High networth individuals and wealthy business families, are by definition, successful in what they do. Yet,when it comes to managing their own wealth, more often than not, there is a seat of the pants approach accompanied by a naïve belief that the wealth will somehow manage itself and multiply! Secondly they usually do not keep records or archive important material that will preserve history and serve to inspire their succeeding generations of managers and workers.

These were the subject of two panel discusssions on ‘Managing family wealth as a business’, and ‘profit from the past’ organised earlier this week by Vantage Club, a platform provided by Asset Vantage, a technology firm that helps high networth individuals and families to manage their finances.

Business families traditionally relied on the CFO of their business or the accountant to keep a watchful eye on the family finances. While it may have been useful in the past, that approach won’t do in the modern era. So where does one start? The panellists, who were chief investment officers of single family offices, advised that business families will have to first identify what they possess and what their objectives are with regard to the wealth they possess. Do they want to preserve it, grow it or go into some new ventures? Then, these families need to set up a family office which will basically be tasked with achieving the objective. This would involve appointing specialists to handle investments, who will keep their interests in mind rather than the interests of the bank or solution provider. Then of course families need to discuss their expectations and provide their investment specialists with autonomy. How often should the portfolio of the family be reviewed? Panellists agreed that a review should ideally be once a month or 6 weeks and should definitely not be done on a daily basis.

Business families also need to start thinking about archiving their family and business history, Rati Forbes, Director Forbes Marshall and chairperson of a panel discussion on ‘profit from your past’ said. Pheroza Godrej, Art Historian and Member Godrej Archives Council highlighted the efforts of her group over the past two decades in archiving. Today, no important paper is thrown away at the Godrej group and there is a process by which records and materials are sent over to the archives on a regular basis every week. She said that approaching anniversaries and milestones are usually a good time to initiate archiving projects. She urged business families to sensitise their staff and also record their thoughts as they owe it to future generations.

EOM.

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