Empowering entrepreneurs and each generation of their families

Seeking to maximize a founder’s post-sale proceeds with proper planning

The situation

We developed a relationship with our clients, the founder of a digital communications company and his wife, years in advance of the sale of the company. Over this time, we showed our clients our entrepreneur’s total-wealth optimization process (ETOP).

ETOP is a proprietary process developed by our team to help provide successful entrepreneurs and their families relevant advice and solutions, both before and after an exit from their business, so they can spend more time doing what they love.

The strategy

In the years leading up to the sale of the company, we had many conversations with our clients. These were focused on their primary concern of having proper planning in place to address a number of issues upon exit, including:

• Tax minimization strategy upon sale
• Seeking to mitigate risks from potential creditors
• Multigenerational planning to help ensure future generations of their family are cared for

We advised and educated our clients on a number of planning strategies that could help them achieve their desired goals. Despite their agreement on the appropriateness of these strategies, they chose not to move immediately forward.

Two weeks prior to finalizing a purchase and sale agreement to sell his company, our clients called to ask if we could quickly implement the planning strategies we had discussed. In response, we immediately formed an experienced team consisting of a member of the UBS Advanced Planning Group, a Trust & Estates attorney and an ultra high net worth-focused accountant, both of whom we had worked with in the past.

We coordinated the process with their team and addressed our clients' need to manage creditor risk and capital gains taxes, ultimately saving them millions of dollars. In addition to this, we took our clients through our Plan-for-Life Liquidity Process and clarified how much liquidity was needed from the stake in the company to help meet their family’s future expenses. Our Plan-for-Life Liquidity Process helps us understand your current financial picture against what you may need to fund the future you envision.

The result

Through the use of our ETOP and SELL processes, we were able to help our clients to position their family to maximize their economic benefit from the $148 million sale of their company. We were able to manage the moving parts of this process to allow our clients to focus on running the business, closing the sale and spending time with their family.

Helping an entrepreneur solve his post-exit needs

The situation

Our client, the former founder and CEO of a leading technology company, sold his company in a stock transaction to a publicly traded competitor. We were introduced to the client by the attorney negotiating his employment contract with the acquiring company. He believed the client would benefit from our experience working with entrepreneurs preparing for and experiencing liquidity events. Virtually all of the client’s net worth was concentrated in the acquirers stock. His concerns included:

• Determining the amount of stock he should sell with the goal of planning for the future they envision.
• Executing a diversification strategy seeking to protect the downside risk in his stock.
• Building a team to handle his wealth management needs.
• Developing a comprehensive, multigenerational financial plan.

The strategy

Our first step was to build and coordinate a team of advisors including a CPA, Trust & Estate attorney, executive compensation attorney and insurance specialist. We collaborated with UBS Advanced Planning specialists along with these advisors to develop effective strategies designed to help the client minimize taxes and optimize his proceeds from the sale.

Next, we took our client through our Plan-for-Life Liquidity Process to determine how much liquidity he needed from his concentrated stock position to fund his future spending objectives. This process inputs an individual’s long-term financial goals and spending objectives into UBS’s financial planning tools. Based on this, he agreed to diversify his stock position to help pursue his financial goals. We reduced his holding to under 5% of his net worth, mitigating capital losses as the stock declined over 70% since exiting his position.

With confidence in his financial plan and our process, the client made several real estate investments and launched a new business. We recommended a leading insurance company to do a comprehensive P&C insurance review, which led to a new coverage plan intended to improve his liability protection. Additionally, he used a life insurance consultant, who recommended that he would benefit from a large permanent life policy, which we helped put in place.

The result

As a result of developing and executing a comprehensive, multi-generational financial plan and asset diversification strategy, our client felt confident leaving the acquirer of his business to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities and venture investments. We continue to provide him with ongoing comprehensive financial advice so he can focus on his passions.

Concentrated stock strategy: Helping entrepreneurs protect their wealth

The situation

Our client is the former founder and CEO of a leading technology company. His company was acquired by a publicly traded competitor. When the deal closed, virtually all his net worth was in this concentrated equity position. He was retained by the acquiring company that limited his ability to diversify this holding. As a novice investor, our client relied on our advice in order to pursue his objective of participating in some of the stock appreciation potential while seeking to preserve the value of his concentrated stock position.

The strategy

Our client is a sophisticated investor. We sought to educate him on the risks of holding a highly concentrated equity position, options for liquidating and/or helping to preserve this position and the tax consequences of these strategies. After working with UBS’s Equity Solutions team, we presented the client with the strategy that we thought best fit his needs, a Pre-Paid Variable Forward (PPV). He agreed with us that this would assist with his twin objectives of immediate monetization and hedging for this holding.

The result

Our client was very happy with the outcome from the PPV contract we implemented. The immediate liquidity from this transaction was critical to his subsequent successful acquisition of the controlling interest in a significant European-based global corporation that was very complementary to the businesses he already owned. As a result of our discussions, he has taken our advice to continue reviewing diversification opportunities outside of his concentrated equity

Helping our client acquire a European corporation to expand their global business

The situation

Our client, the founder and CEO of two global businesses headquartered in the US and South America, confided in us that he intended to participate in an auction to acquire another significant company in his industry located in Europe. This client has been a valued relationship of ours for many years, and in addition to helping him manage his liquid assets, we often serve as a sounding board on other important decisions he is contemplating.

Over the years we have helped him borrow funds at attractive rates, implemented commodity hedging strategies, covered call writing programs that seek to generate cash on concentrated stock holdings and developed and executed hedging strategies on concentrated equity positions.

Upon being notified that he had partnered with a private equity firm to participate in this auction, we strategized with our client on the most optimal approaches to fund his share of the bid.

The strategy

At the time our client was notified that he had won the auction, we were prepared to present various funding strategies.

Our client and his family were actively utilizing their securities-backed credit line for a number of real estate transactions. Though our client planned to pay down the balance on his securities-backed line, we determined that using this line was not an optimal strategy for funding his share of this acquisition bid.

Our client holds two concentrated stock positions with us and we presented to him strategies to use these in order to raise cash. Working with UBS’s structured solutions team, we offered two monetization and hedging strategies. We advised the client on his options and collectively determined a pre-paid variable forward contract was most appropriate for his needs.

Our team collaborated with multiple parties in different countries over three days in order to meet the funding deadline set by the auction. This included oversight of transactions from UBS’s Strategic Equity Solutions team executing the pre-paid variable contract and our F/X desk executing EUR-denominated forward wires. We were able to rapidly give him access to $11 million without resorting to selling highly appreciated stock and incurring capital gains taxes.

The result

Our client appreciated the thoughtful advice, solutions and attention to detail that we provided that helped him to successfully acquire this European company. This acquisition has the potential to increase our client’s net worth and increases the reach and growth potential of his existing business. The client valued our advice regarding a funding strategy and the expedited completion

More than half of married women leave the financial decisions to their spouses, yet eight out of ten will be alone and in charge of their finances one day. We work with our female clients to break the cycle and coach them to financial confidence.

Newly widowed client lacks financial knowledge

The situation
Our 68-year-old client’s husband had been in failing health for a few years. The husband wanted to make sure his wife was prepared and well taken care of after he was gone. Although she had previously resisted getting involved in financial decisions for the household, she wanted to make sure she had enough to live on and to give to her son after she was gone.

The strategy
Prior to the husband’s passing, we went to their home to meet with them over several months to bring them both up to speed and make sure all paperwork (beneficiaries, powers of attorney, wills, etc.) was in good order. We worked with their accountant, estate attorney, son and even nurse to make sure everything was taken care of. Each meeting had a different focus (e.g., budgeting, financial planning, estate planning), all with the goal of reducing her anxiety about managing her own finances.

The client had some low-basis stock that she had owned long-term. She didn’t want to own the stocks anymore, but the taxes from selling would be costly. Before the husband passed away, we swapped similar value stocks between his account and hers so that at his passing the stocks would step-up in basis. This allowed her to diversify away from those stocks and avoid the taxes.

After her husband’s passing, we met in person each month to review her statements and spending to make sure she was on track. We did this until she felt comfortable and confident enough to meet quarterly to review her financial plan as her lifestyle changed.

The net result
Our client is comfortably living within her planned budget. While she still gets nervous with market fluctuations, she now has enough knowledge and confidence in our relationship to make well-informed financial decisions and is on track to meet her financial goals.

A doctor, but financial novice, inherits wealth

The situation
Our 47-year-old client is a well-known doctor working very long hours at a major hospital in New York City. She didn’t have the appropriate amount of time to manage her personal wealth and has relied on her husband in the past. She inherited significant wealth and decided she needed to take control, which led her to become a client. 

The strategy
Due to her long hours, there wasn’t much time for educational meetings. Through our regularly scheduled one-on-one monthly meetings, she was able to block out the same hour on her schedule every month. These meetings covered topics ranging from financial planning and investments to planning for college for kids, insurance and liability needs, estate planning and tax planning. After a number of these meetings, the client realized her husband had neglected their investments, and they had left money on the table by not contributing to retirement plans or 529 education plans for their son.

The situation took time to rectify, but each meeting revealed new items to fix or update. The client dedicated more time for each monthly meeting and put in the effort to understand each issue. As part of this, we also introduced her to an estate attorney, CPA and insurance specialist, as well as many UBS experts. This helped ensure that all of her planning was in line with appropriate advice and a team of advisors all working together to help her meet her financial goals.

The net result
Our client took charge of her financial life rather than being a passive bystander. She and her husband are now contributing the maximum to their respective retirement plans and receiving the full company match; they are on track to save enough for college for their son, and they’ve protected their assets from creditors among other issues fixed.

Many families spend time preparing money for their family, but almost no time preparing their family for money. We work diligently with our clients to make sure the next generation is ready for the wealth they may inherit.

Wealth across the generations

The situation

A family matriarch in her seventies expressed concerns about the capability of the three generations below her to successfully inherit a large fortune (over $600 million in combined net worth) and the responsibility that comes with it. She was very philanthropically inclined and wanted to clarify and fortify the family values.

The strategy

We proposed semiannual family meetings with over 20 family members across generations, along with their lawyers and accountants. In the initial meeting, we had the family together create a mission statement that was informed by their family values. These family meetings were used to inform successive generations as to what the family values were and start to expose them to some of the wealth that may one day be theirs. Additionally, it was a great excuse to get everyone together. We held educational meetings with the younger generations to get them comfortable with being financially responsible.

To get the family actively involved in the family finances and charitable organizations, donor-advised funds were set up with enough capital for each bloodline family member. Each of them gave presentations on how they were going to donate their allocated charitable dollars. This got each family member personally and financially invested in the future of the family and their respective charities.

The net result
After several years, the family matriarch felt that her hard work and wealth she accumulated would last for many generations to come. The family has solidified their values, and the younger generations are being groomed to successfully manage the family’s wealth.

A problem money couldn’t solve

The situation
A couple in their early eighties, with over $50 million net worth, became concerned about who would take care of them and their finances as they aged, since their three children had never been involved. The husband, a former CEO who was used to taking charge, noticed that his wife had been forgetting conversations, among other things. Through some initial medical tests they found out that she was developing Alzheimer’s. For the first time in our client’s life, he didn’t know what to do. No amount of money was going to fix this problem.

The strategy
At our monthly client meeting, the Alzheimer’s issue came up. The portfolio review stopped at that moment, and a brainstorming session started. We used our deep network of contacts to find a leading Alzheimer’s research doctor and get an appointment within the next two weeks. After an evaluation, the doctor was able to plainly answer any questions they had and put their minds at ease knowing they had the best care possible.

Since the husband began worrying about his own mortality, he became worried about who would take care of the finances after he was gone. We proposed a family meeting with his daughter and attorney to grant her the appropriate authorizations (HIPPA, POA, healthcare proxy, etc.) and developed a plan for her to start getting more involved in her parents’ finances.

The husband was also concerned about how his wife would be taken care of if he was no longer around and didn’t want to further burden his children. We introduced them to a personalized, high-touch, healthcare advisory support organization that would research, coordinate and organize future medical care.

The net result
The client feels that his wife will be taken care of in any situation and is slowly involving his children more in their finances so that they are better prepared both to help their parents, if needed, and when they eventually inherit wealth.