Family Wealth = Resources (Human Capital + Relational Capital). A series of quick hits this month…

Professional Trustees

Personal trustees are friends and family typically. They agree to act as Trustee and bring great relationships with the beneficiaries to the table. Trust Companies are the exact opposite; they will have great professional acumen and built-in succession plans, but they lack the same depth of relationship.

Professional trustees are rare but combine elements of both personal trustees and trust companies. I am a professional trustee and so it was with great anticipation that I attended the Independent Trustee Alliance conference in Dallas last month.

It did not disappoint; what I had seen from Dennis Nerland’s professional trusteeship practice was mirrored by many other professionals. I posted my biggest takeaways here.

RipenQuest

I made what I call “pilgrimage” to Jay Hughes in October 2022 (if you don’t know Jay Hughes and you read these newsletters; email me ASAP. You need to know his work). He said so many profound things it is plainly ridiculous, but one statement really stuck with me: Family Wealth has a “medium is the message” issue.

By explaining all of his wisdom under the “medium” of family wealth, he felt like there was a gap in developing the wisdom for another key medium: the trustscape.

I took that guidance to heart and, knowing that there was no book on trusts that I would have enjoyed reading when I was 18 (a common age to be introduced to trusts particularly in the US) I set out to write it.

Well, my news is that the first draft is now complete! I am looking for early readers, please reach out. If you know great editors, I am picking an editor this month.

Family Enterprise Canada Symposium

What a week. It started off with Blackwood Family Enterprises Services’ one day seminar. It is clear that Dr. Moira Somers is a standout in tense family meeting facilitation (and is valuable in non-tense scenarios as well!)

Then, I attended FEC’s Symposium for the first time. This is such an exciting group serving Canadian family businesses. They are also known for elevating the family enterprise advisory industry with their FEA designation.

My favourite takeaway? It is quite possibly that all of the great work that advisors do will not land if it does not meet the family where it is. The range of ownership literacy in families is significant and I have felt the pain of my advice not meeting a family where they were; too focused on logical, complex outcomes in my case and not focused enough on actually helping the family with the big problem they were facing.

Taxes and Family Enterprise

I’m still a tax nerd, naturally. I’ve canvassed around 15 tax law and accounting professionals on Canada’s capital gains inclusion rate change. Without law to interpret at this time, the chances of June 24 being the final date is remote. Although we have seen worse retroactive law being imposed.

So in the efforts I’ve made with families to address this date, I have rediscovered the incessant issue that tax planning can really wag the family dog if left unchecked. Knowing your goals, knowing your family members and knowing your tax risk profile is absolutely critical before reviewing any tax strategies.