Emily Griffiths-Hamilton is a chartered accountant and investment adviser at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. Along with her brother, Arthur, she’s also a former co-owner of the NHL Vancouver Canucks, the NBA Vancouver Grizzlies and the now-renamed Rogers Arena. Her book, Build Your Family Bank: A Winning Vision for Multigenerational Wealth, seeks to shed light on how best to transfer family wealth from one generation to the next. Citing a 70% failure rate for succession plans, Griffiths-Hamilton says a family’s human components, rather than the traditional approach of controlling financial assets and minimizing taxes, should be the focus.
Q&A
Q: What inspired you to write the book?
A: It started with a number of articles that I have written, and just at meetings with clients and working with them, that followed up with lots of research … and coming up with this approach to help solve the failure rate.
Q: What experiences helped shape your advice?
A: Sixty per cent [of succession plans fail] because of the breakdown in communication and trust in families, so the family bank approach really gives families a way to talk about issues that, up until now, still seem to be largely taboo topics, so it gives families a way to have that conversation and strengthen the community and trust in the family.
Q: What are some main points you would want readers to consider when building that trust?
A: One is clear and transparent communication and really spending a lot of time finding a way to address issues that sometimes appear to be uncomfortable. And the starting place that I get families to … especially in their family bank, is to identify what is the wealth in the family, and that is not limited to financial assets, but actually more importantly [includes] the human and intellectual assets of the family.
So if we pull our attention back to the people of the family, and all that they know, start there. Start with conversations about the family-shared values – and they are unique to every family, but are what make family members proud to be part of the family. … Then work into a shared vision for the family, or purpose. … [This] gives families a way to start before you start diving in on specific financial issues.
Q: Can you give me a personal experience example to explain that?
A: I’m a mother, a parent myself, to two boys, and in terms of shared values we … have conversations about who we are as a family and what we believe our shared values are, so that sort of grounds them in working toward leading purposeful and independent lives. And one of the ways we dial in our family, for instance, is that our family gathers and talks about what we are doing in philanthropy, what we are giving back.
Q: How old are your sons?
A: One is 24, the other is 21. Both students, one in UBC [University of British Columbia] forestry and the other SFU [Simon Fraser University] Beedie School of Business. … We operate as a team for the family bank; everyone is always a part of the family. Everybody has to have earned or is earning a voice in the family bank. How that is defined is different for every family. For us, they have to be living independently from the family bank.
Q: We have chatted about your role as a mother in this family, but how about as a daughter in your family’s empire?
A: For my family bank, we are very fortunate to have it spanned over two generations. My maternal grandfather left a legacy, my father as well. This family bank’s … shared values lie in a hard-work ethic, giving back to the community ... and other values not related to the family bank, such as respect and compassion.
It links to how we are defining the wealth. It’s the people – we need to get the people right, if families are looking out for each other. It’s different for every family; if an individual is to lead an independent and purposeful life, it’s a solid-bedrock-value foundation.
Q: Why do 70% of succession plans fail?
A: The majority, 60%, is due to communication issues. In 25%, heirs are not prepared. Some have no shared vision.
Q: Did you have these conversations with your maternal grandfather and father?
A: My maternal grandfather passed away when I was quite young. These conversations can start at a really young age, talking about personal assets. Discussion about finances can be like talking about sex – they are similar on an age-appropriate basis. Parenting is a lot different now.
Q: How should families deal with changes in vision as individual values change with life experiences?
A: A succession plan is important, and to have your family involved when the children are 18, 25 or when they are 35, so the whole process evolves as the children evolve. … When it comes to core shared values, there is a lot of research that would suggest that most people are pretty much established in their core values by the age of 25, so after that you’re pretty clear where you are at. Vision can change, though. Definitely a shared vision will evolve, especially in today’s world, as the family evolves.
Q: Have there been challenges with your role as the daughter?
A: No; certainly for me, I operated in a sense differently in that. From my experience, personally, I went off and earned my voice … earning my CA [Chartered Accountant designation], practising in public accounting. It became more formalized, and I was invited to sit on the board as an accountant.
Q: Did different people have different levels of say?
A: Everybody has an equal say. … All expertise is important. Value is not based on the job you do or how much you make. It’s about experience, expertise, hard work and teamwork.
Q: How about in your own family, as a parent?
A: We’re aligned on the same path. Every family is unique. It’s important to aspire to work together, especially these days when people are more and more alone in the world, to strengthen the sense of community.
Q: We’ve talked about reinforcing shared values and vision between parent and child, but what about between siblings, like you and your brother, Arthur?
A: It’s pretty easy. We shared the same passion and core values, huge family values. … With professional sports, for us as a family, it’s an important part of us, to be engaged and committed – a key component with keeping with the franchise.
Q: What’s your advice to families with businesses that suffer financially?
A: Separate business issues from family; do not be caught with loving the business to death. It doesn’t help the business, doesn’t help the family.
