2025 POST-SUMMIT REPORT:
Family Wealth Report
Family Office Investment Summit A summary of key insights from a day of expert discussions, innovative pitches, and strategic networking – highlighting actionable take-aways to navigate today’s investment landscape.
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Contents OPENING REMARKS: PwC Global Family Office Deals Study 2025 PANEL 1: Going Direct – The Evolution of Family Office Private Market Investing PRESENTATION 1: The Emerging Case for Marinas: Why Family Offices Should Allocate to a Constrained Asset Class FIRESIDE CHAT 1: Building Trust at Scale: How AI Governance Unlocks Innovation and Protects Brand Value PANEL 2: AI in the Family Office: Lessons from Asset & Wealth Managers and a Look Ahead AFTERNOON KEYNOTE: Rethinking Risk and Return: Smarter Asset Allocation for Long-Term Success PRESENTATION 4: Positioning Oil and Gas as a Dependable Real Assets Investment Strategy PRESENTATION 5: A Powerful Investment Most Investors Overlook: Paying Less in Taxes PANEL 3: Cultural Assets - Building the Next Alternative Category for Wealth & Family Offices PANEL 4: Doing Well Through Doing Good: Investing in Rare Disease Drugs PRESENTATION 6: AI Technology Meets Humanity in Next-Generation Wealth Stewardship FIRESIDE CHAT 3: The Family Office Trap: When Doing Too Much Does Harm
Introduction Navigating the New Frontier of Private Wealth The Family Wealth Report annual Family Office Investment Summit in New York City served as a critical forum for discussing the evolving strategies of the world’s most sophisticated investors. As traditional market boundaries blur, the summit highlighted a decisive shift toward private markets, the integration of generative AI, and the pursuit of "offbeat" alpha. This report collates the key insights and strategic takeaways from each session of the agenda. THE PRIVATE MARKET MANDATE
A primary theme of the summit was the structural advantage held by family offices in private equity and direct investing. Experts, including Ira Perlmuter (IJP Family Partners) and Brian Sun (Potenza Capital), noted that the lack of institutional bureaucracy allows family offices to move with a speed and agility that traditional firms cannot match. By leveraging long-term "patient capital," these offices are uniquely positioned to capture illiquidity premiums. The discussions underscored that as companies remain private for longer durations, family offices are increasingly moving away from passive fund allocations in favor of direct and co-investment models to drive superior returns.
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
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AI: BEYOND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
THE SEARCH FOR OFFBEAT ALPHA
The dialogue surrounding Artificial Intelligence has transitioned from speculative interest to practical deployment. Representatives from PwC and Barometer detailed a two-pronged approach to AI:
In an era of crowded trades, the summit explored the "offbeat" opportunities that lie outside the mainstream. From the intricacies of the music industry to niche private credit and specialty real estate, the sessions revealed an appetite for non-correlated assets. These discussions emphasized that for the modern family office, diversification is no longer just about asset classes, but about finding specialized sectors where deep domain expertise creates a competitive moat.
• Operational Optimization: Using LLMs to automate meeting summaries, legal drafting, and accounting workflows. • Strategic Personalization: Moving toward "hyper-personalized" wealth management where data is used to deepen client relationships rather than just process transactions. The consensus among panelists was that the successful adoption of AI requires a "citizen-led" mindset – focusing on specific business problems rather than the technology itself.
CONCLUSION
The following pages provide a detailed breakdown of each session, offering a roadmap for navigating the complexities of the current investment landscape. These summaries reflect a community of investors that is increasingly sophisticated, tech-enabled, and prepared to look beyond traditional horizons to secure multi-generational wealth.
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
OPENING REMARKS:
PwC Global Family Office Deals Study 2025 BELINDA J. SNEDDON
Managing Director, Family Enterprise Advisory Services - PwC Belinda is a Senior Managing Director with the firm’s family enterprise advisory practice, which includes solutions for families, their family business and family office. She advises clients on family and business governance, succession planning, establishing family offices and private trust companies, and performing reviews of family offices and family trust companies to ensure they most effectively support the family and its desired legacy. Belinda has over 30 years of experience as a consultant, multi-family office executive, and investment professional. For the last 20 years, she has focused exclusively on advising and supporting wealthy families on issues of wealth transfer, governance, succession, investment policy, fiduciary considerations and philanthropic strategy. Prior to joining PwC, she was the Group Executive and National Practice Executive for Bank of America Private Bank’s (formerly U.S. Trust) family office and has significant experience in the management of family office and trust company functions including; fiduciary oversight and administration, investment strategy and oversight, philanthropic considerations, operations, and financial metrics. Belinda is a frequent national speaker on a wide range of family business and family office topics.
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he PwC Global Family Office Deals Study 2025 helps analyze the trends shaping family office investment strategies worldwide. This summary shares key findings on the scale and sophistication of family office investment strategies. SHIFTS IN INVESTMENT STRATEGY Family offices are prioritizing quality over quantity — focusing on fewer, larger and more strategic deals. Deal volume has reached a decade low, reflecting sharper selectivity in the types of transactions they pursue. Rather than spreading capital across many ventures, family offices concentrate resources where deep expertise and active engagement promise greater value. Club deals remain the most common structure, representing nearly 69% of transactions. These joint efforts offer benefits such as shared sector expertise, risk diversification, lower due diligence costs, and stronger negotiating leverage.
DIRECT INVESTMENT AND CUSTOM STRUCTURES More family offices are shifting away from traditional fund vehicles in favor of direct investments and custom structures aligned to their goals. This approach helps provide more control and enables structuring for alignment with family values, operational capabilities, and long-term ambitions. The decline in fund commitments highlights a growing appetite for deals where family offices can engage directly and maintain active oversight. SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS: REAL ESTATE AND PRIVATE EQUITY Real estate is now the top asset class, accounting for 39% of allocations in the first half of 2025 – up from 26% two years earlier. Notably, apartment complexes and land development dominate, with aggregate deal value jumping from US$2.1 billion to US$7.5 billion over this period. Family offices are capitalizing on market dislocations and urbanization trends while leveraging their ability to navigate complex, long-term development projects.
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
Private equity now makes up around 19% of allocations, with a clear shift toward hands-on operations and long-term value creation. Offices are moving away from highly leveraged buyouts, instead favoring “buy and build” strategies, strategic collaborations, and extended holding periods that enable operational improvement and compounding returns. GEOGRAPHIC AND GENERATIONAL SHIFTS Family offices are expanding globally, with Singapore and the UAE emerging as key hubs. North America remains the primary destination, leading in both deal count and aggregate value. Most family offices were established after 2001, and three-quarters benefit from the entrepreneurial involvement of their founders. Only 14% were created following liquidity events. With over 30% operated by entrepreneurs and only 12% are run primarily by heirs, offices increasingly reflect a hands-on, growth-driven ethos.
FUTURE OUTLOOK High-performing family offices emphasize adaptability and continuous learning. Direct investment, club deals, and real estate will remain major areas of focus. Offices are also prepared to respond quickly to shifting macroeconomic and regulatory environments, leveraging networks and expertise to help unlock new opportunities. Family offices in 2025 are defined by discernment, collaboration, and a sustained focus on value creation — especially in real estate, private equity, and innovation-led sectors. PwC Global Family Deals Study can be found here: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/family-business/ family-office/family-office-deals-study.html
VENTURE CAPITAL AND INNOVATION Venture capital and private equity now make up half of deal activity — reflecting a strong appetite for innovation and future growth. Family offices are targeting AI, SaaS, fintech and healthcare, where new business models and transformative impacts are emerging. This forward-looking approach is supported by agile structures and regular collaboration among family members, operators, and industry experts.
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For more information visit: www.pwc.com
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
PANEL 1:
Going Direct – The Evolution of Family Office Private Market Investing PETER BENNITT Financial Advisor
Pete Bennitt is a finance executive with over 25 years of experience in capital markets and investment management. He is the Principal of PRB Advisory where he advises family offices, institutional investors and companies in accessing the private credit markets. Previously he held senior roles at Imperial Capital, Stifel and JP Morgan where he advised companies in raising debt and equity capital. He was also a Portfolio Manager at Callidus Capital, a fixed income asset management firm.
CLAIRE CHAMPY
Vice President - Atlas Innovate Since 2017, Claire Champy has been investing in disruptive technologies on behalf of Atlas Holdings’ family office. She supports its direct venture program and overseas its third-party fund portfolio. Her responsibilities range from sourcing and evaluating opportunities to assessing potential synergies with Atlas Holdings’ industrial and manufacturing companies.
IRA PERLMUTER
CIO - IJP Family Partners Ira is a seasoned family office, finance, investment and restructuring professional. He currently serves on the Board of a bank he acquired for a significant family. He has been the Chairman of the Credit and Compliance Committees for over 11 years. In addition to the bank, Ira also acquired 11 operating companies for the family. He served as Chairman of five of those companies.
MAXIME SEGUINEAU
Founder, Managing - Raido Capital Partners (Moderator) Maxime Seguineau is a financial entrepreneur and private investor with expertise across capital markets, technology, and alternative investments. He is Managing Partner at Raido Capital Partners, which he co-founded to back financial software and AI-enabled services firms with structured growth equity. Previously, he was Managing Director at Seaport Global, where he co-founded and led Axegine, an AI-driven systematic credit hedge fund.
BRIAN SUN
Vice President - Potenza Capital Brian (he/him) supports the Potenza team in all aspects of deploying capital and executing its investment strategy. Prior to Potenza, he was most recently at Invictus Growth Partners, where he focused on growth and buyout transactions within software and tech enabled services. Previously, Brian was at 17Capital, where he provided growth capital and liquidity to sponsor backed businesses and managers across various industries.
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
THE BLENDED PORTFOLIO APPROACH GAINS MOMENTUM AMONG FAMILY OFFICES Family offices have emerged as one of the fastest-growing forces in private capital markets, with 70% now engaged in direct investing according to Citi's 2025 Global Family Office Report. At the Family Wealth Report Summit on November 17, 2025, our panel of investment professionals – including Claire Champy (President, Family Office, Atlas Holdings), Brian Sun (Vice President, Potenza Capital), Ira J. Perlmuter (IJP Family Partners), and Pete Bennitt, CFA – explored how families are navigating the complexities of building successful direct investment programs. THE STRUCTURAL SHIFT ACCELERATES
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independent sponsors, and select closed-end fund commitments with co-investment rights. This framework addresses the key challenges while preserving the benefits families seek. Independent sponsors have emerged as particularly valuable partners. Unlike traditional private equity funds, they raise capital deal-by-deal, allowing families to evaluate specific opportunities without blind pool commitments. Research from Bastiat Partners and Kharis Capital indicates that 50% of family offices plan to execute direct deals through independent sponsors over the next two years. These partnerships provide access to experienced operators and proprietary deal flow without requiring families to build extensive internal infrastructure.
The motivations driving family offices toward direct investing are compelling. Beyond the obvious fee advantages of avoiding the traditional 2-and-20 model, families seek greater control over investment decisions and transparency into portfolio company operations. BNY's 2025 Investment Insights For Single Family Offices report reveals that alignment of interests has become paramount, with a 52% yearover-year increase in family offices citing this as a crucial consideration. This reflects families' desire to leverage their entrepreneurial heritage and industry expertise – assets that often remain underutilized in traditional fund structures.
The approach extends to traditional fund investments, where families are increasingly selective. Growth equity funds capture 28% of private equity allocations, followed by buyout funds at 21%, according to Citi's data. Critically, families are negotiating for co-investment rights that provide additional control and fee efficiency. Secondary transactions, engaging 30% of direct investors, offer another tool for liquidity management – particularly valuable given the patient capital nature of family office investing.
The data validates this momentum. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of family offices expect to make six or more direct investments in the coming year, representing a 10% increase from the previous period according to BNY. Growth-stage companies (Series C and D) command the strongest preference at 52%, as families balance risk with the potential for meaningful returns. The focus on established businesses over early-stage ventures reflects a pragmatic approach to direct investing, particularly given current market uncertainties.
Our panelists highlighted a critical insight often overlooked in direct investing discussions: the importance of matching investment structures to underlying cash flow patterns. Families with irregular cash flows from operating businesses or liquidity events benefit from the flexibility of direct investments and deal-by-deal commitments. Conversely, those with regular, predictable income streams can more easily accommodate traditional fund capital call schedules.
THE EXECUTION REALITY CHECK Yet aspiration and capability often diverge. Our panelists emphasized a sobering reality: only half of family offices making direct private investments have private equity professionals on staff trained to structure and identify optimal opportunities. Even more telling, just 20% take board seats as part of their investments, suggesting limited bandwidth for the oversight and value creation that direct investing demands. The talent gap manifests differently across geographies. In the United States, 44% of family offices cite understaffing as a significant bottleneck according to BNY's research. Non-U.S. offices face additional challenges around limited scalability and smaller local opportunity sets. These constraints underscore why pure direct investing, while attractive in theory, remains impractical for many families without strong ties to independent sponsors. THE BLENDED PORTFOLIO SOLUTION The panel consensus pointed toward a more nuanced approach: deploying capital through a blended portfolio combining direct investments, partnerships with specialized
ALIGNING STRUCTURE WITH CASH FLOWS
This alignment principle extends to evergreen vehicles, which have gained traction as a middle ground. These structures provide deployment timing flexibility while maintaining professional management – addressing both control and capability concerns. During market dislocations, families with evergreen allocations can act as patient capital providers, potentially accessing attractive opportunities when others face liquidity constraints. THE PATH FORWARD The institutionalization of family office investing continues to evolve. Club deals now represent 60% of direct investment volume according to PwC's analysis, reflecting families' recognition that collaboration can enhance both deal access and risk management. Technology adoption for deal sourcing and due diligence is accelerating, while next-generation family members – 73% of whom are expected to change investment approaches according to Bank of America – bring new perspectives on sectors like AI and sustainable investing. The outsourcing of specialized functions represents another pragmatic adaptation. Rather than building comprehensive internal teams, families are partnering with advisors, independent sponsors, and platform providers to access
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
expertise on demand. This hybrid model preserves the control families value while acknowledging the complexity of modern private markets. Our panel's message was clear: successful direct investing requires honest self-assessment and strategic pragmatism. The blended portfolio approach – mixing direct investments with independent sponsors, traditional funds, and co-investments – provides broader origination coverage, increased informational advantage, better diversification, and crucially, flexibility in fee and liquidity management. For most family offices, this framework represents not a compromise but an optimization, leveraging the unique advantages of patient family capital while acknowledging the realities of competing in institutional private markets. As family offices continue their evolution from passive allocators to active investors, those who embrace this balanced approach will be best positioned to capture the opportunities ahead while managing the inherent complexities of direct investing.
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ABOUT RAIDO CAPITAL Raido Capital invests in the financial domain. We manifest a secure economic future powered by intelligent augmentation and programmable finance. With an investor base consisting predominantly of family offices and UHNWI, we make growth oriented investments in companies focused on streamlining legacy workflows, augmenting human participation, and enabling adaptive, autonomous growth in next-generation financial services.
For more information visit: https://www.raido.investments/
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
PRESENTATION 1:
The Emerging Case for Marinas: Why Family Offices Should Allocate to a Constrained Asset Class ARINDER MAHAL
Co-Founder and Partner - Capri Harbor Marina Group Arinder Mahal has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance and as an executive/board advisor in multiple industries. Arinder has a broad array of experience in industry including starting and managing a software company, large scale project management, executive management, leading technology investment banking teams at multiple firms where he executed both financings and M&A projects. He has advised many U.S. and Canadian companies in the areas of corporate strategy, corporate finance, joint ventures/M&A. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Manager with Deloitte Consulting with focus on strategy and finance. He currently serves on the board of NanoXplore Inc. (GRA-TSX). Arinder has a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical), and an MBA.
TERRY THIB
Co-Founder and Partner - Capri Harbor Marina Group Terry grew up in the marina industry as his family owned and operated a marina and dry-storage facility for 40 years. Terry brings over 20 years of capital markets and investing experience in public and private debt and equity including investing in real estate and infrastructure development projects. Before Capri Harbor, Terry was a seasoned VP of Investments & Portfolio Manager for more than a decade where he established and managed an alternative multi-asset class income and growth franchise known for stable risk adjusted returns. From 2012-2018, Terry was consistently named a Brendan Wood TopGun Investment Mind and was a key member of the management team that has won two Lipper Awards in 2012 & 2013. Terry has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, a Master of Engineering Science degree from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA specializing Real Estate and Investment Management from the Schulich School of Business.
WHY FAMILY OFFICES ARE TURNING TO MARINAS – AND WHY THIS NICHE IS POISED FOR OUTSIZED OPPORTUNITY Family offices today sit at an inflection point in how they allocate capital. Traditional asset classes – public equities, bonds, traditional real estate – have become increasingly efficient, increasingly correlated, and, in many cases, increasingly expensive. At the same time, the multi-generational mindset of family capital pushes decision-makers to prioritize resilience, defensibility, and the ability to participate in long-term value creation in ways institutional capital often cannot.
It is in this environment that marinas – long overlooked as a niche corner of real estate – are emerging as one of the most intriguing alternative asset classes for family offices seeking uncorrelated yield, inflation-aligned revenue, and exposure to a sector with secular demand tailwinds. Unlike many mainstream commercial real estate assets that are subject to cyclical leasing risk, marinas operate in a structurally supply-constrained, operationally sticky ecosystem that rewards careful management and patient capital.
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
A DURABLE ASSET IN A CONSTRAINED ECOSYSTEM The structural dynamics of marinas differ fundamentally from other real estate. Waterfront land is finite. Permitting is slow, heavily regulated, and often politically sensitive. Environmental requirements – such as manatee protection plans, coastal resilience standards, and dredging approvals – make new construction complex, time-consuming, and dependent on specialized expertise. The scarcity of suitable land, combined with these multi-layered approval processes, significantly limits new supply. In fact, over the past several decades, net marina supply in many coastal markets has decreased as waterfront properties have been converted into residential or hospitality developments. Yet the growing population of boaters, the steady rise in average vessel size, and increasingly stringent “safe storage” requirements from insurance carriers have created demand pressure that is both persistent and predictable. For family offices, this positions marinas as a distinctive real-asset category – one defined by irreplaceable coastal land, a resilient and affluent user base, and a competitive landscape naturally constrained by complex permitting and regulatory hurdles. CONSISTENT CASH FLOW WITH INFLATION ALIGNMENT Marinas blend characteristics of both real estate and operating businesses – an attractive combination for family offices that value cash-yielding assets with the potential for operational upside. Revenue comes from multiple streams and sources: slip rentals, dry storage, fuel sales, service operations, and ancillary offerings such as restaurants or retail. Many of these revenue streams are contractual or recurring, with annual CPI-based escalators or market-rate resets.
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stay. Occupancy in well-located (coastal) marinas frequently sits close to 100%, even in stressed markets. For family offices sensitive to inflation eroding real returns, marina leases and membership fees provide natural inflation protection. Operators review pricing annually, and because demand exceeds supply in many markets, rate increases tend to be accepted with limited churn. LOW CORRELATION TO PUBLIC MARKETS AND BROADER REAL ESTATE CYCLES One of the more compelling arguments for marina investment is its low correlation with broader macroeconomic swings. While tourism-driven destinations experience some cyclicality, owners of 35+ ft vessels tend to be less economically elastic than typical consumer groups. This customer profile creates revenue stability that stands apart from hotel occupancy cycles, retail foot traffic, or office leasing dynamics. Additionally, marinas did not undergo the type of institutionalization seen in multifamily, industrial, or self-storage. Many assets remain family-owned, under-managed, or operated with legacy approaches that open the door to modernization, professionalization, and accretive redevelopment. Family offices used to buying unloved assets and repositioning them will find familiar mechanics here. HIGHLY FRAGMENTED MARKET… There are over 4,000 marinas in the U.S. with vast majority owned by small mom & pop operators - top 5 operators own less than 10% of the market.
ROBUST RENTAL INCREASES Given the high occupancy levels especially in coastal regions, the rent rates have experienced a steady increase.
OPERATIONAL VALUE CREATION AND MULTI-GENERATIONAL STEWARDSHIP
Importantly, boat storage is not a discretionary cost in the same way hospitality or retail spending may be. High-value vessel owners must store their boats safely (in many cases required by the insurance companies), and once they find a marina that matches their service expectations, they tend to
Operational improvements – modernizing systems/techenabling operations, updating docks, enhancing amenities, expanding dry-stack capacity – can meaningfully raise asset value. These improvements also tend to have long useful lives and contribute to the kind of long-term stewardship that family offices often prioritize.
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
Moreover, marinas often sit at the nexus of community, recreation, and environmental protection. For many families, particularly those with a personal affinity for boating, waterfront culture, or coastal conservation, marinas offer both a financial return and a sense of legacy. They present opportunities to build sustainable, hurricane-resilient infrastructure, preserve working waterfronts, and support local marine economies – creating a narrative of impact alongside return.
to smaller vessels and newer, premium facilities catering to the growing population of high-net-worth boaters. Family offices targeting the upper end of this spectrum often encounter better economics – higher revenue per slip, more defensible pricing, and a customer base aligned with luxury service expectations.
DEMOGRAPHIC TAILWINDS AND RISING VESSEL SIZES
A wave of consolidation has begun, driven by both private equity platforms - highlighted by Blackstone’s acquisition of Safe Harbor Marinas earlier this year; and well-capitalized marina operators. Yet the sector remains fragmented, with thousands of independent owners considering succession, divestiture, and very few considering redevelopment. Family offices can still capture attractive entry prices relative to the revenue quality and irreplaceability of the underlying land.
The U.S. boating population has expanded steadily over the past decade, not only in volume but in the sophistication of vessels. Modern boats are larger, technologically complex, and require infrastructure that older marinas often cannot support without significant reinvestment. Dry-stack facilities with hurricane-rated engineering, deep-water wet slips, advanced fire suppression, and premium customer services are in high demand yet undersupplied. STRONG MARKET TRENDS Favorable demographic trends as aging U.S population is a positive as most boat buyers are concentrated in older, wealthier demographic groups – baby boomers are the wealthiest generation in history.
WHY THE OPPORTUNITY TODAY IS PARTICULARLY TIMELY
Coastal climate resilience requirements also favor groups willing to invest in modern infrastructure. As building codes evolve and insurers demand higher standards, older marinas may become functionally obsolete unless upgraded. Investors capable of deploying development capital – patiently, thoughtfully, and with a long-term view – stand to benefit as the market bifurcates into future-ready assets and those that can no longer meet regulatory or market expectations. HOW CAPRI HARBOR FITS WITHIN THIS BROADER THESIS Capri Harbor Marina Group is acquiring and redeveloping coastal marinas, with an initial focus on South Florida. Within the broader industry landscape, Capri Harbor reflects a microcosm of the overall opportunity – its strategy is directly aligned with the structural forces reshaping the sector.
This creates a natural segmentation: older marinas catering
Capri targets the premium segment of the market serving high-value, larger vessels in supply-constrained coastal markets, where demand for safe, modern storage far exceeds available capacity. Its emphasis on hurricane-resilient dry-stack and high-quality wet slips, technology driven
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
operations coupled with premium amenities perfectly align with the next generation of marina infrastructure. What differentiates Capri is its concentration on value creation through redevelopment rather than relying on existing cash flow alone. In coastal markets like South Florida, land availability is shrinking, environmental permitting is lengthening, thus assets that can be redeveloped and modernized – structurally, technologically, and operationally – are positioned to outperform over a multi-decade horizon. For family offices seeking to enter the marina sector with a partner already aligned to long-term stewardship, modern engineering standards, and disciplined acquisition practices, Capri Harbor sits squarely at the intersection of opportunity
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and necessity. It captures the essence of the asset class: scarcity, resilience, and the ability to create value through thoughtful investment and disciplined operational approach rather than financial engineering.
For more information visit: www.chmarinas.com
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POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
FIRESIDE CHAT 1:
Building Trust at Scale: How AI Governance Unlocks Innovation and Protects Brand Value ANNA GARCIA
Founder & Managing Partner - Altari Ventures Anna Garcia is the founder and managing partner of Altari Ventures, a New Yorkbased early stage enterprise fintech fund. Prior to starting Altari Ventures, Anna was a B2B SaaS investor at Runway Venture Partners, a successful angel and a long-time Wall Street executive. Over the course of her 17 year banking career, Anna held senior investment banking and asset management roles at Merrill Lynch, Jefferies and JP Morgan. Anna has been actively engaged in the fintech ecosystem since 2013 and sees enormous and continued opportunity in backing companies modernizing financial services infrastructure, the functioning of the capital markets and institutional processes in financial services and other industries. Altari Ventures is bringing together and leveraging all of Anna's professional experiences, knowledge and networks to build and support a unique growth portfolio aligned with these views.
TAMARA ZUBATIY NELSON Co-Founder and CEO - Barometer
Dr. Tamara Zubatiy Nelson (aka Toma) is cofounder and CEO of Barometer, which consumes premium media, like podcasts, and analyzes it with proprietary AI to give advertisers real context on the where their ads are running. This helps advertisers go beyond keywords to confirm a podcast's topic, tone, target audience and more to make sure it's an appropriate match to advertise on and will command successful results. With a PhD in human-centered AI, Nelson works with groups like Horizon Media, Omnicom Group and The Trade Desk to drive innovation and brand success for the biggest brands in the world through Barometer's planning, targeting and reporting solutions. Barometer has routed more than $100 million in global ad spend to tens of thousands of creators in multiple languages. Toma is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Recipient, was named Cynopsis Top Women in Media in 2023 and AdTech Innovator Honoree in 2023 as well as SXSW Pitch Winner of FastPitch in AI category.
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t the recent Family Wealth Report Investment Summit, I sat down with Tamara Zubatiy Nelson, Forbes 30 Under 30 CEO and founder of Barometer, an Altari Ventures portfolio company building AI infrastructure to safeguard brand reputation. Our conversation explored the central challenge facing enterprises today: how to harness AI's transformative potential without sacrificing the brand trust that underpins their entire business. As an enterprise fintech investor, I observe a clear paradox: the AI technologies most capable of revolutionizing financial services simultaneously introduce some of the biggest risk challenges.
Financial institutions spent $35 billion on AI in 2023, with projections reaching $97 billion by 2027 – the fastest growth of any major industry. AI is being deployed across everything from workflow optimization and analysis to content generation and monitoring systems designed to reach customers through every conceivable channel. McKinsey estimates generative AI could add $200 to $340 billion in annual value to global banking. Yet unlocking this value hinges on resolving a critical bottleneck: establishing trust in AI output at enterprise scale. The gap between ambition and execution is staggering. Today, 75% of financial firms deploy AI, yet only 12% have
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
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implemented risk management frameworks. This chasm between adoption and governance represents an enormous emerging investment opportunity. The AI explainability and observability market is projected to exceed $21 billion by 2030, encompassing the infrastructure that makes AI decisions transparent, auditable, and defensible. Barometer is building precisely this safeguards infrastructure – enabling brands to monitor and protect their reputational capital as they engage customers across expanding content channels. While Barometer serves major enterprises spanning multiple industries, financial institutions comprise their most substantial client base, validating both the pressing need and the solution's effectiveness.
real-time bidding infrastructure, determining instantaneously where content should or shouldn't be placed.
FROM HUMAN-CENTERED AI RESEARCH TO MARKET NEED
Tamara framed the challenge as a dual evolution: both the problem and the solution space are changing in parallel. On the problem side, content channels continue to proliferate alongside explosive growth in volume itself – across user-generated material, premium media, podcasts.
Tamara's path to founding Barometer began during her PhD program at Georgia Tech, where she focused on humancentered AI – engineering systems to work for us rather than requiring us to adapt ourselves to work for AI. Around 2020, she identified a seismic shift in information consumption: sources were multiplying rapidly, moving from traditional one-to-many communication to individualized echo chambers — podcasts, YouTube channels, niche social platforms. Understanding how and where audiences consumed information became exponentially harder.
REPUTATIONAL RISK AT AI SPEED The velocity of reputational risk has transformed dramatically with AI. One bad association or false piece of information can snowball into a full-blown brand crisis within minutes, with consequences that prove devastatingly punitive. Organizations cannot address this challenge through human vigilance alone – detection, monitoring, and response at human speed prove categorically insufficient against threats moving at AI speed.
On the solution side, there's a critical distinction between traditional machine learning and what we're now calling AI. Machine learning operates deterministically: input X always yields the same result. Query ChatGPT with the same question twice, however, and you won't get identical answers. For a financial brand's reputational risk profile, that deviation is unacceptable.
Simultaneously, advertising faced a reckoning with this transformed landscape. How could brands reach audiences effectively and safely amid such fragmentation? With her expertise in natural language processing, Tamara saw an opening for a company that was capable of ingesting this deluge of media, extracting coherent signals, and guiding brand activity in alignment with established values and risk parameters.
An MIT study revealed that only 5% of AI deployments in enterprise have progressed beyond pilot stage to scaled production delivering measurable value. This statistic illuminates the AI governance opportunity: establishing rigorous validation processes – both human oversight and technical infrastructure – enables organizations to achieve the same confidence in AI systems that they currently maintain in proven machine learning solutions.
Today, Barometer functions as the premier brand suitability and contextual targeting platform for major purchasers of premium media. The system analyzes content before advertisements deploy, ensuring regulated industries like financial services avoid topics deemed inappropriate or illegal – unauthorized investment advice, gambling promotions, or worse. Integrated directly into the programmatic advertising ecosystem, Barometer operates as an oracle within the
AI GOVERNANCE AS INNOVATION ENABLER For executives who hear "AI governance" and reflexively think "compliance checkbox" or "innovation impediment", Tamara articulated a different framing: AI governance represents a tremendous opportunity to unlock operational value and enable AI to deliver its promised business impact.
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Consider Barometer's current approach: their machine learning system generates signals identifying which sites, videos, or social content align with client standards. Today, a human still reviews every single one before implementing changes. The governed AI future? Systems that automatically adjust, recognize anomalies, self-correct, report deviations – all operating with sufficient systemic trust that human intervention becomes unnecessary for routine determinations. The governance infrastructure won't constitute mere oversight layered atop existing technology; it demands holistic reimagination of how these systems are architected, validated, and deployed to establish appropriate degrees of institutional confidence. WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON Looking ahead, Tamara described something approaching a renaissance in content creation and human potential. AI's promise of radical personalization is fueling an explosion of diverse perspectives and creative output. More profoundly, this evolution is unlocking human capabilities that previously lacked sufficient opportunity for expression. The transformation unfolds across two dimensions. The immediate phase manifests as augmented productivity – employees wielding AI tools to amplify their effectiveness within existing roles. The more consequential shift, however, will emerge when enterprises redesign their core offerings
around AI capabilities rather than merely enhance existing products. That inflection point – when AI moves from productivity enhancer to product foundation – represents where genuine value creation occurs. PARTING THOUGHTS AI can function as either hero or villain for brand reputation, particularly within regulated industries where trust constitutes a foundational product itself. It accelerates processes and enhances capabilities, but a single misstep can cascade into existential crisis within minutes. At the ambitious scale stakeholders envision for AI adoption, humans simply cannot maintain oversight without technological governance infrastructure. Organizations that recognize AI governance as foundational architecture rather than ancillary consideration position themselves to capture disproportionate value. For investors, this represents an incredibly compelling opportunity: with billions of dollars to be invested to resolve the AI governance bottleneck, backing private early stage companies building these solutions has the potential to create generational wealth. For more information visit: www.altariventures.com https://app.thebarometer.co
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
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PANEL 2:
AI in the Family Office: Lessons from Asset & Wealth Managers and a Look Ahead PETER BIXLER
Senior Manager, Family Enterprise Advisory Services - PwC Peter is a Senior Manager with PwC's Family Enterprise Advisory Services practice based out of the New York office. He has over 10 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, predominantly in pricing and valuation control for hedge fund clients and alternative asset focused wealth managers. Since joining PwC, Peter has served multi-generational family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals on a wide range of engagements, focusing on initiatives including target operating model design, risk assessment, process automation, custom reporting, and technology implementation. Peter’s experience also includes working with leading retail banks, advising on operational risk management and control framework.
KRISTIN CHRISTINE
Director, Asset Management Advisory Practice - PwC Kristin is a Director in the Asset Management Advisory practice. Kristin is focused on supporting Alternative Asset Managers navigate complex operational and technological transformations. Kristin’s expertise spans across strategy, development, operating model design, and implementation of new processes and technologies. She has led a number of key transformation programs across a diverse client base, including private mid-market firms, large multi-strategy public firms, and single- and multi-family offices.
LAUREN PHILLIPS
Director, Family Enterprise Advisory Services - PwC Lauren is a Director within PwC’s Family Enterprise Advisory Services practice. She has over 13 years of experience serving family offices and asset managers within PwC. Lauren began her tenure in the Asset & Wealth Management Advisory practice, where she gained extensive consulting experience assisting asset managers in operational efficiency, organizational assessment, and large-scale technology transformation. In this role, she supported family office engagements focused on target operating model design across people, process, and technology. She has continued to specialize in delivering consulting services to family offices that align with their vision and legacy. Lauren advises family offices on their technology strategy, including vendor selection, system implementations, and optimization of reporting, accounting, and governance platforms to support scalability and long-term needs.
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available enterprise tools for immediate productivity gains, speed, and insight. While custom built applications are far more common amongst larger scale institutions, family offices are following investment managers in using AI for due diligence, research synthesis, and portfolio analysis. Many are focusing on summarization and research use cases, where AI can reduce manual effort without adding operational risk. A standout use case is trust agreement summarization, where AI extracts key provisions and supports Q&A to determine if transactions are allowable. The same approach applies to partnership and operating agreements, helping automate reviews that once required senior-level review. Overall, AI adoption in family offices is about enhancing human expertise, improving productivity, and building confidence in responsible automation. AI isn’t replacing expertise – it’s enhancing it and helping teams build confidence in responsible automation.
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I is accelerating innovation across asset and wealth management – reshaping business models, workflows, and operations. Family offices are evolving beyond traditional wealth stewardship – and many of you are starting your AI journey, exploring how to integrate it responsibly. Institutional use cases don’t always translate directly to family offices, but many lessons apply – and there are clear opportunities to right-size AI adoption. HOW AI IS RESHAPING PRIVATE MARKETS Many institutional managers with private-market-focused-strategies are already adopting AI across the fund lifecycle and core corporate activities. Currently, the biggest areas of focus are in implementing AI in investment workflows, fundraising processes, and investor communications. Some firms are starting to explore solutions in middle and back-office functions as well – but those are often tied into larger, more traditional transformation projects. Investment processes have traditionally been largely manual and document intensive - AI is changing that – enabling more automated diligence processes and streamlined sourcing tasks. Firms are leveraging both general purpose AI tools as well as tools designed specifically for private markets. Tactical solutions are emerging aimed at improving effectiveness and speed in the deal process – such as drafting investment committee memos, summarizing data room documents, and extracting terms from credit agreements or customer contracts. Firms are also exploring solutions aimed at improving decision making – such as opportunity screening and investment committee preparation tools.
AI READINESS AND STRATEGY Family offices share several foundational requirements for effective AI adoption. Many centralize their approach while tailoring support to small, specialized teams. Use cases are prioritized and sequenced based on criteria including impact, time to value, scalability, and risk profile. Roles, organizational structures, and processes are defined with a focus on integration with current operating models. Cross-functional oversight bodies are established to oversee risk and remove roadblocks. Training and proactive communication are employed to support cultural and behavioral shifts. Other key strategies for adoption include the integration of AI into reviews, implementing AI workshops, monitoring of adoption metrics, and tracking of AI-specific KPIs. Data readiness is the foundation of successful AI adoption. When data is precise, consistent, and connected, AI delivers powerful insights. Equally important is strong governance and clear access controls to help protect sensitive family information and build trust. WHAT’S NEXT FOR FAMILY OFFICES
AI IN THE FAMILY OFFICE
As institutional managers advance their use of AI, family offices are building their own momentum. Practical workflows and citizen-led adoption are laying the groundwork for broader, responsible integration. We expect the initial focus on citizen-led usage to further evolve; increasing adoption, alongside the realization and measurement of value, is testament to AI becoming an integral part of daily work. As adoption accelerates, AI will likely become a natural part of daily decision-making.
Family offices are at different stages of their AI journey. Many of you are starting with low-risk, practical uses, and exploring the governance needed for safe adoption. In terms of specific tools, family offices are typically looking toward capabilities already present in their existing tech stack, with a focus on safe, integrated workflows. So called “citizen-led” adoption is also common currently, as staff utilizes readily
For more information visit: www.pwc.com
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
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AFTERNOON KEYNOTE:
Rethinking Risk and Return: Smarter Asset Allocation for Long-Term Success NEIL NISKER
Founder, Executive Chairman and CIO - Our Family Office Neil is a trusted and respected figure in the Canadian financial services industry. With well over 50 years of experience, Neil has served as President of Fiera Private Wealth, as the company’s Executive Vice Chairman and a member of its Board of Directors. He was also President of YMG Private Wealth, Chairman of Nisker Associates and was a driving force behind Brown Baldwin Nisker Ltd for more than 25 years, before it was sold and became HSBC Securities in 1998. He is also well known for being one of three managers of Sir John Templeton’s personal global mutual fund, Best Investments International, having been selected by his mentor in 1990.
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t the 2025 Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit in New York, Neil Nisker delivered a presentation that challenged conventional assumptions about portfolio construction and long-term wealth preservation. His remarks centred on a theme resonant throughout the family office community: successful investing depends less on forecasting markets and more on understanding risk, incentives, and the structural foundations of family wealth.
while not glamorous, remains one of the most transparent indicators of a portfolio’s behaviour through market cycles.
RISK, INCENTIVES, AND THE REAL DETERMINANTS OF INVESTMENT OUTCOMES
He critiqued the Sharpe ratio for its backward-looking nature and reliance on an ambiguous “risk-free” rate. In its place, he introduced the firm’s proprietary Simple Investment Ratio, or Sir Ratio, named for Sir John Templeton, which measures return earned per unit of volatility. A figure above 1 is preferable; however, equities over the last century measure closer to 0.6, raising questions about whether traditional public-market risk is adequately compensated.
Nisker opened by highlighting what he termed “simple truths” that many investors overlook. A central concern, he noted, is the misalignment of incentives in traditional long-only management. Managers may receive sizeable compensation even in years when clients experience losses, provided they outperform a benchmark by a small margin. As Nisker remarked, clients may “lose money, while managers get paid”- a dynamic that underscores the importance of understanding fee structures and behavioural incentives.
Where Wealth Is Built - and How Portfolios Should Reflect It Few individuals, Nisker observed, generate their first $100 million in public markets. Wealth creation tends to originate from private equity, venture capital, real estate, or operating businesses. His firm’s asset allocation reflects this reality, bearing little resemblance to the conventional 60/40 model. Their portfolios typically exhibit 3–4% volatility, less than half that of government bonds, while incorporating a high proportion of non-traditional assets.
He also revisited the mathematics of market drawdowns. A portfolio that falls 40% requires a 66.6% gain to recover, an imbalance frequently underestimated, yet experienced twice between 2000 and 2010. This reality informs his firm’s emphasis on downside protection rather than headline performance figures. “Think not only about returns,” he said, “but how much risk you are taking to achieve them.”
These include diversified mortgages, senior secured lending, income-oriented real estate, private equity, private credit, and multi-strategy real estate. During periods of market stress, such as the COVID-19 drawdown and the 2022 60/40 decline, these portfolios demonstrated notable resilience, registering only modest pullbacks or even positive returns.
MEASURING RISK: BEYOND THE SHARPE RATIO
THE BROADER ROLE OF A COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY OFFICE
Risk, Nisker argued, should be assessed in clear, quantifiable terms, most commonly through volatility. Standard deviation,
Nisker underscored the importance of a multi-generational infrastructure that integrates tax, planning, bookkeeping,
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and education. He likened it to a football team: a talented quarterback alone cannot win without effective receivers. Educating rising-generation family members to be capable recipients of inherited wealth, he stressed, is a core responsibility of any purpose-built family office. His firm’s Asset Architecture™ approach evaluates the full ecosystem of a family’s wealth - operating companies, real estate, development projects, insurance, and collections ensuring each component fits coherently into the broader strategy. AN “ALL-WEATHER” PORTFOLIO PHILOSOPHY
A CLOSING REFLECTION ON STEWARDSHIP Nisker ended with a light anecdote about J.D. Rockefeller, whose comment about his son enjoying a presidential suite, “because he has something I don’t have: a rich father”, reinforced a timeless lesson about generational advantage and the responsibility that accompanies it. His address ultimately emphasised that enduring wealth is not built on short-term performance, but on disciplined risk management, thoughtful education, and structures designed to last across generations.
Rather than categorising assets as stocks or bonds, Nisker encourages families to think in functional terms: What does an asset do? Does it stabilise returns, mitigate risk, provide inflation protection, or enhance performance? This practical framework supports his firm’s use of budgets, covering liquidity, correlation, potential return, and risk, to build portfolios capable of navigating diverse market conditions. The resulting allocation offers 40% higher expected returns and 40% less risk than a traditional 60/40 portfolio, with a Sir Ratio of 1.47 compared with 0.61 for the 60/40. Importantly, more than half the portfolio remains available daily or monthly, maintaining material liquidity.
For more information visit: www.ourfamilyoffice.ca
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
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PRESENTATION 4:
Positioning Oil and Gas as a Dependable Real Assets Investment Strategy DAX ATKINSON
Chief Investment Officer - Rockport Companies Dax Atkinson serves as Chief Investment Officer of Rockport Companies, where he draws on 25 years of experience investing across the capital structure with a strong emphasis on the oil and gas and industrial sectors. His expertise spans sourcing, structuring, and managing complex investments across private equity, distressed credit, and real assets. Dax has built a career leading high-impact investment strategies and advising companies through growth, transformation, and monetization. Dax served as Chief Financial Officer of Independence TX LLC, a family office with holdings in the energy services industry. There, he provided financial leadership across operating and investment platforms. Dax secured third-party capital to build out and support the energy services business and led the modernization of its finance and accounting functions. Before joining Independence TX, Dax spent over six years at Castlelake LP as Managing Director in the Special Situations Group, where he managed the firm's oil and gas portfolio. He deployed and actively managed close to $1 billion across platforms, including distressed asset acquisitions, recapitalizations, start-ups, and growth equity investments. His work included full-cycle investment responsibility—from origination through exit—and close collaboration with portfolio company leadership to improve operations and enhance capital efficiency. Earlier in his career, Dax held senior investment roles at CarVal Investors LLC and Deephaven Capital LLC, where he focused on distressed credit and special situations across multiple sectors, including oil and gas exploration, energy services and shipping. At CarVal, he co-developed and served as execution lead for a shipping investment platform in partnership with Cargill, Inc. Dax began his career in investment banking at Piper Jaffray, where he supported M&A and capital markets transactions for financial institutions.
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eal assets remain an important part of diversified portfolios, offering inflation protection, income generation, and tangible value that traditional financial assets cannot easily match. Within this category, investors often focus on real estate and infrastructure – but oil and gas, when managed with discipline and operational control, can provide a unique mix of steady cash flow, tax efficiency, downside protection, and long-term wealth preservation. Oil and gas also remains the backbone of modern society, supporting transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, and national security. Demand is structurally resilient, and the inventory of high-quality oil and gas assets has continued to shrink, creating scarcity value for select projects that remain attractive and worth developing.
The Rockport Energy Fund applies this model by turning upstream oil and gas projects into high-quality, income-producing real assets. Through strong operating expertise and an institutional approach to capital allocation and risk management, the fund seeks to convert well-designed oil
and gas projects into durable cash flow and long-term value for investors. REFRAMING OIL & GAS AS A REAL ASSET, NOT A COMMODITY BET Many investors still view oil and gas through the narrow lens of commodity price speculation. In reality, upstream oil and gas – particularly when structured around development-ready, lower-risk projects – has more in common with infrastructure or real estate than with short-term trading. Successful wells generate predictable, repeatable cash flows once on production, with decline curves and operating costs that can be modeled with remarkable precision. Particularly when sufficient subsurface and offset data exist, underwriting becomes a statistical exercise, allowing well results to be modeled mathematically with probability-weighted outcomes guiding expected performance. These assets are grounded in geologic reality, reservoir physics, and engineering principles, not market hype.
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systematically reduce risk and enhance value. Rockport focuses on development-ready, lower-risk, self-liquidating oil and gas projects with line-of-sight to early cash flow. The Fund’s design fits squarely within the goals of real asset investing: 1. Income Generation & Current Yield Producing oil and gas wells create immediate and ongoing cash flow. Rockport’s development program targets threeyear paybacks with meaningful yield beginning shortly after wells come online. These distributions, protected by commodity hedges, resemble rental income in real estate or toll income in infrastructure – steady, real-world cash flow tied to essential services. 2. Inflation Protection Energy prices are inherently linked to inflation. As the cost of goods and services rises, so does the value of energy and the revenue streams from hydrocarbon production. In contrast to bonds or equity income strategies vulnerable to interest-rate cycles, oil and gas revenues maintain purchasing power during inflationary periods. 3. Tangible, Intrinsically Valuable Assets
A real asset strategy emphasizes durability, yield, and capital preservation. Upstream projects, when executed by a capable operator with technical and financial discipline, provide: • Inflation-linked income, directly tied to real-world demand for energy. • Tangible intrinsic value in the form of reserves and producing wells. • Stable, multi-year cash distributions with hedges protecting cash flows and an asset that is self-liquidating. • Tax-advantaged returns, particularly through intangible drilling costs (IDCs) and depletion. • Low correlation to traditional financial assets. • Potential for upside capital appreciation through commodity price increases and discount rate compression. Rockport’s vertically integrated model, track record of success, and drill-ready inventory sharpen these advantages and make the strategy accessible to institutional and sophisticated private investors who demand governance, transparency, and repeatability. ROCKPORT’S POSITION IN THE REAL ASSET LANDSCAPE Rockport Energy Partners has a track record of operating across the full lifecycle of upstream development – sourcing, engineering, operating, and monetizing projects. This vertically integrated structure provides unique control and visibility over project economics, allowing Rockport to
Reserves in the ground and producing wells are physical, measurable, and appraisable. They cannot be digitally diluted, and their value is tied to long-term, essential-use demand. These assets represent commodities stored in the ground and embody the core real-asset principle of durable, intrinsic value. 4. Diversification & Low Correlation Upstream oil and gas returns are fundamentally different from equities, fixed income, or private credit. Their correlation to traditional markets is low, and their return drivers – geology, engineering, reservoir quality, and operating efficiency – are unique. Because wells generate high current yield and naturally self-liquidate as reserves are produced, the asset class reduces reliance on future exit events. This makes oil and gas an attractive diversifier within a real asset sleeve. THE ROCKPORT ENERGY PARTNERS ADVANTAGE: INSTITUTIONAL DISCIPLINE, TECHNICAL RIGOR, AND OPERATIONAL CONTROL Rockport is not a financial sponsor outsourcing operations. It is a veteran-owned, vertically integrated operator and asset manager with decades of experience drilling, completing, and operating wells on behalf of institutional investors, family offices, and private equity firms. This operational DNA is what transforms upstream assets into dependable real assets. 1. Proprietary, Drill-Ready Inventory Rockport has a significant pipeline of drill-ready opportunities. These are not speculative wells; they are
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engineered, derisked, and ready for development with geological, operational, and midstream considerations fully vetted. 2. Development Over Exploration Rockport’s projects are structured around development, not exploration. Exploration creates binary risk; development creates recurring cash flow. Rockport’s projects are characterized by proven reservoirs, existing well control and extensive subsurface data, clear visibility into type curves and decline profiles, and established takeaway infrastructure. This enables consistent underwriting and predictable outcomes. 3. Tax Efficiency Through IDCs
over costs. Every project is budgeted carefully with builtin cushions for unexpected expenses. We also use hedging tools to help stabilize the first years of cash flow. The portfolio is spread across different regions and project types to avoid concentration risk. Altogether, this disciplined model lowers risk and supports steady, predictable returns. CONCLUSION: ROCKPORT’S BLUEPRINT FOR A DEPENDABLE REAL ASSET ALLOCATION Rockport reframes oil and gas investing from a speculative exercise into a disciplined, repeatable, real-asset strategy. By focusing on drill-ready development, engineering excellence, operational control, and institutional quality capital allocation, Rockport delivers the attributes investors seek in real assets.
Upstream real assets also offer meaningful tax efficiency. Intangible drilling costs flow through to investors as immediate deductions, which can materially enhance after tax returns. This makes upstream oil and gas among the most tax efficient real asset classes available. 4. Risk Management Through Technical Excellence Rockport’s approach focuses on realistic production assumptions, strong engineering standards, and tight control
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For more information visit: https://rockport-ep.com/
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PRESENTATION 5:
A Powerful Investment Most Investors Overlook: Paying Less in Taxes PETER CULVER
Co-Founder - Freedom Family Office Peter’s passion lies in helping entrepreneurs and their families thrive both financially and personally. With over 40 years of experience, Peter has uncovered what keeps the rich, rich, and applies these insights to empower his clients with actionable strategies that yield measurable results. As a Yale graduate and former Senior Wealth Director at BNY Mellon, Peter provided comprehensive wealth coaching to clients with portfolios exceeding $2 billion in investments, achieving recognition as a top advisor in one of the world’s most prestigious financial institutions. His accolades include being the #1 Client Advisor for eight consecutive years and membership in BNY Mellon’s exclusive Platinum Circle and Chairman’s Council. Peter’s ability to craft tailored solutions for high-profile celebrities, artists, and business owners highlights his expertise and adaptability. Beyond financial mastery, Peter brings a unique, holistic perspective by integrating fitness and wellness into his professional ethos, demonstrating how balance can drive long-term success. His dynamic speaking style and relatable insights make him a top choice for financial podcasts, live events, and media appearances that demand thought leadership and inspiration.
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t the 2025 Family Office Investment Summit, hosted by Family Wealth Report, Peter Culver, JD – Co-founder of Freedom Family Office and Wealthrive – delivered one of the day’s most thoughtprovoking presentations. In a room filled with seasoned investors and top-tier asset managers, Peter shifted the conversation away from traditional portfolio performance and toward an equally critical, often underutilized, pillar of wealth creation: strategic tax minimization. A NEW LENS ON WEALTH MANAGEMENT Peter opened with a compelling premise: while portfolio management is a cornerstone of wealth building, an equally powerful lever exists in managing and reducing tax exposure. “Designing successful portfolios creates wealth,” he told the audience. “But so does not overpaying taxes – and, in some cases, not paying them at all.” With decades of experience advising high-net-worth families and entrepreneurs, Peter’s firms – Freedom Family Office and Wealthrive – work at the intersection of investment strategy and proactive wealth coaching. Their focus: helping clients minimize taxes, manage generational transitions, and make smarter long-term financial decisions that go beyond the balance sheet.
THE TAX DRAG ON COMPOUNDING: A HIDDEN THREAT Using a simple example, Peter illustrated how taxes erode the compounding power of investments. He showed a scenario where an investor doubles their money but loses 25% of the gain to taxes – resulting in a far smaller end result over time. “Over 15 iterations, that drag results in twice the money for the tax-aware investor,” he emphasized. “That’s not hypothetical – it’s math.” This led into the broader thesis: family offices and investors should view tax strategy not as compliance, but as a form of alpha. Where investment alpha is uncertain and marketdependent, tax alpha can be engineered in advance – guaranteed through smart structuring. STRUCTURING FOR TAX-FREE GROWTH: THE CASE FOR PPLI Peter’s presentation centered on one of the most powerful tools in tax strategy today: Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI). This advanced structure allows accredited investors to place assets inside an insurance policy, thereby shielding them from income, capital gains, and estate taxes.
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
“Life insurance isn’t about death,” Peter clarified. “It’s about creating a vehicle where your investments grow tax-free, distributions are tax-free, and even intergenerational wealth transfers can be made tax-free.” A compelling case study underscored his point. A California business owner planned to sell his company for $10 million. Before the sale, he moved ownership into a PPLI policy. As a result, he avoided approximately $5 million in capital gains tax. Post-sale, his investment activity continues within the policy – untaxed. He has taken tax-free withdrawals when needed and structured the policy inside a dynasty trust, ensuring estate tax immunity for future generations. This strategy, Peter noted, is particularly valuable for family offices managing alternative investments – real estate, private credit, venture capital – where turnover and high current income often trigger high tax exposure. PPLI not only defers this impact but eliminates it altogether when structured correctly. TAX EQUITY INVESTING: REALLOCATING TAX DOLLARS FOR RETURN Peter then introduced a broader category; tax strategies. These are tax equity investments – approaches that allow individuals to redirect tax obligations into higher- returning opportunities. 1. Leveraged Charitable Deductions In this structure, investors donate tangible goods (such as commodities) rather than cash to charity. These goods are acquired at a discount, allowing donors to obtain deductions in excess of their cost basis. One example involved a client who donated $75,000 worth of agricultural seeds but received a $300,000 deduction – translating into over $140,000 in tax savings and an 87% ROI. “It’s legal, repeatable, and efficient,” Peter said. “And it can be done annually.” 2. Solar Investment Tax Credits The Inflation Reduction Act has made solar infrastructure one of the most tax-favorable investment categories in the U.S. Investors can capture substantial credits and accelerated depreciation. Peter shared cases from Ohio, California and New York where clients turned six-figure tax obligations into profitable solar investments. “This is what we mean by
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tax equity – you’re investing in something real and receiving better-than-market returns in the process,” he said. ELIMINATING CAPITAL GAINS: A SOPHISTICATED OVERLAY Peter’s final example was a strategy solution for eliminating capital gains taxes altogether. Using a structure based on foreign currency trading that generates tax losses, this strategy can neutralize capital gains in a given tax year. In one example, a client with $30 million in ordinary income from a business exit faced a $15 million tax liability. With the use of this strategy – alongside others presented—he was able to eliminate his tax bill completely. “This is not a fit for everyone,” Peter cautioned, “but for the right client, in the right circumstances, it’s transformative.” A Call to Action: Think Beyond Compliance Peter closed his presentation with a challenge to the room: “If your wealth strategy begins and ends with what your CPA tells you in March or April, you’re missing the real opportunity.” He stressed the importance of year-round tax planning, integrated alongside investment management and estate planning. “This is where the best family offices are headed—toward a model that incorporates legal structure, tax efficiency, and capital deployment into one cohesive plan.” For attendees interested in diving deeper, Peter invited them to scan the session’s QR code to access whitepapers, contact his team, or schedule a private consultation. About the Speaker Peter Culver, JD, is the Co-Founder of Freedom Family Office and Wealthrive. With a background in law and over four decades of experience advising entrepreneurs and highnet-worth families, Peter specializes in unlocking the compounding potential of tax efficiency. His firms’ wealth coaching model is designed to help clients create enduring, tax-smart wealth across generations. For more information visit: www.wealthrive.com
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PANEL 3:
Cultural Assets - Building the Next Alternative Category for Wealth & Family Offices MICHAEL BEHRENS
Founder and CEO - MyRacehorse Michael Behrens is the Founder and CEO of MyRacehorse, the first SEC-qualified platform for micro-share thoroughbred ownership. A former CMO at Casper, he launched MyRacehorse in 2018, growing it to 50,000+ active owners and a $7M capital raise. Under his leadership, 5,300+ investors celebrated Authentic’s 2020 Kentucky Derby win, proving fractional ownership can democratize elite racing and beyond.
SCOTT HOFFMAN
CEO, ILP Literary - ILP (International Literary Properties) Scott Hoffman is President & CEO of International Literary Properties (ILP), where he acquires, manages, and invests in literary estates and intellectual property rights, helping maximize long-term value for authors and heirs. With over 15 years in publishing and co-founding a prominent NYC literary management firm, he also co-authored WASTED: How We Squander Time, Money, and Natural Resources.
SEAN PEACE
CEO and Founder - SongVest Sean Peace is the Founder and CEO of SongVest, the first platform to let fans and investors buy fractional shares of music royalties. A pioneer in royalty investing, he previously founded Royalty Exchange and has spent nearly two decades creating innovative models that connect artists, fans, and investors through regulated, transparent royalty markets.
STEPHEN SZYPULSKI
Wealth & Private Capital Consultant Stephen Szypulski held executive roles at Goldman Sachs and the Bank of New York. He advises on business strategy, investor platforms, and alternative investments, with a focus on private capital across the cultural landscape. He's based in New York.
POST-SUMMIT REPORT: Family Wealth Report Family Office Investment Summit 2025
CULTURAL ASSETS: BUILDING THE NEXT ALTERNATIVE CATEGORY FOR WEALTH & FAMILY OFFICES As family offices push alternative allocations to record levels, averaging 44% with some reaching 50%, a panel at the Family Wealth Report's Family Office Investment Summit explored a critical question: what portion should be dedicated to cultural assets? On November 17th at PwC's New York headquarters, executive moderator Stephen Szypulski convened three CEOs pioneering institutional infrastructure across underutilized verticals: music royalties, literary estates, and thoroughbred racing. The discussion revealed that cultural assets, besides just pure art and collectibles, are evolving from passion investments into a distinct alts category with tangible income streams, experiential value, and portfolio diversification benefits. BRIDGING THE INSTITUTIONAL GAP Sean Peace, CEO and Founder of SongVest, identified a critical market gap in music royalties. While Blackstone deploys billion-dollar funds to acquire major catalogs and retail investors can buy fractional shares in individual songs, family offices seeking meaningful exposure face limited options between buying entire catalogs or accessing massive institutional funds.
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"We're working to create that middle tier, something that spreads risk across multiple catalogs and allows family offices to participate at scale without having to acquire catalogs outright," Peace explained. Peace also emphasized the personal connection these investments create, noting SongVest has facilitated ownership in catalogs with ties to artists like Queen or TLC. This intersection of passion and performance distinguishes cultural assets from traditional alts, offering investors both financial returns and tangible connections to cultural icons. DORMANT VALUE IN LITERARY ESTATES Scott Hoffman, CEO of International Literary Properties (ILP), presented perhaps the least obvious cultural asset class: literary estates and theatrical productions. Backed by Viking Global Capital, ILP acquires rights to works from authors including Langston Hughes and George Bernard Shaw. "No one was really chasing this before we got into it," Hoffman noted. "There's enormous upside with publishers, theatrical adaptations, film rights, licensing opportunities... that was simply dormant before and most literary houses aren't doing this." ILP's institutional backing validates that literary IP can deliver returns when professionally managed. Hoffman
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emphasized the convergence of literary works with other media, Broadway adaptations, streaming content, merchandise, that creates multiple revenue streams from single intellectual property assets.
ownership. Hoffman works with institutional capital to aggregate literary estates into diversified portfolios. Each represents a different approach to professionalizing passion assets for institutional allocators.
EXPERIENTIAL INVESTING AT SCALE
The panel's most compelling insight centered on convergence across cultural asset classes. Music catalogs expand into merchandise and brand licensing. Literary works become theatrical productions and streaming content. Thoroughbreds generate value through racing, breeding, and hospitality experiences.
Michael Behrens, Founder and CEO of MyRacehorse, brought a different perspective as the first SEC-compliant platform for fractional thoroughbred ownership. With over 50,000 owners investing from $100 upward, MyRacehorse demonstrates how experiential investing can operate at retail scale while maintaining institutional structures. "We're transparent that this is experiential investing," Behrens said. "You're participating in Kentucky Derby dreams, breeding opportunities, and the thrill of ownership."
This cross-pollination suggests that culture is being driven into a unified alternative category, including sports, music, infrastructure, rather than remaining fragmented passion plays, exactly what family offices seeking diversification and experiential need.
Beyond racing purses, Behrens highlighted breeding rights as a particularly lucrative avenue for investors interested in thoroughbreds as both passion and portfolio investments. He also noted that significant wealth flows through thoroughbred investing via traditional structures, where entrepreneurs who've exited businesses often deploy capital into stallion funds and racing operations.
PRACTICAL GUIDANCE
BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
As alts continue capturing larger portfolio shares, cultural assets represent an underutilized frontier where performance, passion, and portfolio diversification converge. The infrastructure is being built by operators like Peace, Hoffman, and Behrens. For family offices, the question is no longer whether to allocate to cultural assets, but how much and which opportunity to start with.
A consistent theme emerged – wealth managers simply haven't engaged these spaces because professional infrastructure simply hasn't existed. Peace uses Reg A+ for fractional music royalty offerings. Behrens pioneered series LLCs for individual horse
For family offices exploring cultural assets, the panelists offered clear direction -- start with specialized operators who understand both creative and financial dimensions, recognize these are often long-term and illiquid commitments, and ensure genuine client interest beyond pure returns.
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PANEL 4:
Doing Well Through Doing Good: Investing in Rare Disease Drugs ROB FREISHTAT
Healthcare + Biotech Company Builder | President & COO | C-Suite Executive | Board Director | Scaling Science-Driven Ventures | Driving Growth, Innovation, & Transformation Dr. Rob Freishtat is a highly regarded physician-executive known for his impact on biotechnology ventures, clinical medicine, and international healthcare initiatives. With a professional history spanning over two decades, Dr. Freishtat has consistently demonstrated his ability to lead high-stakes organizational transformations, drive clinical solutions to the marketplace, and forge strategic global partnerships. As Co-Founder and President of Uncommon Cures, a role he completed in 2025, he revolutionized rare disease clinical trials with innovative models that accelerated trial timelines and slashed costs.
CASEY MCPHERSON
Founder - AlphaRose Therapeutics Casey McPherson is an accomplished drug developer, entrepreneur and singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas. Known for his two #10 US hits, he shifted his focus to rare genetic disease drug development after his daughter Rose was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. In 2020, he founded the To Cure A Rose Foundation and later founded RareLabs, a lab dedicated to developing pre-clinical treatments for rare diseases with 20 programs in the pipeline, and 8 new treatments discovered. In 2023, he launched AlphaRose Therapeutics with ex-Genzyme executives as a platform to commercialize rare genetic disease therapeutics at scale.
BIBHASH MUKHOPADHYAY
Entrepreneur/Firm builder, Asset Manager, Investor and Advisor to Biotech Companies Bibhash is an investment fund manager, investor, company builder and board member with almost 2 decades of experience in biotech. He is the CEO of Sapient Biotech, which is currently building a sector-specialized investment fund that invests exclusively in biotech companies, both private and smallcap public, with a fundamental, bottom-up, absolute-return strategy. It is also building a fund focused on rare diseases with a double bottom-line mandate for return on mission and return on investment. Through DW Wealth Management, he also advises various Family Offices and Disease foundations on investing in the healthcare sector. Previously, he was a co-founder and GP in Sound Bioventures and an investor with the biotech practice of a large, diversified venture fund, NEA.
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I
magine an investment vehicle with dual objectives: Return on mission- curing children of rare diseases and Return on capital: Making money while doing that! both the investment and philanthropic allocations from foundations and family offices / UHNWIs can enable such a construct, along with an infrastructure support system from hospitals, scientists, drug manufacturers. Our discussion will focus on this novel approach to financing drug development that makes the world a better place. Investment decisions for Family Offices and UHNWIs are driven by long-term conservation of generational wealth protecting it in times of uncertainty and optimizing investment performance in times of economic expansion using fairly standardized tools of capital allocation and portfolio construction. However, what is unique to this group are: First, having the luxury of providing “patient capital” with higher tolerance to risk and access to liquidity in longer term and second, having the luxury of providing “impact capital” in areas of particular interest or passion to the principals of the FO’s. Patient capital is essential in certain asset classes e.g. Private Equity, and in particular the Venture slice of PE, where category defining companies need a decade or even more to achieve breakout performance. Impact capital imparts a different dimension – let’s call it “Return on Mission”– for measuring investment performance beyond pureplay “Return on Investment” metric. We believe that the sector most amenable to this is healthcare, where investment in development of new medicines for patients can yield the best “double bottom-line”. Rare and ultra-rare diseases that afflict small groups of patients, often in children and have genetic root causes are ignored by the pharmaceutical industry because they are considered not profitable. It does not have to be! The panel discussion focused on financing mechanisms that enable creating a commercially viable company developing drugs for a series of such rare diseases by enabling access to infrastructure that runs clinical trial at a fraction of the cost and time. Casey McPherson, who started and runs Alpha Rose Therapeutics, named after his daughter who has a genetic ultra-rare disease, is building the company to be a
“vessel” for commercializing targeted therapies for multiple diseases. He shared his powerful personal story about what compelled him to start the company. Rob Freishtat, who has been a physician and clinical drug developer, shared the model he is trying to build in SapieNEST which will be able to run clinical trials more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost it normally takes the pharmaceutical industry. Layer on top of these two innovations, the ability to finance these projects though a fund mechanism that efficiently allocates capital to projects to underwrite very specific and well-defined technical risks, and you can come up with a very powerful convergence of infrastructure, capability and capital to create new medicines in a commercially viable stand-alone model. Bibhash Mukhopadhyay, who is an asset manager and biotech investor, espoused for such a double-bottom-line fund. With Casey and Rob, he is in process of building such an evergreen fund vehicle where capital from FO’s can be aggregated through both strategic philanthropic contributions and investment contributions, while being simultaneously focused on the mission, being disciplined on the investment strategy all the while being cognizant of various tax and charitable needs of the endowments. He emphasized how important the components of the ecosystem are in providing the solution to the cost and time component of current model, and therefore, the viability of the new model. If SapieNEST is able to run a clinical trial for 20M USD, instead of what currently takes 100M USD, for example, due to inherent inefficiencies in clinical trial operations, then the quanta of capital investment required and therefore of investment outcome required to make the investment profitable for a 5X multiple return on investment, reduces from 500M USD to 100M USD. If Alpha Rose is able to commercialize 20 products for 20 diseases in 2 years, for example, as opposed to 2 products for 2 diseases in 2 years, then 10 times more diseases and patients can be ameliorated of disease burden. Putting smiles on kids and their parents’ faces by saving their lives while concurrently building a profitable business is the true north star – hence “doing well through doing good”. The panel ended with an appeal to FO’s UHNWIs and Wealth Managers to participate in such a fund and live the benefits of their double bottom-line.
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PRESENTATION 6:
AI Technology Meets Humanity in Next-Generation Wealth Stewardship LISA MCCURDY
Founding and Managing Partner - The Wealth Counselor Lisa McCurdy is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Wealth Counselor, LLC, and Founder and CEO of Defining Legacy Group, LLC. For nearly three decades, she has advised high-net-worth families on the complex intersection of wealth, family dynamics, and legacy. Through her Legacy on Purpose® philosophy and LegacyMakers™ experiential rendering, Lisa has redefined what it means to plan for the future, pioneering a practical framework that helps families articulate their values, align across generations, and live their legacies with clarity and confidence.
O
n Monday, November 17, 2025, I led a fireside chat entitled, AI Technology Meets Humanity in NextGeneration Wealth Stewardship as a part of The Family Office Investment Summit, hosted by Family Wealth Report. I've spent three decades counseling ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families, focused on multiple generations of families and multiple arms of the family tree. Over the years of managing an estate planning law practice, I've come to understand that families seldom have a deliberate, purposeful conversation about what sustains them as a family, and this often proves to be a barrier to planning. 91 percent of all wealth transfers fail before getting past the third generation, validating the "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" expression we have all heard many times. Those that are rebuilding in Gen 3, have failed to address the family dynamic and align around common mission – placing successful tax-advantaged generational wealth transfer and wealth preservation out of reach. Families often assume that technical perfection equals security. In reality, human behavior is the weakest link. A $100M trust can be undone by mistrust, jealousy, or lack of shared vision. Courts see endless cases where heirs fight over minutiae, destroying both wealth and relationships, largely because of hurt feelings related to issues not addressed prior to a family leader's death. While 86 percent of families view "life lessons and values" as essential to inheritance, many still struggle to communicate these effectively across generations.
SO HOW DO WE MOVE UHNW FAMILIES TO MEANINGFUL DIALOGUE? In a nutshell, communication matters. Successful families have the ability to navigate difficult conversations, gain consensus, and align around common vision – all while honoring multigenerational differences. Each generation has their distinct communication styles, preferences, and expectations, which introduce a unique set of obstacles. During my fireside chat, I integrated cutting-edge technology with timeless human wisdom, which helps families shift from anxiety-driven planning to purpose-driven dialogue. Specifically, I shared how families can use AI as a catalyst for meaningful, values-driven conversations, helping them articulate shared principles, prepare the next generation for responsible wealth stewardship, and move to stronger, more successful multigenerational families. Key takeaways: • AI helps solve the family communication challenge, not by replacing human connection, but by deepening it. • AI can be a catalyst for meaningful conversations that bridge generational divides, articulate shared values, and prepare the next generation for responsible wealth stewardship, recognizing the unique generational differences in communication style. • For those just getting started, I recommend top-rated known platforms, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini.
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WHERE SHOULD AI END AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE BEGIN? AI excels at patterns and scale: It can process vast amounts of data, recognize trends, and simulate conversation with remarkable fluency. Human expertise is irreplaceable in judgment and lived experience: Empathy, moral reasoning, and the ability to connect through shared vulnerability are uniquely human. AI can mimic emotional tone, but it doesn't feel; it doesn't carry the weight of lived experience, cultural nuance, or personal history. The boundary is authenticity.
AI is not a replacement for human empathy but a scaffolding tool, helping families prepare, moderate, and navigate emotionally charged discussions. By combining structured facilitation with AI-driven insights, UHNW families can move from transactional debates to purpose-driven dialogue that preserves both wealth and legacy.
WHAT PRIVACY CONTROLS SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED?
Disclaimer: Nothing in this content is to be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship. Additionally, none of these resources are to be considered legal advice. Content and resources provided are meant for educational and informational purposes only. The author is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content, downloads, or resources made available through this content.
Given the highly sensitive nature of family dynamics and financial information, data minimization and purpose limitation are essential. Collect only the data strictly necessary for the task, avoid storing sensitive details unless essential, and ensure data is used only for the purpose intended. You must treat family and financial data as the most sensitive category, applying maximum safeguards from collection to deletion. My guiding principle: If you wouldn't post it publicly or email it unencrypted, don't share it with an AI assistant.
For more information visit: thewealthcounselor.com
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FIRESIDE CHAT 3:
The Family Office Trap: When Doing Too Much Does Harm WILLIAM PARIZEAU CEO - Matthew Pritzker
William Parizeau is the CEO of the Matthew Pritzker Company, LLC, a Chicago-based Single Family Office. He has been active in the family office space for over 15 years. He works at the intersection of legal strategy, operational leadership, and multigenerational wealth management for ultra-high-net-worth families. His background spans trusts and estates law, family office services, and hands-on leadership of single family offices. He has advised families on complex estate planning and structuring, led business units delivering bespoke solutions to UHNW clients, and overseen all aspects of family office operations—from investments and governance to succession planning and next-gen engagement.
JENNIFER RICHARDSON
Executive Coach & Family Office Consultant - Richardson Leadership Coaching Jen Richardson is the founder of Richardson Leadership Solutions, where she serves as an advisor to family offices, family enterprises, and leaders navigating complexity and executive and next-generation coach. With expertise in governance, succession, and family dynamics, Jen helps clients strengthen leadership, improve communication, and build sustainable, multi-generational legacies. Previously, she built and led the Forge Community, a trusted network of over 1,900 family offices. At Forge, she designed immersive in-person gatherings and fostered meaningful engagement, while also creating a dynamic digital platform for connection, peer exchange, best practices, and innovation. Her career includes leadership roles in consulting, business strategy, and technology with firms such as Hewlett Packard, WebMD, and Carlson, and she is a Certified Professional Coach (iPEC).
SESSION SUMMARY: THE FAMILY OFFICE TRAP Our talk explored a simple question: Can a family office be so effective that it accidentally weakens the family over time? We shared insights from more than 30 SFO leaders we interviewed, and the room immediately recognized the pattern: service creep, rising-gen overreliance, and offices slowly taking on more than they ever intended. AUDIENCE REACTION What stood out from the session (and talks with audience members afterwards) was how quickly people connected with the problem. During the discussion, and even more so afterward, several SFO executives and vendors who work closely with SFOs said they’re dealing with this right now:
families leaning too heavily on the office, staff unsure how to say “no,” and a widening capability gap from one generation to the next. The encouraging part is that most attendees we talked to saw the problem as very fixable. The three solutions that came up again were: • Don’t just say “no”. Use service creep requests as an opportunity to dialogue with the family and turn “do for” requests into “do with” opportunities, • Clear, repeated communication about what the office is (and isn’t) here to do, and • Re-centering on mission, especially when new requests start to drift outside scope Many said these practices alone would prevent the Trap from taking root.
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WHY THIS MATTERS BEYOND SFOS
WHERE WE LANDED
Advisors in the room (RIAs, private banks, consultants) saw their own version of the Trap. With so much wealth set to transfer and next-gen clients often replacing their parents’ advisors, the idea that capability beats convenience really resonated.
The Trap is real, and many had a story about it. But it’s also addressable with straightforward habits: better communication, clearer boundaries, and a mission that acts as the office’s true north.
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