Wealth Management Programs Train Next Generations of Ultra Rich

If you are a Category II Wealth Holder (that’s a net worth of 10 million to 100 million US dollars) or higher, you have options to train your offspring in wealth management that aren’t yet available to the rest of us.

In spite of being sent to the very best private and/or boarding schools and the most exclusive universities, the next generation is still not necessarily learning what it needs to know to assume leadership and custody of the family wealth.

Wealthy families are concerned that their children have not learned how to deal with the family wealth.

Why do wealthy owners want additional education on wealth management for their family? Some want Jr. to experience focused financial learning activities and conversations with his financial peers. Some want children to learn basic personal finance. Others want daughters to clarify family and financial goals, design a strategy to preserve and manage wealth, or oversee financial advisors with greater confidence, accountability, and results. Some just flat out don’t want the kids to spend it all.

To accomplish those goals, several options are available to this category of wealth holder.

Family Office Wealth Education Programs

Your family office may offer wealth education at a basic level (just giving access to consultations with various experts) all the way up to programs designed to last multiple years and meant to serve multiple generations and multiple family households.

The Family Office Exchange is (according to their website) “the definitive source of information and best practices associated with the business of managing family wealth.” It is a consortium of multiple family offices. Sara Hamilton and Joline Godfrey have published a paper called “Preparing the Next Generation for the Responsibilities of Ownership” which outlines the 5 important concepts that 12 experienced family offices agreed were required:

• Owners who take responsibility for their own education are better able to sustain the wealth.
• Development of an education strategy is a joint effort between owners and advisers. All family members (not just principals) should be involved in this.
• The education must be engaging and entertaining enough to maintain the interest of the learners and to build bonds to reinforce shared vision, values and learning.
• Individual needs, learning styles and stages are accounted for and are balanced against the educational journey of the learners.
• Education is a process – not a single event.

Families with asset levels of 55 million US dollars and up can typically afford to maintain either a multi or a single family office. See our article “Three Tools of the Mega Rich” for more information on family offices.

Private Bank Programs.

Many private banks offer wealth education services.

Wells Fargo, for instance, advertises on its’ web site that “A Family Wealth Education event can be tailored to each of your family member’s personal interests and needs, ranging from technical issues to family concerns and from basic to highly sophisticated wealth planning topics.”

JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Credit Suisse are examples of other private banks. See our article “Three Tools of the Mega Rich” for more information on private banks.

Asset levels required to utilize private banking vary, but typically can be upwards of 5 to 10 million US dollars.

Wealth camps sponsored by private banks, universities, and vendors.

Week long “camps” or seminars, restricted to participants with net worth in the 10 to 20 million US dollar range and selective in an application based entrance process, offer a chance for families (not just offspring) to gather with peers, experts, teachers and advisers to learn wealth management topics and chat with peers about problems of the rich.

Most charge in the range of $5000 to $10,000 per participant for the week (not including travel, room and board) and recommend that multiple members from the same family attend together. Most limit the number of participants per session to 35 or fewer.

The Wharton School and the Institute for Private Investors (IPI) session, for instance, covers the following subjects:

• History of Financial Markets
• Asset Allocation
• Modern Portfolio Theory
• Evaluation of Investment Managers
• Alternative Investments
• Family Governance and Wealth Transfer
• Real Estate
• Decision Making
• Subprime Crisis and Public Policy

Other programs include:

• The University of Chicago Booth School of Business Private Wealth Management Program
• Stanford Graduate School of Business Wealth Management Program
• Wealth Bridge Partners program
• University of California Irvine Skills Retreat
• Citi Private Bank “The Next Generation of Wealth.” summer camp

But what about the rest of us?

If you are Category One Wealth Holder  or merely affluent or aspiring affluent, more options for training your offspring in personal finance topics are becoming available. For instance, there are numerous web sites sponsoring teaching materials such as online games, courses and curriculum.

In addition there are money camps available in the less-than-nosebleed price range such as the one discussed in the below video.

Sources:

“Preparing the Next Generation for the Responsibilities of Ownership” by Sara Hamilton; Joline Godfrey

The Journal of Wealth Management; Winter 2007

Wells Fargo web site https://www.wellsfargo.com/familywealth/guidance/strategies/education_stewardship

WealthBridge Partners web site http://www.wealthbridgepartners.com/website/article.asp?id=6

Family Office Exchange web site http://www.foxexchange.com/public/fox/membership/about.asp

Wharton web site http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/open-enrollment/finance-programs/private-wealth-management-program.cfm

Chicago Booth web site http://chicagoexec.net/chicago.nsf/PROGRAM.html?opennavigator&id=230

Stanford web site http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/exed/wmp/

“Youth in Asia Go to Wealth Camp” by Alison Tudor in Wall Street Journal Personal Finance September 10, 2010 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575477551294055336.html)

“Richie Rich 101” by Robert Frank in Los Angeles Times July 29, 2007 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575477551294055336.html)

• http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/video/money-camp-for-kids/322738/