Experts help family leaders transform financial fortunes into enduring legacies

Oct. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- How can families build enduring legacies and preserve their wealth during challenging times?  Amidst the rising complexities in the financial world brought about by external volatility and internal family evolution, how can families ensure that the legacies they build will be positive and enduring? With the many social challenges within families that have arisen in recent years, what lessons can be learned and what approaches and models can family leaders adopt to preserve and enhance their legacies?

These are some of the topics explored by Mark Haynes Daniell (Chairman of Singapore-based Cuscaden Group) and Sara S. Hamilton (Founder and CEO of Family Office Exchange) in their new book – “Family Legacy and Leadership: Preserving True Family Wealth in Challenging Times”. Published by John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, this book offers many real examples, a wealth of personal insights into the meaning of legacy, the definition of true family wealth and a model for successful leadership of families of wealth.

“The recent crisis has highlighted the need for families to address the related issues of family legacy, family leadership and family risk management on a fully-integrated and fully-informed basis,” said Ms. Hamilton. “Many families are looking for a better approach to define and protect their legacies and clarify their philosophies of wealth.  They want to improve their models and principles of family leadership and take a more engaged role with regard to the management of family wealth, risk and change.”

Mr. Daniell adds, “While responding as needed to changes in the environment and within the family, family leaders often want to ensure continuity as well as manage change: pursuing the same long-term goals of wealth preservation through periods of both turbulence and calm.  They are also seeking the sustainability of the family enterprise and a lasting approach to family unity that ensures they are contributing to the creation of an enduring family legacy.”

The book draws from a deep understanding of how the world’s wealthiest families have tried, with both success and failure, to preserve their legacies across time and through inevitable periods of turbulence and change. It also:

•   draws on over half a century of combined experience by the authors in addressing the issues of legacy and leadership
•   captures the history and lessons learned – both positive and negative – of some of the world’s wealthiest families and their leaders.
•   presents a masterly blend of theory and practice with frameworks, approaches, and examples on key issues for practical application.
•   addresses not only the technical but also human issues that families and their leaders face in wealth sustainability and legacy building.
•   breaks new ground in defining and elaborating on the Family Promise and the Family Eco-system
•   contains contributions from some of the world’s leading thinkers on legacy and leadership: Jay Hughes, Ivan Lansberg, Marty Linsky, Fredda Hertz Brown and others.

“An appreciation of family legacy begins with an understanding that legacy is about far more than the past, and that true family wealth is about far more than money,” said Mr. Daniell. “Family wealth is a kind of energy which, correctly applied, can do great good. It is a gift that benefits members of the family, but also extends to those who benefit from the family’s philanthropy, business and investment activities, community engagement, and demonstrated personal integrity.”

Concludes Ms. Hamilton, “Proper management of family wealth, in all of its forms, requires effective leadership, a commitment by all members to the family and its collective future, and a thoughtful approach to managing the risk and change that challenge all family enterprises.”


About the Authors:
Mark Haynes Daniell is Chairman of The Cuscaden Group, his own family office in Singapore, which serves as an investment and advisory business helping the leaders of wealthy families to define and implement their own legacy plans and long-term investment strategies.

Daniell is a former Director of Bain & Company and Wasserstein Perella. He holds degrees from the Harvard Law School, Oxford University, Amherst College, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, the Sorbonne-Université de Paris IV and the Phillips Exeter Academy.

He is a frequent expert guest commentator on CNBC, the BBC, CNN and Channel NewsAsia and the author of seven books, including Strategy for the Wealthy Family: Seven Principles to Assure Riches to Riches Across Generations.

Sara S. Hamilton is the founder and CEO of Family Office Exchange (FOX), the definitive source of information and best practices associated with the business of managing family wealth across generations.

She serves on the Executive Education faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for the course on Private Wealth Management offered twice a year in Chicago.

In 2009 and 2010, Hamilton was named one of the “Top 50 Women in Wealth Management” by Wealth Manager. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Wealth Management and Trusts and Estates as well as a Founding Board of the Chicago Global Donors Network.

Prior to founding FOX, Hamilton worked in marketing and strategy at Harris Bank and AT&T Information Systems. Hamilton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of North Florida.


About Wiley:
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is a legal family that has been a valued source of information and understanding for over 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 400 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology/Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Peace.

Our core businesses include scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

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Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for over 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations.