Family Wealth Stewardship
Defining and Sharing Your Family’s Values
Many of our clients have spent a lifetime building their wealth and are guided by a set of principles and values that are equally as important as their assets. As a result of our work with these clients, our advisors genuinely understand the importance of passing along those cherished values to future generations. Your family advisor can be a steady, objective voice to oversee your assets and help younger family members embrace your guiding principles for generations to come.
Your family advisor can help:
- Define your long-term goals
- Craft a family mission statement
- Establish a family governance process
- Facilitate ongoing communication and plan regular family meetings
- Educate the next generation about financial responsibility and values-driven wealth management
- Define and implement your philanthropic interest
Strategic Risk Management
Protecting Your Family’s Future
Changing markets, economic conditions, laws, and regulations impact us all but may have a greater impact on high-net-worth families. Your family advisor will work to understand your family’s situation, proactively alert you to potential risks, and help you explore your options so you can take informed action in a timely manner.
Your family advisor can help:
- Review markets and regulatory changes
- Manage tax planning and compliance*
- Assess insurance coverage
- Advise on family business issues, including succession planning
- Review your estate plan
Investment Consulting
Advising on a Long-term Investment Plan
Strategic asset allocation, diversification, and ongoing reviews are at the center of our investment philosophy. Investment consulting with Commerce Family Office begins with a conversation about your goals and results in objective advice and recommendations suited to your family’s needs. In addition, your team will also help you select and monitor outside managers.
Commerce can help:
- Develop a personal investment policy and asset allocation guidelines
- Create customized portfolios
- Select and evaluate investment managers
- Coordinate and monitor third-party advisors
- Prepare and analyze consolidated performance reporting
- Develop a coordinated strategy for managing legacy investments held by the family
Personal Financial Administration
Freedom from Day-to-Day Financial Matters
Your family advisor can serve as your personal financial and administrative manager. You may delegate to your family advisor those routine financial matters which have become too complicated or too time-consuming. Your family advisor will provide simple, regular reports to keep you informed and prepare you for any important decisions you must make.
Your family advisor can help:
- Manage and plan cash flow
- Project income tax*
- Oversee real estate and personal property
- Plan payments for bills and other common expenditures
- Provide regular, customized reporting on your financial position
- Arrange family meetings and support communication among family members
Specialized Services
Tailored Services for Your Unique Needs
In addition to the core services we offer, your family advisor can provide advice and access to resources in a wide range of other areas of importance to your family, including wealth education, foundation advisory services, family business consulting, and elder care and special needs services.
Wealth Education
Families who sustain wealth across generations often invest in comprehensive wealth education for family members of all ages. Wealth education can range from very practical lessons on buying a first home or the smart use of credit to values-driven lessons about how money affects relationships and major decisions.
Your family advisor can tailor a wealth education curriculum to your family’s diverse and changing needs. These interactive lessons are designed to facilitate important conversations within the family about wealth management principles and shared values.
Foundation Advisory Services
A private foundation is a flexible, powerful tool for charitable giving that many families find makes their philanthropy more effective and meaningful, while providing a tax savings opportunity for their personal wealth. In addition to making a difference in your community, private foundations can help rally your family around a common goal, transfer family values to younger generations, teach financial skills to children and grandchildren, and establish an enduring legacy for you or your family.
Through Commerce Trust’s foundation advisory services, you can maximize your philanthropic endeavors while minimizing your efforts. These services include mission and goals development, investment management; trustee, custody, and administrative services. This holistic approach helps ensure all the elements of your foundation are aligned and working efficiently toward your legacy goals — and you have the freedom to enjoy pursuing your charitable mission.
Family Business Consulting
Family businesses are unique entities that often face specific challenges that make survival from one generation to the next very difficult. Commerce Family Office business consulting services can help your family understand those challenges and create a plan to overcome them.
Our team of in-house specialists will work with you and your outside advisors to think about long-term issues beyond the day-to-day running of your business; evaluate big picture options to buy, build, or sell a business; and conduct strategic planning for your business.
Elder Care and Special Needs Services
Families who care for aging seniors or loved ones with special needs are often overwhelmed by the difficult decisions facing them. This complexity creates a need for support and guidance that is met by our experienced staff.
Commerce’s client care services are dedicated to providing personalized solutions and guiding families through the maze of options they face, including help finding the appropriate services and evaluating caregivers. Our mission is to help reduce the stress and burdens of caregiving by providing objective advice and equipping families with the knowledge they need to make sound decisions.
