All Resources

Resource Topics

Governance for Business-Owning Families (Part I): An often overlooked challenge

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published in WealthManagement.com March 2017 Families who own businesses face a challenge they often overlook, that is, “governing” all that they do together inside, and outside, of the business. Admittedly, governance itself is fraught...
Read More about Governance for Business-Owning Families (Part I): An often overlooked challenge

21st Century Trustees

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on FFI Practitioner on November 16, 2016. Business is all about the future. An entrepreneur takes an idea and makes it into a service or product that people will want even need, for...
Read More about 21st Century Trustees

Are You “Wealthy”?

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on WealthManagement.com June 2016 Recently, I took a taxi to the airport after leaving a conference focused on the challenges and opportunities of families with “great wealth” — that is, families with extraordinary...
Read More about Are You “Wealthy”?

After the Plan: Guiding personal trustees: the challenge and some ways to address this

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in May 2016. Many years ago, when I was a young lawyer, a new client, “Tom,” entered our offices. He was quite concerned—his friend, “Sam,” had appointed him as trustee...
Read More about After the Plan: Guiding personal trustees: the challenge and some ways to address this

Next Gen 2.0: Taking things to a higher level

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published in Trusts & Estates in March 2016.  You can’t miss it (or them). “Next Gen” is everywhere. The private wealth management industry is awash in Next Gen summits, educational programs, research studies and...
Read More about Next Gen 2.0: Taking things to a higher level

Hearing Women’s Voices in Wealth Planning

Bringing everyone to the table. By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in October 2015. Earlier this week, I spoke at a conference on Private Wealth Management in Latin America. While that region may not be known...
Read More about Hearing Women’s Voices in Wealth Planning

What Do Women Really Want? Estate Planning Tailored to Women’s Needs

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published in Private Wealth Management in 2004 Sigmund Freud, who figured out a great deal about the human psyche, was unable to answer one key question: “What do women really want?” A century later,...
Read More about What Do Women Really Want? Estate Planning Tailored to Women’s Needs

Mindfulness in Advisor-Client Relationships

By slowing down and looking inward, a financial advisor who’s having difficulty with a client might better understand what’s really happening. By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on WealthManagement.com on May 27, 2015 “Mindfulness” is a movement on the...
Read More about Mindfulness in Advisor-Client Relationships

Estate and Wealth Planning for Family Enterprises: Reality – not myth – As the Proper Starting Point

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on FFI on April 15, 2015. The 2015 FFI Global Conference theme of “myths and realities” provides an excellent opportunity to focus attention on how best to advise family enterprises for the long-term...
Read More about Estate and Wealth Planning for Family Enterprises: Reality – not myth – As the Proper Starting Point

Beyond the Traditional Estate Planning ‘Choices’

Expanding the options. By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in March 2015. Estate planners often advise clients that there are only three places where you can leave your assets at death: family, taxes and charity. It...
Read More about Beyond the Traditional Estate Planning ‘Choices’

Should Parents Tell Their Adult Children What’s in their Estate-Planning Documents? Yes.

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in February 2015.  In general, transparency is the best approach. In general, I believe transparency is the best approach to estate planning when a client has adult children. Of course,...
Read More about Should Parents Tell Their Adult Children What’s in their Estate-Planning Documents? Yes.

Planning Trust Administration to Avoid Conflict

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published in WealthManagement.com in December 2014 In wealth management, the trust is the most common structure used to realize our widely recognized and accepted freedom of disposition. Within broad parameters, the law of trusts...
Read More about Planning Trust Administration to Avoid Conflict

‘Tis the Season: Year-end planning that doesn’t lead your clients down the road to conflict

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in December 2014.  Year-end planning that doesn’t lead your clients down the road to conflict. Last month, I wrote about family business feuds and how they could be prevented more...
Read More about ‘Tis the Season: Year-end planning that doesn’t lead your clients down the road to conflict

Attending to a Client’s True Needs

Lessons learned in unexpected places By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on WealthManagement.com on July 29, 2014 I recently found myself in need of medical help for an unexplained injury. Once again, I found myself learning some lessons that...
Read More about Attending to a Client’s True Needs

Pritzker Family Enterprise: A Family Governance Case Study

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Columbia CaseWorks Fall 2013 What does the Pritzker family story, one of the wealthiest and most philanthropic families in the United States, tell us about family governance? Read Full Article on Columbia...
Read More about Pritzker Family Enterprise: A Family Governance Case Study

Reality Trumps Myth: Pritzker family enterprise story

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published in Trusts & Estates, March 2014 Family business, trust and estate planners have been relying on a set of assumptions about client goals, family relationships and the definition of “success” for as long...
Read More about Reality Trumps Myth: Pritzker family enterprise story

Got Love? Getting to the “heart” of it

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on Wealth Management.com in February 2014. Valentine’s Day is always a bright spot in the midst of a sometimes (especially this year on the East Coast) long, cold winter. Long enough into the...
Read More about Got Love? Getting to the “heart” of it

May I Help You? – How perspective matters in client-advisor relationships

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on WealthManagement.com on February 28, 2013 Some time ago, I was describing a particular client dilemma to a colleague. After listening to my concerns, she said, “so, the question is: have you been...
Read More about May I Help You? – How perspective matters in client-advisor relationships

Family Meetings Come of Age: How to create an effective forum for all generations

By Patricia M. Angus - Originally published on WealthManagement.com, 2013 As older members of the Baby Boom generation were reaching adulthood, I spent many an hour watching the bevy of TV shows that were focused on the ways that the...
Read More about Family Meetings Come of Age: How to create an effective forum for all generations

Family Governance Meets Family Dynamics: a Survey and Strategies for Successful Joint Philanthropy

By Patricia M. Angus and Fredda Herz Brown, Ph.D. - Originally published on NCFP Passages in 2007. The Smith family* had been running their foundation for about four years when it hit a roadblock. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in their...
Read More about Family Governance Meets Family Dynamics: a Survey and Strategies for Successful Joint Philanthropy

Everything Everywhere All at Once?
Family Enterprises in 2024

The  2023  Academy Awards ceremony was quite a sweep for the film Everything Everywhere All at Once,1 which conventions, including genre, casting, plot and the…

Read More

Audiobook – The Beneficiary Primer: A Guide for Beneficiaries of Family Trusts

Have you been named as beneficiary of a family trust? Does it feel overwhelming? Are you looking for some practical information to get up to…

Read More

Wealth Transfer Between Generations, Primer for Trustees and Beneficiaries

In this episode of the podcast Talking Billions, Patricia talks with Bogumil Baranowski of Sicart Associates, LLC. Together they explore:What are trusts, where did they…

Read More

Complex Family Enterprise: A new way to describe a growing phenomenon

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published in Trusts & Estates, March 2023 Trusts and estates practitioners (for example, lawyers, accountants and investment advisors) take their…

Read More

Mental Health and Estate Planning

Patricia joins Arden O’Connor of the Beyond the Balance Sheet podcast in a discussion of how mental illness may impact the estate planning process. Click…

Read More

In Tax We Trust: Implications of growing societal and client trends

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published on WealthManagement.com on February 13, 2022 Most private wealth advisors (including trusts and estates lawyers, accountants and investment…

Read More

The Family Governance Pyramid: Enhancing and Guiding Your Family Philanthropy

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published in NCFP’s Passages July 2021 OVERVIEW Family philanthropy is a very important expression of a family’s commitment to…

Read More

How Should Wealthy Parents Treat Wayward Offspring?

by Emma Jacobs – Originally published in Financial Times on May 26, 2021Giving children too much money, too early, risks indulging them and making them…

Read More

Tamarind Learning Podcast: The Beneficiary Primer

In this podcast, Patricia Angus, Managing Director of the Global Family Enterprising Program and Faculty Director of the Enterprising Family Executive Program at Columbia University…

Read More
The Trustee Primer: A Guide for Personal Trustees

Tamarind Learning Podcast: The Trustee Primer

In this podcast, Patricia Angus, Managing Director of the Global Family Enterprising Program and Faculty Director of the Enterprising Family Executive Program at Columbia University…

Read More

Guidance for Family Offices: How to approach ESG investing

By Patricia Angus and Camille Korschun – Originally published in Family Enterprise Insights, March 2021 Introduction: Environmental, Social, and Governance investing (ESG investing) is an…

Read More

Social Contract 2021

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published on WealthManagement.com February 2021 The year 2021 started with a bang, not a whimper. The pain, confusion, conflicts…

Read More

Family Enterprise in The Center of it All

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published on WealthManagement.com, December 2020 It’s impossible to look at 2020 and not see family enterprises in the center…

Read More

COVID Conversations

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published in WealthManagement.com April 2020 By now, unless you work in health care or an “essential business,” you’ve likely…

Read More

Founding Women of Family Wealth

Patricia Angus convened the Founding Women of Family Wealth for a series of panel discussions exploring the practitioner perspective, at Columbia Business School Global Family…

Read More

House of Redstone: Family Enterprise in Three Acts

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published on Columbia CaseWorks Fall 2018 What family enterprise, ownership, and governance lessons can be gleaned from the multigenerational…

Read More

Weddings, Engagements and Prenups

Help clients address the “what ifs” before the “I dos.” By Marvin Blum – Originally published on Trusts and Estates in February 2018. Tying the…

Read More

Governance for Business-Owning Families (Part II): It starts at the top

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published in WealthManagement.com March 2018 The world is full of family businesses. Literally. Most of the world’s businesses are…

Read More

Are You Wealthy?

Wealth of Wisdom Podcast, Episode 21, 2018 In the first chapter of the book, Wealth of Wisdom (McCullough & Whitaler), Patricia Angus tells a fascinating…

Read More

A Bridge Too Far?

By Patricia M. Angus – Originally published on Wealth Management.com on March 7, 2017. How academia is essential to the future of family, business and…

Read More