Wealth Actually

This podcast is off the beaten path from the usual wealth topics, but it's no less a story of perseverance and vision. It's a thrill to talk to my friends about their successes. In this case, it has been a long time and a lot of hard work in the making. Born and raised in Watertown, NY, JIM HARBERSON (TWITTER, INSTAGRAM) has a Masters in Religion and was a lawyer before embarking on his writing career. He has published many horror and sci-fi stories including podcast projects for "Chilling Tales for Dark Nights" and the co-writer of the graphic novel, Stay Alive. Against that backdrop, his new horror compendium is out now via MARKOSIA and can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. https://www.amazon.com/Disgusting-Supermarket-Death-James-Harberson/dp/1913802248/ (Cover by STEPHEN BASKERVILLE- his work is here: https://baskervillecomics.carbonmade.com/) We catch up on a variety of topics surrounding the book, his writing and growing up in the Horror/Sci Fi genre. We also talk about his foray into graphic novels. His co-authored (with me!) "Stay Alive" was nominated for the prestigious Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards (Category 22:  Best Graphic Novels or Collections)   You can vote for it here: https://rondoaward.com/rondoaward.com/blog/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082H3S64D Art by STEPHEN BASKERVILLE Jim was also nice enough to furnish a list of his favorites in the HORROR MOVIE/BOOK space. Here they are: Horror Movies Freaks (1932) The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Vertigo (1958) Psycho (1960) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Salem’s Lot (1979) An American Werewolf in London (1981) Creepshow (1981) Halloween II (1981) The Thing (1981) Basket Case (1982) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Fright Night (1985) Lifeforce (1985) Night of the Creeps (1985) Re-Animator (1985) Return of the Living Dead (1985) Aliens (1986) Manhunter (1986) Evil Dead II (1987) The Lair of the White Worm (1987) The Hidden (1987) Robocop (1987) Beetlejuice (1988) Dead Heat (1988) Hellraiser II (1988) Phantasm II (1988) Bride of Re-Animator (1990) Robocop II (1990) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Army of Darkness (1992) Basic Instinct (1992) Dead Alive (1992) Natural Born Killers (1994) From Dusk Till Dawn (1995) Lord of Illusions (1995) John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998) Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) From Dusk Till Dawn II:  Texas Blood Money (1999) Hannibal (2001) Resident Evil (2002) Darkness Falls (2003) House of 1000 Corpses (2003) Fido (2006) Halloween (2007) Planet Terror (2007) Nurse 3D (2013) Halloween (2018) Horror Books Fiction (H.P. Lovecraft, 1908-1935) Cartoons (Charles Addams 1942-1988) Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945) 1984 (George Orwell, 1948) The Haunt of Fear (EC Comics, 1950-1955) Shock Suspenstories (EC Comics, 1952-1955) Tales from the Crypt (EC Comics, 1950-1955) The Vault of Horror (EC Comics, 1950-1955) Amphigorey, Amphigorey Too, Amphigorey Also, Amphigorey Again (Edward Gorey, 1972-2006) Creepshow (Stephen King, Bernie Wrightson, 1981) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, 1986) Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (Grant Morrison, Dave McKean, 1988) Batman: The Cult (Jim Starlin, Bernie Wrightson, 1988) Batman: The Killing Joke (Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, 1988) Judge Dredd: Necropolis (John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, 2000 AD, 1990) Contact Information You can find Jim on Twitter: @NovelStay and IG: @stayalivegn Markosia pages: A Disgusting Supermarket of Death:  https://markosia.com/a-disgusting-supermarket-of-death-2/ Stay Alive: https://markosia.com/books/worlds-of-horror/stay-alive/ B&N:  https://bit.ly/ADSODBN Chilling Tales Podcasts: https://www.simplyscarypodcast.

On the referral of a colleague, I interviewed the Nashville-based, LEONORA WILLIAMSON. She is an expert in family business dynamics, corporate citizenship and executive coaching and she has unique insights into the world of family business succession. Aside from advising families on the myriad issues, she has lived them herself with her family's own business. She is the founder of PLATINUM RULE ADVISORS and a Lecturer at Vanderbilt University on the topics of Negotiation and Corporate Social Responsibility for their undergraduate business program. She is also a board member of Sabre Yachts and has uniques insights into the running and transition of this family business. This was another episode where we scratched the surface of the issues we have seen and the lessons to be learned. I'll have to have her on again! Introduction What were some of the lessons you took from this when forming Platinum Rule? Getting the "Human" part of Human Resources right Using assessments and analytics to get a hold of the full family picture The Three Big Parts of the Venn Diagram Frameworks for getting one's arms around a big and complicated situation The Business - Is it healthy? Where is it Going? The Governance - How are decisions made in terms of ownership and operation? Who is in charge of strategy and who implements that strategy? The Family - How are decisions made at the family level? How does this intersect with the business? Intersection of "Family Wealth" and "Executive Coaching" In family enterprises, the "Human" component can be complicated by family dynamics. What issues do families need to be aware of ? Are there warning signs? How do you counsel families and businesses on information asymmetry (need to know vs want to know) when transparency is a goal, but some won't have the tools/discretion to deal with the important information? What happens when wealth and ownership structure doesn't interact well with operational structure?  Developing Human Capital How do you help executives that work in family organizations deal with change when it's clear that there is a personality clash or obvious performance problem? What happens if geography limits the talent pool? What if you have a leader that has the "raw material", but is new to being an executive or comes with a different leadership style?  Human Capital Trends? How do family businesses think about the important benefits of diversity and inclusion? Where do you think "Work From Home" fits in? Are relationships even more important in this landscape- how do you foster them in this new world?  How do you identify / develop talent via zoom? Contact Information www.platinumruleadvisors.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/platinum-rule-advisors/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonora-zilkha-williamson/ https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I'm thrilled to have Ted Seides on the show to discuss his new BOOK, his wildly successful PODCAST, his FIRM'S media and coaching focus and the world of capital allocation. Ted has a unique perspective in the asset management world, having worked for the legendary David Swensen at the Yale Endowment, having conducted thousands of interviews with portfolio and investment managers and having capital allocation responsibility both for others (at Protege Partners) as well as himself. He takes a look back at what he learned and peers into the future of a space that has many challenges. https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Allocators-worlds-managers-invest-ebook/dp/B08N56SPN6/ Introduction Ted's Background- His experience at the Yale Endowment with David Swensen and lessons learned. What does your BUSINESS do today?  Any particular lessons going strictly from the allocation industry into more of a media focus? How have you taken the amazing access you have to the capital allocation system and used it to build your media focus? With this being your second book (the first is "So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund"), take us through the book writing process- how did you use the podcast to source material and whom were you writing the book for? (As an aside, David is famous for having a [losing] bet with Warren Buffett that his allocation to hedge funds would beat an S&P 500 Index- he has talked about that frequently in other venues and WROTE ABOUT IT HERE.) More specific questions on the Asset Allocation Space- In synthesizing lessons from your interviews and balancing against your own experience, what was the most surprising common theme that resonated through them?  Overcoming adversity (Pulling the plane out of the death spiral) . . . in the interviews and your experiences, how do allocators stop negative momentum?  Does career risk act as a natural stabilizer?  How big a threat is career risk for the asset manager and the allocator and how do you minimize that in the decision-making? Manager selection as "predicting evolution" . . . how do you diagnose skill in a snapshot of time vs a culture of process evolution that will continue to persist? The job description of CIO . . . (A question I didn't ask, but should have was "Have you ever had anyone from the search industry on?" . . . how do they navigate this insular world where neutrality and discretion is often pried?) The Impact of ESG, not on investments necessarily, but the managers themselves?  What percentage of asset managers are people of color?  Women?   It is six times more difficult for a manager to get a face-to-face meeting with an institutional allocator than a high school senior to gain acceptance at Yale or Harvard.  What is the future for new and emerging managers in this environment?  Who is doing good work on manager inclusiveness? How does politics impact decision-making at the Board Level, Allocator Level, Portfolio Manager level? Is there a study on the impact of life events on investment performance / process?  Is there a correlation?  Character- What percentage of CIO’s / managers are divorced/getting divorced?  Death in the family?  Have you hired private investigators to “peer under the hood”?  How prevalent are questionable practices / fraud?  How does that information get whispered? Do you have a couple of trends in the allocator/asset management space that we should watch out for? I thought your end section compared well with Jon Winokur’s book "The Portable Curmudgeon" on famous quotes (I loved it- particularly Greg Fleming's "Optimism is Moral Courage") . . . What were your favorite quotes from experts on various topics? How to find Ted: www.capitalallocators.com TWITTER: @tseides https://capitalallocatorspodcast.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I see the concept of locating wealth and assets at the state level all the time for a variety of reasons . . . There has been only occasional talk of U.S. citizens exploring other citizenships. At the federal level, US citizens are taxed on worldwide income no matter where they live. However, with a new regime in Washington (and wealth tax initiatives) , there seems to be more interest in foreign citizenship options. To help make sense of the myths and the current climate, I spoke with David Lesperance. He is a top International Tax and Immigration Advisor with his Gadanz, Poland based firm, LESPERANCE AND ASSOCIATES. Citizenship Diversification -Who should be interested in this and why? -How prevalent is it?  6045 in 2020 (How many estate tax returns were there?) Jurisdictional Arbitrage -Why would you do it?  Taxes, ideology, other reasons? -If you are a US citizen, what's the process?  -How much does it cost? (Including the calculation of exit tax of 40 pc of net worth) -What are the usual places to "go"? -What are the rules of engagement once you're "out"? -What is the concept of "back-up citizenship?" Future legislation- -Are you putting yourself on "Bad Lists"? -The Dangers of a Wealth Tax for wealthy people . . . -Step Up in basis removal? -The increasing cost of "Citizenship Insurance" https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

The 75th "Wealth Actually" Podcast . . . Wow . . . it seems like I just started this project a few months ago. It has been 4 and a half years since the first one . . . it's alarming how fast time flies. Hopefully, I have improved over time! This 75th recording is an industry specific interview, but it has wide ramifications. In getting up to speed on a different project, I stumbled across the book "Ethics for Trustees 2.0" by MARGUERITE LORENZ. Based in California, Marguerite is a Master Trustee and the Managing Partner of LORENZ PRIVATE TRUSTEES. https://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Trustees-2-0-Guide-Trustee/dp/172837278X/ Ethic for Trustees 2.0 is a quick and extremely informative read on the roles and responsibilities of a trustee and the establishment of good practices around decision-making that involves judgment and discretion. It also went into some detail about the California licensing component of individual trustees- something I knew little about. So in typical "me" fashion, I called up Marguerite to find out more about the book and her firm's unique practice. That led to her gracious appearance on the latest "Wealth, Actually" podcast. We covered: -Her unique background and the formation of her private trustee business. (It has its own unique succession story too!) -Marguerite's rationale and experience in writing the book -The Definitions of a Trust, their uses and some of the nomenclature -The Duties of a Trustee/Fiduciary- (many of which trustees aren't aware of)! -What makes a good trustee?  How does one deal with arguing beneficiaries? Tricky assets? -The Origin of CALIFORNIA LICENSING FOR PROFESSIONAL TRUSTEES (and why it may be important for normally exempted attorneys and CPAs to get licensed. -When does advice graduate from being to transactional to ongoing and how does it relate to administration of structures and discretionary decision-making? -Traps for the unwary trustee  -What functions or areas of trustee responsibility are good to ask for help? When do you bring in outside experts? -Useful Resources and Groups: INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE ALLIANCE ESTATE PLANNING GROUP NETWORK -How do we stay in touch? MARGUERITE LORENZ LINKEDIN LORENZ PRIVATE TRUSTEES (WEBSITE) MARGUERITE LORENZ TWITTER https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

EUAN RELLIE is on the podcast today. We went around the world in half an hour and probably could have solved the worlds problems over drinks if we had the time. Alas, we only get a taste of Euan's informed worldview and his story of building a business and advising clients as they solve the puzzle of doing business in Asia and around the world successfully. We do get a hear a bit about of his love for Arsenal Football at the end. For those who want to hear more from Euan, he is an excellent twitter follow . . . @EUANRELLIE. He is quoted often on matters of finance, fashion and culture- recently in the New York Times and the South China Morning Post. In his day job, Euan is an investment banker with the firm he founded, BDA Partners. Since founding BDA in 1996, he has lived in New York and London, and Singapore, and has worked in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India and across the Middle East. 1990-1996, he worked for Schroders, the UK investment bank now part of Citigroup, in New York, London and Singapore. He was Head of SE Asia Execution for Schroders Asia-Pacific Regional Advisory Group. Our discussion covered a wide range of topics- I wish we had longer! Economic Outlook What are some of the good and difficult data points that you are focussing on? Background- How did you get into the world? How did your London background prepare you for New York? BDA's Function Focus on Asia and helping firms on the sell side. Helping firms access the capital and expertise in Asia and around the world Prospects for Asia- What does the U.S./China dynamic look like long term? What do American businesses get wrong doing business far from home? United States Politics- What should we take away from this tumultuous last few months? What can we expect in the post-Trump world? What should we feel optimistic about? Arsenal Football How do the prospects for this season look? What does the future look like? BDA Partners Website: https://www.bdapartners.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Occasionally, I get to speak with someone in the industry that both affirms my experiences, but also pushes my thinking and worldview. DAVID C WELLS JR, CEO of Family Capital Strategy, fits that bill on the topic of advising families. I met him in Nashville early in 2020 and stayed in touch. When I heard he was writing a book, I knew we were kindred spirits having gone through that process myself. That book, "When Anything is Possible", just came out and I couldn't be happier for him. I think it is a terrific companion to those looking to forestall the "Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves" phenomenon and help business owners and their families structure and build lives of purpose. In this podcast, we discuss some of his insights and the book-writing process itself. https://www.amazon.com/When-Anything-Possible-Wealth-Strategic/dp/173568130X/ Introduction Chapter 1 Wealth Strategy: Defining the Terms Section One: Wealth Structure Chapter 2 Wealth and What It Is Chapter 3 Level of Wealth Chapter 4 Psychology: Money’s War on Our Brains Chapter 5 Coming Into Wealth Section Two: Wealth Identity Chapter 6 How You Feel About Yourself Affects How You Feel About Wealth Chapter 7 Defining Your Wealth Identity Section Three: Wealth Strategy Chapter 8 How to Spend It Chapter 9 How to Invest Chapter 10 Giving to the Next Generation Chapter 11 Philanthropy Chapter 12 Building a Life of Intention Here are a few recent blog posts which introduce concepts from the book: The Challenge and Complexity of Entitlement Adjusting to Life After The Liquidity Event Creating a Wealth Surplus to Pass to Future Generations What You Should Know Before Marrying Rich You can find David here: Book - whenanythingispossible.com Website: www.familycapitalstrategy.com Newsletter - FIFTEEN ON FRIDAY - Twitter: @DavidCWellsJr https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Here is the first video foray for the "Wealth Actually" podcast (a bit by accident! We had to switch formats midstream . . . so I decided to experiment with the video format). I interviewed Christopher Ott on #Cybersecurity for the Ultra High Net Worth, High Net Worth and Family Office space. We talk about how one should view their own digital risks, how to protect yourself, and what to do when you have been compromised. We kept it to 40 minutes and probably could have discussed issues for more than three hours. Chris is a partner at Rothwell Figg, the litigation firm based in Washington, D.C. Successfully litigating complex data security matters, conducting hundreds of investigations, and winning dozens of appeals, Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Ott held various influential positions at DOJ including Supervisory Cyber Counsel to the National Security Division of the DOJ, In these roles, he investigated and charged the largest known computer hacking and securities fraud scheme and the hack of Yahoo by Russian intelligence operatives, the largest data breach in history, https://youtu.be/XzYwkjA1qiA BASICS   Cybersecurity- the main concerns are around the ability to control access and use of information. Everybody has at least three types of information PREDICTIVE DATA This is data that will help predict what you are going to do. This is especially useful for hackers and other criminals as they figure out how to access your data. CONTROLLING DATA This is data that regulates the access to a client's information. This can include: Passwords (and the need for two factor control, Phones (with automatic password access that can be migrated), and "Deep Fake" video and voice that can trick the gatekeepers into relinquishing access INFLUENCE This can include social, political, or economic influence. THREE TYPES OF ADVERSARIES Criminals Spies Hybrid hackers -Russian Type -Chinese Type SPECIAL CONCERNS FOR HNW INDIVIDUALS More data More control Much more influence ·         Direct socio-political ·         Indirect socio-political WHAT IS IMPORTANT? §  Control ·         Analog passwords ·         Never take shortcuts ·         Device security §  Two Factor INFORMATIONAL AUDITS (DATA MAPPING) §  What do I have? §  How do I control it? §  Who else has access to it? CONVENIENCE VS. SECURITY §  BEC §  Sim Jacking §  Deep fake audio and video WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED Understand What You Have and What Your Risks Are Have Advisors In Place Don't Panic- Assess the Situation Implement Action Plan Some Quick Ideas to Protect Yourself and Your Business . . . Establish an action plan in case of a breach or other compromise. Emphasize personal relationships with all business transactions. Make sure that you have personal relationships with your advisors and transactors so that there is layer of common sense behind communications. Audit what you and your family put out in the world of social media both from a cybersecurity AND from a PERSONAL security standpoint. Consider having a policy- even if informal- to prevent predators having access to physical information. Use multi-factor authentication procedure to confirm and verify instructions (ESPECIALLY for wire transfers or money transactions). Encrypt emails that include private information such as bank details, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.  Back up all data off-site on a regular basis. Regularly change passwords and use different passwords for platforms so that one breach doesn't turn into a cascading data breach on other systems. Perform regular cyber audits to make sure confidential information is secure and that accessible information to the public is properly scrutinized. Avoid clicking on links and being suspicious of attachments...

After a slew of podcasts about structuring, estate planning, investment themes and politics, I thought it would be fun to dive into a sport with a long, regal. and unusual history- COURT TENNIS (or "Real Tennis"). Descended from handball, and equal parts tennis (players face each other unlike squash and racquetball), platform tennis (where the walls are part of the court), the sport has all sorts of peculiar rules. It has strange looking racquets, arcane rules and courts with unusual and idiosyncratic dimensions. There are less than 50 courts in the world and roughly 10,000 players. Longtime friend of the podcast, Haven Pell, joins us to talk about its interesting origins, where the sport is now and where it's going. He is part of a team that is building a new court in Washington and has written about that process in his blog, THE PUNDIFICATOR. He even shares the story of how Court Tennis gave us the Left and Right side of the aisle in American politics! https://pundificator.com/around-the-world-in-50-courts-a-brief-detour/ We cover . . . the equipment The "Off-Center" Racquet The Rules The Crazy Dimensions of the Courts The History of the Sport Some of the Best and Most Famous Players in the World And here is a little sample of some high level play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1RK9fuGZgI https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

For a few years, the wealth advisory and asset management worlds have been captivated by three letters . . . ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance. ESG has been an exploding trend as investors want to align their personal values with their investments. The principle is that one's investments can do well by "doing good." Against that backdrop, asset managers are looking for new criteria to evaluate investment opportunities in the context of ever increasing difficulties in beating indexes over time. To some, ESG is a marketing gambit. To others, it is a framework to unlock greater returns and create positive social impact while doing it. To many, it is somewhere in between. To help make sense of this phenomenon, I spoke with John Rosenberg who has direct experience in asset management and the ESG world. John worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and has had a long career in banking and now works as an investment manager at a single family office and manages the LOUGHLIN WATER PARTNERS LP - an investment fund focused on technologies and assets that provide clean water and alternative energy. (Early on, John worked as a ski bum which he declares to be the most honest job on the resume!) Outline Could you give me some background on ESG Investing? We hear a lot of different terms bandied about such as Sustainable, Impact, ESG, or even SRI. Where did the term come from and how has it evolved? Are ESG stocks different from other stocks? Is there some particular differentiation? Are the letters all equal? A few weeks ago marked the 50th Anniversary of the Milton Friedman's essay on Shareholder Theory where he states that the corporation's social responsibility should be focused on profits. (The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits). Do you agree with that? Milton Friedman thought corporations should be focused on profits, not other social responsibility initiatives. What is the driving theory behind ESG investing? Do you believe it actually promotes virtuous behavior? How do you parse the difference between a company that does many things well, but has a problem underpinning it's ESG score (i.e. tobacco bonds that fund good causes, but have dubious sources of revenue or a top notch company with an executive with a checkered record?) Are there data services to evaluate whether or not companies are engaging in responsible behavior? How does one deal with one data service vs another? How much of the analysis is qualitative? How do you get past the "check the box" or "greenwashing" phenomenon? You have been doing this, in one form, for a while now. What do you think of new entrants to the space? Jeff Uben, formerly of Value Act, made some comments critical of ESG investors awhile back. What do you think about that?  https://www.barrons.com/articles/activist-investor-jeff-ubben-departs-valueact-to-focus-on-esg-51592936937 Do you think we are entering our could enter an ESG Bubble much like every other style of investing that catches on? Are the ESG criteria factorable and therefore quickly assimilated into indexes? ESG- Fad, Trend, or Is It Here to Stay? Fun Question. Additional reading on the pros and cons of ESG in investment performance and the role of corporations and the assimilation of ESG principles. Morningstar indicates that ESG Funds Outperform Their Indexes How Strong are the Links between ESG factors and Outperformance? Wharton: Why ESG Investors are Happy to Settle for Lower Returns https://frazerrice.com/blog/january-2014-book-review-lynn-stouts-the-shareholder-value-myth/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PIZ8IO/ https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/