High net worth families seek out the counsel of professionals across many disciplines to manage their assets - from accounting and investment advisors to estate planning and trust administration professionals. Sometimes these individuals may work jointly in a family office or multi-family office environment. By and large, however, professionals concentrate on a specific segment of liquid assets such as a traditional investment portfolio or insurance portfolio and their planning techniques reflect this limitation.
In over a century of working with high-net-worth individuals, we have developed a niche specialization in helping families develop, manage and pass on their "unique" assets - from a family compound on the seashore to a highly prized coin collection, to a multi-generational family business. These illiquid assets often have both high financial and emotional value to their owners. What's more, the true value and enjoyment of these assets is in
continued ownership- and this is where the importance of intelligent
medium-to-long-term forecasting and planning comes into play.
What makes estate planning for unique assets different than a traditional portfolio?
A unique asset manager must help his/her client balance the needs of the family with the integrity and viability of the asset. For example:
- We have on multiple occasions paired family businesses with strong outside management in order to ensure that the family's core asset will continue to provide stability for future generations.
- We worked with a family in Massachusetts to preserve a highly valuable and significant coin collection through the establishment of a Foundation for the asset. The estate planning process included securing the financial security and peace-of-mind of the owner's surviving sister.
- We have worked with multiple generations of a single lineage to preserve their heirloom assets and ensure that heirs have both the passion and the resources to preserve their family's history.
Our area of work combines traditional financial and legal services with the hard-to-find expertise in collections management, succession management, legacy building and curating. Distinguished families choose The Erskine Company LLC because we help them to gain control, peace of mind, and clarity with respect to the most meaningful and prized portions of their family's wealth.
For more information about our areas of expertise click here.