Background
A European family had built and sold a successful operating business over a period of approximately twenty years. The sale generated around CHF 85 million in liquidity which, combined with existing personal and family assets, created a substantially more complex financial picture than the family had previously managed.
Prior to the sale, the family's financial affairs had been managed through a small number of long-standing adviser relationships who had been primarily focused on the operating business rather than the family's personal wealth. Following the transaction, those relationships were no longer sufficient on their own.
The family had two adult children with different levels of involvement in the previous business and different views on how the proceeds should be managed going forward. There was no formal family governance structure in place and no clear succession plan. The family approached Lockmore Capital seeking a more organised framework for their post-transaction wealth.
What Lockmore Capital Did
Lockmore Capital began with a full review of the family's financial position by mapping all assets, existing structures and adviser relationships, and by subsequently identifying where coordination was most urgently needed. That review revealed a number of structural gaps that needed to be addressed before any longer-term planning could be undertaken.
Working alongside the family's existing legal and tax advisers, Lockmore Capital coordinated the restructuring of the family's holding arrangements to better reflect their post-sale position and future intentions. An independent asset overview was established, providing the family with a consolidated picture of their wealth for the first time.
On the succession side, Lockmore Capital facilitated a series of family conversations, structured but informal, to help both generations develop a shared understanding of how the wealth would be governed going forward. This led to the development of a family governance framework covering decision-making, investment oversight responsibilities, reactive positioning and how the next generation would be progressively introduced to ownership responsibilities over time.
Outcome
The family moved from a fragmented and business-focused advisory arrangement to a coordinated framework suited to managing private family wealth. Both generations had clarity on how decisions would be made and how the transition of responsibility would unfold. The family's adviser relationships were properly connected and working from a shared understanding of the family's position and intentions for the first time.