What is Legacy?

December 29, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

In a family wealth context, legacy is often viewed as transactional and financial: the assets that parents leave for their children. That is how the media reports it – whether it’s a transition of wealth or operating business, or a public family battle. But the way it is portrayed is only a reflection of the commercials of mainstream media and the public appetite it satisfies.

Legacy is really about what we leave behind for others. Someone who lives alone on a desert island can’t leave a legacy because there is no-one to leave anything to! Legacy is what people say about us after we’re gone. I’ve been to my fair share of funerals and don’t recall hearing much about people’s financial achievements. Rather, we talk about family and community, because that is what really matters.

The way our legacy is expressed is through stories. They are more than facts – they connect us emotionally with a person’s life journey. They are also an outstanding way to transmit values and wisdom. And as long as we are alive, our stories are not final, so we can continue to write them. If we’re not happy with our story, we can write new chapters.

Doctor Who expressed it beautifully: “Stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten.”

Consider This: How do you tell your story? What legacy do you want to leave? What is the legacy your children think you are leaving?

Further reading: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-stories-of-our-lives/202308/why-sharing-family-stories-is-vital, https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-to-build-upon-the-legacy-of-your-family-business-and-make-it-your-own, https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulwestall/2022/09/20/what-family-offices-can-learn-from-the-queens-succession-plan/?sh=4c3ae9784af3, https://www.campdenfb.com/article/enduring-legacy-business-families, https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance/retirement/estate-planning-5-steps-to-leaving-a-remarkable-legacy-00af56e4-dd0b-478d-88c0-b5380c71c3d3, https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/20/managing-wealth-and-leaving-a-legacy-goes-far.html, https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-previous-generations-influence-our-decisions/

For more in-depth, thought-provoking discussion points and further commentary on family and business conflict resolution, access my Familosophy newsletter archives by signing into our newsletter https://DavidWerdiger.com.

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

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source https://davidwerdiger.com/blog/what-is-legacy/

Single, Multi or …?

December 29, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

What kind of family office do you have? What kind would you like? Would you like fries with that? There’s regularly talk of family office trends and predictions, especially at this time of year, and the service models are regularly evolving.

Given family offices are entities that are (well, ought to be) built for the long term, it’s worth stepping back and looking at some macro trends. In the US, the family office market is mature yet still growing at a healthy rate. In Singapore, the number of family offices has grown nearly three-fold in the past three years, and in Australia half the family offices have been established in just the last ten years.

Such significant growth means the big picture of who is managing family wealth will look very different in five years to what it looked five years ago. The proliferation of family offices will take AUM away from large wealth firms and towards a multitude of family offices.

That means the market will be far more fragmented. This change poses a huge threat: a potential shortage in quality people to staff family offices. Families will either not have high quality staff (which may lead to poor decision making), need to develop generous compensation packages to retain staff, or seek economies of scale, probably by working with other families.

Also see Family Office Essentials on my web site.

Consider This: How does your family recruit and reward family office professionals? Has your family considered the key person risks associated with a single family office?

Further reading: https://www.asianinvestor.net/article/why-single-family-offices-are-transitioning-to-multi-family-models/492135, https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulwestall/2023/11/15/what-does-a-family-office-in-the-usa-look-like/?sh=6228c6342a19, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/debunking-family-office-trend-landscape-why-focusing-issues-marshall/, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2023/08/22/is-it-time-to-consider-a-multifamily-office/?sh=672aa6ce6f077, https://www.wealthprofessional.ca/news/industry-news/the-multi-family-office-structure-to-support-success/355383, https://www.ft.com/content/4e4f3a07-e2e8-43be-b024-9a24aed6069f, https://www.forbes.com/sites/francoisbotha/2020/06/28/how-to-identify-a-true-multi-family-office/?ss=leadership-strategy#301b1fcf4869, https://www.forbes.com/sites/whittiertrust/2020/04/01/why-high-net-worth-families-need-more-than-just-a-bookkeeper/#2678e1e65304, https://www.fa-mag.com/news/why-establish-a-virtual-multifamily-office-43191.html

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Single, Multi or …? appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/blog/single-multi-or/

I Changed My Mind

December 13, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

Something amazing happened just the other day. I changed my mind. No, I didn’t order the fish and change to the chicken. I engaged into a vigorous discussion with someone, and they presented an alternate view, which I rejected. Later, I did some further research on it, realised that they were correct after all, and changed my position.

Yes, this is news because it doesn’t happen often these days, for anyone. What usually happens instead is that we dig in or ‘double down’ on a position, and are driven by ‘confirmation bias’ to find others who agree or support our view.

But guess what? People are capable of change. The proverb “a leopard never changes its spots” refers to character, rather than opinion. Character traits are burned into us during our formative years, and are therefore very difficult to change (yes, you might say stubbornness is a character trait). But opinions ought to be based on assumptions and circumstance, and over time they change, and therefore opinions can change with them.

“They are not the person I married”, says the unhappy spouse of many years. I should hope not! The idea that once we commit to live our life with another person, we must lock in to be the same person is absurd. Rather, we should embrace a growth mindset and seek always to become better versions of ourselves. Our ability to change should be celebrated.

But how about sacked Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony show director Kentaro Kobayashi, who made jokes about the Holocaust some 23 years ago? Or Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who appeared in blackface in a school yearbook 37 years ago? These are just two examples of deeply offensive behaviour from a long time ago with consequences (enacted much later) that seem entirely disproportionate. That is not to defend their offensive past actions. Rather, to question whether we should assume they maintain the same views for decades unless they make a public apology and retraction. Is the mere absence of repeated offensive behaviour over a period of time sufficient to indicate someone has changed?

Over the years, I’ve written some 400 articles across a number of platforms. Do all of them represent my current thinking? I hope not, and indeed I may look back at some of them and cringe. But that doesn’t mean I would delete them, and even if I did, the online elephant that never forgets ensures they will remain in cyberspace forever.

It’s quite possible that some malevolent soul will trawl through them, looking to find something that offends them. If they do, I can almost guarantee that they will find what they are looking for. But so what? That was my opinion then; not necessarily my opinion now.

Those who advocate “cancellation” for past sins are usually self-appointed, and operating with no objective standard as to what justifies it, nor how anyone can be rehabilitated. That is anarchy.

The cancel culture movement assumes (among other things) that people cannot change, but our ability to change is what separates us from animals.

Originally published on https://davidwerdiger.substack.com/p/i-changed-my-mind

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source https://davidwerdiger.com/blog/social-commentary/i-changed-my-mind/

Defining Happiness

December 13, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

Can money buy happiness? And does being ‘happy’ mean something different to those who have wealth and those who don’t? These are the questions considered in a recent research study.

Most anyone who has wealth would find it obvious that the answer to
the first question is a resounding ‘no’, but it takes the rigour of an
academic to first define happiness (life satisfaction and a set of
distinct positive emotions), and then examine the correlation between
them and wealth or social class.

So the answer to the second question is ‘yes’. But how are they
different? For those of higher social class, happiness is reflected in
self-oriented feelings like pride and contentment, which may reflect
their desire for independence and self-sufficiency.

On the other hand, lower classes exhibit other-oriented feelings of compassion and love as their expression of happiness, which could help them cope with their more threatening environments.

Consider This: What makes you happy? How much of your happiness derives from wealth or consumption?

Original articles: from the LA Times http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-happiness-rich-poor-20171219-story.html which is based on a research publication from the magazine Emotion http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/emo-emo0000387.pdf (a very dry read for those academically inclined).

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Defining Happiness appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/ultra-high-net-worth/defining-happiness-wealth-love-something-else-2/

Is the wealth transfer a myth?

December 7, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

Mass media will always jump on stories that seek to challenge and debunk commonly accepted narratives. CNBC is running a story suggesting that the huge intergenerational wealth, estimated at $30 trillion, is a myth, because the actual transfers will be “small, fragmented and drained”. Why? Because baby boomers will spend on themselves as they age (what’s known as SKIing – Spending your Kids’ Inheritance), and because they will choose to gift their wealth to charitable causes.

This is where some nuance is needed, particularly in light of the US Fed report cited above. We can split the boomer wealth into two categories: “mid-range”, where big spending by parents can actually have an impact, and “high-end”, where even that is a drop in the ocean. While certainly the mid-range will be affected by SKIing, the bulk of the wealth by value will certainly be transmitted.

Consider This: Don’t get jumpy when you read sensationalist stories like this one. Every family is different, and therefore their approach to transmitting family wealth should be uniquely considered.

Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/that-30-trillion-great-wealth-transfer-is-a-myth.html

As a third party advisor to #familyoffice and #familybusiness Werdiger often helps guide the #intergenerational parties to a win-win-win result.

[reposted with permission]

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Is the wealth transfer a myth? appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/wealth-transition/is-the-wealth-transfer-a-myth-2/

Defining Happiness

December 6, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

Can money buy happiness? And does being ‘happy’ mean something different to those who have wealth and those who don’t? These are the questions considered in a recent research study.

On the other hand, lower classes exhibit other-oriented feelings of compassion and love as their expression of happiness, which could help them cope with their more threatening environments.

Consider This: What makes you happy? How much of your happiness derives from wealth or consumption?

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Defining Happiness appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/wealth-transition/defining-happiness-wealth-love-something-else-2/

Generational Theory in Family Business

December 3, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

The millenial impact research has illuminated a much more caring generation than generally believed, one that is complex in their depth of passion toward causes. http://www.themillennialimpact.com/about

The ongoing debate about ‘generation wars’ will never stop, but here’s an interesting take on this from Slate Magazine, which claims that research on generations is flawed.

Statements like “baby boomers are selfish” and “millennials are narcissists” abound, but where is the science to support this, it asks. While they acknowledge that times change and people do, they reject the idea that distinct generations capture and represent these changes.

The author then goes on to debunk common generational tropes, e.g. that millennials are less satisfied in their jobs, that national pride shows differences between generations, and show that statistically these are incorrect.

He goes further to suggest that we should focus more on ‘why’ groups of people are different, and stop using generational labels, in part because they reinforce a fallacious 20 year boundary.

My response: the essence of generational theory is that people are influenced by external events during their formative years. I haven’t seen anyone debunk that. What naturally follows is that groups of people who share those influences because they grew up during a similar time, will be influenced in similar ways. People are still different, and are a product of nature and nurture in different measures. It’s important to remember that.
The danger in applying these principles is that it’s very easy to put labels on people and draw hard generational boundaries. That is no different to any taxonomy – proponents of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) will not suggest there are exactly 16 types of people.

In addition, there are some things where generational differences are significant, and others where they are not. You are far more likely to read about sensationalist labels (selfish, narcissist) than the more meaningful ones (political beliefs).

The question really should be: how are models like this useful? The answer is that by acknowledging differences and some of the causes of difference, we are better able to bridge those differences.

Consider This: In your family, do you often apply generational labels and stereotypes? Next time you do, think a little deeper about whether the labels themselves provide any value, and instead, think about how to recognise difference as a way to build better intergenerational connections.

Original article: https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/the-evidence-behind-generations-is-lacking.html

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurshi

[reposted with permission]

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source https://davidwerdiger.com/wealth-transition/generational-theory-in-family-business-2/

Intergenerational Social Media & Society

December 3, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

What have you noticed about the difference between the way you and other generations (up or down) use social media?

I stumbled across a wonderful article that deals with the intersection of two of my favourite topics: intergenerational issues and the impact of social media on society. It analyses the starkly different ways that Facebook is used by Baby Boomers, as opposed to Millenials. It comes from a web site called The Cheat Sheet, which is “dedicated to providing audiences the information they want in an approachable, entertaining way”. But looking at the content and the presentation, it looks much more like advertising-ridden viral click bait (which it probably is). While I might be old fashioned, to me the term “cheat sheet” brings to mind a memory aid concise enough to sneak into an exam. Because the actual content of the article is so good, I’m reproducing it here in a true “cheat sheet” form!

Baby Boomers	Millennials
Connect with old friends	Make new friends
Value family connections	Prefer to not have family connections
Tend to overshare	Share the highlights of their lives
Do not use Facebook as their sole news source	Use Facebook as their primary news source
More likely to fall for scams	Less likely to fall for scams
Use Facebook to rekindle old flames	Use Tinder and other sites to kindle new flames
Use Facebook to bookmark sites	Use the browser’s bookmark to keep track

So now that you have a real cheat sheet, let’s talk about what it means. There are some interesting themes here.

Friendship & Family: Boomers have accumulated plenty of friends already, and have had their share of relationships. So their approach is to reconnect rather than expand their network. Millennials are at a stage in life where they are expanding their personal networks and are less interested in family relationships. When I joined Facebook, there was a group (remember groups?) doing the rounds called “OMG my Mom’s on Facebook” as the young people expressed shock at the idea of their mothers invading their social media world. It seemed funny to me at the time, until a few years later when my mother (who was around 80) joined!

Media: For Boomers, social media augments traditional media – they get news from both. For Millennials, social media supercedes traditional media, so their newsfeed is their source of news. This is actually very significant, because it enhances the ‘echo chamber’ effect of social media (as users just see what their friends like and share) , and further erodes the value of online news sources, which are becoming less financially viable.

Technology: Millennials are far more tech savvy than Boomers, so understand the specific use of other platforms like Tinder, and other tools like browsers. They also know how to spot a scam a mile off.

Reprinted with permission

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Intergenerational Social Media & Society appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/family-conflict-resolution/social-media-society-for-intergenerational-targets-2/

Intergenerational Social Media & Society

December 3, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

What have you noticed about the difference between the way you and other generations (up or down) use social media?

Baby Boomers	Millennials
Connect with old friends	Make new friends
Value family connections	Prefer to not have family connections
Tend to overshare	Share the highlights of their lives
Do not use Facebook as their sole news source	Use Facebook as their primary news source
More likely to fall for scams	Less likely to fall for scams
Use Facebook to rekindle old flames	Use Tinder and other sites to kindle new flames
Use Facebook to bookmark sites	Use the browser’s bookmark to keep track

So now that you have a real cheat sheet, let’s talk about what it means. There are some interesting themes here.

Reprinted with permission

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurship

The post Intergenerational Social Media & Society appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/familosophy/social-media-society-for-intergenerational-targets-2/

Generational Theory in Family Business

December 1, 2023 davidwerdigertransitionsLeave a comment

The ongoing debate about ‘generation wars’ will never stop, but here’s an interesting take on this from Slate Magazine, which claims that research on generations is flawed.

He goes further to suggest that we should focus more on ‘why’ groups of people are different, and stop using generational labels, in part because they reinforce a fallacious 20 year boundary.

The question really should be: how are models like this useful? The answer is that by acknowledging differences and some of the causes of difference, we are better able to bridge those differences.

Original article: https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/the-evidence-behind-generations-is-lacking.html

#familyoffice #wealthmanagement #conflictresolution #strategicmanagement
#nextgensuccession #intergenerationalwealth #governance #leadershipdevelopment
#entrepreneurshi

[reposted with permission]

The post Generational Theory in Family Business appeared first on David Werdiger.

source https://davidwerdiger.com/familosophy/familosophy-repost/generational-theory-in-family-business-2/