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Hello again Friends, we are into fall and I have noticed the transition back after summer tilts my focus towards family time. As we get busy, don’t forget about those amazing family moments. After all, time is our greatest resource.

The Family Wealth Equation: FW = R (HC + RC)

By using your Resources effectively, they amplify your Human Capital and Relational Capital, and that is how you increase your Family Wealth.

So using your time and money effectively is a consistent focus in family wealth strategy. Today, I want to discuss a fantastic opportunity where your most important resources, your time and money, can overlap resulting in great family wealth gains.

The overlap is where your strategic philanthropy and investment strategy align.

Strategic philanthropy; the intentional use of financial capital towards the philanthropic goals as collectively determined by the family.

Philanthropic goals often involve community; an area I strive to focus on. I recently joined the Advisory Engagement Committee for the Calgary Foundation.** They are helpful when discussing many topics (strategic philanthropy, Donor-Advised Funds, Foundations, charity selection, etc.) although they are no Gena Rotstein when discussing philanthropy.

Aligning philanthropy strategy with investment strategy

Defining your philanthropic goals is fulfilling, even when your time and money is already accounted for, because the clarity adds a lot of value. Take the time to develop the strategy, particularly when the family’s fortune is good.

Philanthropic goals often develop through misfortune. Yet, I think families stand to benefit by stating philanthropic goals during the family’s highs as much as their lows.

I recently completed the investment policies for my holding company. Family values overlap quite seamlessly when comparing philanthropy and investment strategy. I recently defined ‘Impact’ for my holding company’s IPS:

We seek out investments that go beyond financial returns. By investing with intention, we aim to contribute to a future that is healthier, more innovative, and deeply interconnected.

We focus our investment efforts in areas where we see the greatest potential for smaller cheque sizes to make an impact:

  • Artificial Intelligence, specifically where innovation can be applied to tackle challenges to our collective well-being.
  • Human Connection & Community, supporting ventures that bridge divides, foster meaningful relationships, and strengthen the fabric of the communities I care deeply about.
  • Health Care Technology, where larger innovations can be deployed to improve lives, expand access, and elevate the quality of care within niche applications.

Although not all of our dollars are directed towards initiatives that inspire progress and bring people together, we strive to do as much as possible.

My holding company is not a large portfolio by any means, but writing out the Impact Statement above did make me realize a couple of things:

  1. that my former actions showed an incessant focus on total return, and that is something I’d like to better balance with investing for impact, and
  2. that my shiny bead syndrome is really, really active. I did not have an overarching theme to my strategy. Whatever inspired that month attention.

I look forward to developing a philanthropy strategy and finding the points of overlap; the most obvious one being place-based impact investing.

So whether you look to deploy resources into philanthropy strategically or into impact investing, using your time wisely is critical.