offices and family enterprise CIOs should be considering in today’s environment. Wesly then offers some practical tools and tips for family offices, active investors, and family enterprise CIOs, highlighting some great analytical tools and methods, such as breakeven analyses and studying changes in relevant value and suggesting how family offices should be thinking about them and utilizing them. Finally, Wesly provides his insights into what he sees families and family offices are currently doing with fixed income and bonds in their portfolios and offers some suggestions on the investment strategies they should be considering or activating in the current context. Please enjoy this timely and instructive conversation with a deep expert in an asset class that has renewed relevance and potential impact on family investment portfolios today.

This week, I’m speaking with Leslie Michelson, Chairman and Co-Founder of Private Health Management (PHM). PHM is a clinically sophisticated complex care management company, specializing in assisting clients to obtain the best care and outcomes when facing serious and complex medical conditions. Before founding PHM, Leslie was the CEO and Vice Chairman of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and he’s the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Patient’s Playbook. Leslie, and his firm PHM, are marketing partners of FOX and valuable contributors of unique, expertise to our member community, and we are thrilled to offer their specialized knowledge and thought leadership to our members. Leslie shares his reflections, based on his decades of experience, on how UHNW clients, who ostensibly have the resources to afford any level of service and care, still find it a challenge to gain access to and receive good medical care. He also points to a unique and intriguing aspect of being a client or advisor in the family wealth space – which is that clients in this niche corner of the wealth management industry are families, and as such, they share common heritage and genetics. And that is important for families and family leaders to know as they seek to improve the collective health and well-being of their family members. Leslie offers some practical tips and suggestions for UHNW clients who are facing or dealing with a serious diagnosis, condition, or illness in the family, and provides a simple and time-tested recipe for the steps should they take and the resources they should seek out. He also has some sound advice and useful resources for families whose members are blessed with good health at present, but the family and the family leaders wish to be proactive and better prepared for all eventualities and for any medical situations or emergencies family members may face. Don’t miss this highly practical conversation with one of the long-time thought leaders and practitioners in the health and wellness profession focused on serving UHNW families and all their members.

Today, I am delighted to speak with Dr. Richard Orlando, Founder of Legacy Capitals, a leading provider of training, coaching, and consulting services on topics such as wealth and values transfer, preparing the rising generation, family governance, legacy planning, and family philanthropy to financially successful families & family businesses, wealth advisors, family offices, and financial institutions. Richard is an approved instructor for the Investments & Wealth Institute’s Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) Certification Program, a faculty member of the UHNW Institute, holds a certificate in family wealth advising from the Family Firm Institute, and is certified as a professional coach by the International Coach Federation’s accredited program. In his practice serving UHNW clients, Richard uses the terms “love your client” and “whole family advisory” to describe his approach and philosophy of working with families of wealth. He explains what he means by these terms and shares his definition of a whole family advisor. Richard and his firm work with both family clients and their trusted advisors, and he talks about how this “whole family advisor” mindset impacts both sides of this professional relationship. He unpacks what families need to know about finding and working with a whole family advisor and what advisors need to know and do to become one. In his book, Legacy: The Hidden Keys to Optimizing Your Family Wealth Decisions, Richard outlines and explores the five most important family wealth questions, or decisions, that directly impact families and their legacies. He delves into these five questions and explains how families and advisors should make practical use of them. Richard also shares several legacy tools – for facilitating meetings, communicating effectively, planning, etc. – that he utilizes in his work with clients and offers some tips on how family principals and family advisors can best make use of them. Please enjoy this highly instructive conversation with a longtime practitioner and leading coach and educator in the family wealth and well-being space.