Case studies
Decisions that shaped a family.
Three engagements, told with our clients’ permission and without their names.
A family business · Connecticut
Selling a company without losing its soul.
The challenge
After forty years, the founders of a precision-engineering company wanted to sell, protect their employees and give each of their three children a fair start.
Our approach
We prepared the business for eighteen months, ran a discreet process with six buyers and set up a family holding to receive and invest the proceeds.
6
Qualified buyers
14 mo.
From mandate to closing
100%
Jobs preserved
Three generations · Geneva and New York
One estate, three generations, one plan.
The challenge
Property in two countries, a family vineyard and nine grandchildren: the estate had grown faster than the family’s ability to agree on it.
Our approach
We wrote a family charter with every adult in the room, simplified the structures from eleven entities to four and created a council that meets twice a year.
11 → 4
Legal entities
9
Heirs aligned
2
Family councils a year
A private foundation · Boston
A foundation built for the next fifty years.
The challenge
A newly created foundation needed an investment policy, a board and a grant strategy before its first anniversary.
Our approach
We drafted the investment policy, selected four independent managers and helped the board choose three causes it could fund with conviction for decades.
4
Independent managers
3
Long-term causes
5%
Annual giving, sustained
Testimonials
In our clients’ words.
★★★★★
Clear, calm and always one step ahead. Exactly what we needed after selling the company.
James Whitfield
Entrepreneur, Boston
★★★★★
The only advisers who ever explained their fees before we asked.
Sophie Laurent
Architect, Geneva
★★★★★
They helped three generations of our family agree on a plan. That alone was priceless.
Henry Ashford
Family office principal, London