Helping Families Purposefully Navigate Their Multigenerational Journey with Valerie Galinskaya

Strengthening Families' Trust in Private Investing Markets with John Claisse

Today, it is my pleasure to speak with John Claisse, CEO of Albourne Group, an independently owned, non-discretionary and global investment consultant, providing advice on hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real assets, real estate, and dynamic beta. Founded in 1994, Albourne has over 350 clients with over $750bn invested directly in alternative investments. John is an equity partner and member of Albourne's Executive Committee and chairs the firm's Corporate Planning Council, which comprises Albourne's function and region heads. He helped develop the firm's proprietary risk analytics, was formerly the Senior Analyst for quantitative equity strategies and multi-strategy hedge funds and later headed up the firm's portfolio group. John remains a Portfolio Analyst working with several public and corporate plans, large endowments, and foundations. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Sussex Business School, on the Board of Trustees of Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI), and on the Governing Board of The Robert Toigo Foundation. John, and his firm Albourne, are valued Advisor members of FOX, and we are privileged to have their knowledge and expertise in our membership community. In today's world of major technological, geopolitical, and regulatory disruptions, family offices and their investment teams are facing a crisis of trust. John describes the current context and the challenges family offices experience pertaining to trust in investing. He shares an overview of the various conflicts of interest that exist in today's investing landscape that family offices need to be aware of and prepared to manage. John outlines the different trust-affirming models and practices that family offices can adopt and lean on to find and build trust in today's investing marketplace. There is an emerging ecosystem aimed at promoting greater trust in investing. John talks about the groups and players in the investing landscape who play a role in strengthening investors' trust and confidence in both public and private market mechanisms. Don't miss this illuminating conversation with one of the leading providers of investment advice, research, and mid- and back-office implementations to family offices, as well as public and private institutions.

Helping Families Purposefully Navigate Their Multigenerational Journey with Valerie Galinskaya

Today, I'm excited to speak with Valerie Galinskaya, Managing Director and Head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth®. She works with ultra-high net worth families to help empower them to be purposeful about the impact of their wealth on themselves, their families, and their communities. Her insights have been featured in leading publications and outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance and CNBC. Valerie rejoined Merrill in 2014 after serving as Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in New York. She was a 2025 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Thought Leader of the Year, a 2025 InvestmentNews Women to Watch Financial Literacy Champion Finalist, a Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 Honoree and a 2024 WealthBriefing Outstanding Contribution to Wealth for Good Initiatives Winner. She is a member of the Forbes Finance Council, Purposeful Planning Institute, Family Firm Institute and Collaboration for Family Flourishing. Valerie enjoys volunteering to encourage education and financial literacy, supporting the efforts of Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL) and serving as former Associate Board Member of City Year New York. Valerie works with many families, and especially with the younger rising-gen members of these families. She tells us about some of the top goals and anxieties she encounters among families and their rising future generations. She then, delves into some of the external themes and trends that, in her experience, are impacting families most today. Throughout Valerie's years of work with enterprising multigenerational families, she has witnessed many who have struggled and many who have flourished. She outlines the most common and impactful areas of best practices that she has identified among the most successful families she has worked with. Valerie wraps up by offering her practical advice and tips for family members looking to navigate their collective enterprise journey. She also provides valuable suggestions and tips for family office executives and external advisors serving families. Do not miss this engaging conversation with a leading practitioner and thought leader in the family wealth advisory space.

Resolving Family Conflicts Through Restorative Communication With Will Bledsoe

Today, I am delighted to speak with Will Bledsoe, founder of Restorative Way, a company that provides training and program implementation for schools, individuals, organizations and businesses to recognize trauma, resolve conflict and engage with challenging behavior. In addition to his private consultation practice, Will is currently a professor of communication in the Isaacson School for Communication, Arts, and Media at Colorado Mountain College. Will holds a doctorate in communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master's degree in religious studies, also from CU. While at the university he taught courses in conflict management, group communication, global peace & conflict studies, community justice, social justice, the rhetoric of campaigns and social movements. In the religious studies department, he taught a course in Native American religious traditions. In 1999 Will was he was awarded Outstanding Scholarship Recognition by the National Honor Society of Religious Studies/Theology. He has facilitated over 1000 mediation encounters using a range of restorative models including victim/offender dialogue, family-group conferences, community-group conferences, and peacemaking circles for various municipal and district courts, schools, families, family businesses, and workplaces. Will is the author of The Restorative Way: Harnessing the Power of Restorative Communication to Mend Relationships, Heal Trauma, and Reclaim Civility One Conversation at a Time (2024). Will specializes in the field of restorative communication, especially restorative conflict resolution. He provides a definition for our listeners of restorative conflict resolution and describes the purpose and the practice of restorative communication. Relationship challenges and interpersonal conflict are common in most families. Will tells us how restorative conflict resolution can help families manage and resolve conflicts and describes his work with families who struggle with conflict and fractured relationships. Next, we look at the practical applications of Will's expertise. He describes the method of restorative conflict resolution, detailing the tools, frameworks, and approaches inherent in the practice of restorative conflict resolution. Communication is a critical component of restorative conflict resolution. Will talks about the importance of communication skills and offer some of your tips for developing and applying restorative communication among family members. Enjoy this instructive conversation with one of the leading practitioners of restorative conflict resolution in support of UHNW families.

Studying the Connection Between Family Office Culture and Value Creation with Alexander Hayward

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Alex Hayward, Executive Fellow, Family Offices and Private Capital at London Business School. Alex is a seasoned expert in Family Offices, with extensive experience building, reviewing, and optimizing Family Offices across the UK, Europe, the US, Dubai, and Australia. Over the past 15 years, he has analyzed more than 100 Single Family Offices, evaluating their structures, operations, and investment strategies. Alex draws on this broad experience to lead London Business School's work on value creation within Family Offices, examining how leading Family Offices develop their strategy, operations, and culture to support long-term growth. Alex also serves as an independent director to a Family Office in London, supporting a third-generation multi-billion family. Alongside this role he chairs the Family Office Community at Said Business School, University of Oxford, Ownership Project 2.0. Alex is a long-time friend and collaborator of FOX and a valued alumnus of the FOX team. Alex has done significant research into the importance of organizational culture among investment management, and its significance in explaining and driving performance of investment teams. He tells us what his research shows and highlights what both clients and members of investment teams can learn from it. We then focus more narrowly and look at the role of culture within family offices. Alex shares his views on how culture contributes to the value creation at the family office and the ability of family office teams to drive meaningful outcomes for their principals. Impact is frequently among the top objectives that family members seek to pursue individually or collectively with the support of their family office. Alex talks about his work and research on the effect of family office culture on the family's impact strategy, and the ability of family members to find and follow their individual pathways for self-realization and impact. Alex has also studied the effect of grief on the ability of families to make decisions and achieve growth. He shares his findings on how grief and other emotions impact UHNW family strategies and their collective activities within the family enterprise, including investing, philanthropy, social impact, etc. Enjoy this insightful conversation with one of the foremost academics and practitioners in the family wealth and family office space.

Dealing with Active Conflict Within Families With Dan Spector

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Dan Spector, partner at Hanson Bridgett, an Am Law 200 California-based law firm and the first law firm recognized as a certified B Corp. Dan is a trial lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator whose practice focuses on trust, probate and complex civil cases involving families. He has been named in multiple years as a Super Lawyer by his peers for Northern California in the area of Trust and Estate Litigation and a statewide mediation and private neutral panelist for Judicate West, a professional neutral company with offices throughout California. Dan is a member of the California Lawyer's Association's (CLA) Trust and Estates Section and Litigation Section, as well as the Sacramento County Bar Association's Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Section. He has recently been selected to serve on the Executive Committee for CLA's Trust and Estate Section (TEXCOM), for which he participates in various subcommittees, including the Litigation, Incapacity and Legislation subcommittees. He also serves as a Judge Pro-Tem in the Sacramento Superior Court and has been named as an expert witness on issues relating to trust, probate, and litigation matters. Dan has lectured at U.C. Davis before the Sacramento County Bar Association, CCLSA and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants on the topics of civil litigation and trust and probate litigation. He has served on numerous non-profit boards throughout Sacramento, including as Chair of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, board member of the San Juan Unified School District Superintendent's Advisory Board, board member of the St. Ignatius School Advisory Board, board member of the Anthony M. Kennedy Learning Center, and Chairman of the Board of Del Paso Country Club. Dan served as General Chairman of the 2015 United States Senior Open Golf Championship, the single largest sporting event in Sacramento's history. Dan and his firm Hanson Bridgett are values advisor members of FOX, and we are thrilled to have their expertise within our membership community. We've talked about conflict on this podcast before, but today we'll learn more about Dan's area of expertise – "active conflict". Dan explains for our listeners how active conflict is defined and how it is manifested in both pre-litigation and litigation situations. Families are complex, and family dynamics and the emotional undercurrents that run through the relationships among family members present a unique challenge for both clients and professionals in our field. Dan shares his experience on how families get to the active conflict stage, and he describes the common pathways and the ways family members and their family offices can recognize them. In many cases, significant changes – and resulting conflicts – within a family are triggered by the death of a key family principal. So, one practical consideration is to distinguish between pre-mortem and post-mortem conflict situations. Dan talks about the main differences between family conflicts that take place before vs. after a major death in the family. Active conflict can be very painful for families. Dan provides an outline of the options available to families for managing and resolving active conflict, including the different professional channels and techniques they can resort to. Don't miss this illuminating conversation with a leading expert and practitioner in the field of family conflict management and resolution.