- Transitions
- How the Wealth Management Industry Works
- Classic Approach to Wealth Management
- Strategic Wealth Management of Your Family Enterprise
- The Eight Principles
- The Family as a Cultural System
- Taking Control of the Wealth Management Process
- The Nature of the Wealth Strategist’s Role
- Conclusion
- Chapter 1: Issues to Discuss with Your Family
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
The Nature of the Wealth Strategist’s Role
Wealth Strategists play the critical role in developing and executing a family’s wealth management strategy. They work closely with their family to define plans and goals for the family enterprise and then oversee implementation, coordinating the involvement of family members, business executives, and professional financial advisors as needs require. The Wealth Strategists’ main governance functions are to manage the key value drivers of family purpose, the economic engine, and leakage management, and to integrate the advice and activities of various professional advisors with the overall wealth management strategy and with the dynamics and priorities of the family. Wealth Strategists in multigenerational families must also take responsibility for leading smooth succession transitions. Without careful planning and effective execution, entropy will pull at your family, just as it has mine. The family will fragment, even when there is no animosity among family members. Without the collective will to fight entropy, as your family grows and matures, the allure of money plus individual autonomy is just too great. The cost becomes apparent only later. Believe me, I’ve seen it firsthand.
Becoming a Wealth Strategist doesn’t require detailed knowledge of business management, investment theory, estate law, or the tax code. However, it does require the following:
- Patience and a long-term perspective
- The ability to foster good communication among family members
- Accurate assessment of your own skills, those of family members, and those of prospective advisors
- An informed layperson’s understanding of how the wealth industry works
- Reasonable financial and managerial discipline
I’ll have much more to say later in this book about the critical role of the Wealth Strategist. Suffice it to say for now that the Wealth Strategist is in fact the leadership within your family, and it is the job of this individual or team to ensure effective wealth management over time.