Succession ups and downs from eight notable families – and lessons for 2024

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When you speak to as many family advisors as we have here at Canadian Family Offices, you begin to see patterns.

Perhaps the biggest challenge among wealthy families and their advisors is succession – finding someone to succeed the matriarch or patriarch of the family business.  It seems to be a universal concern that the next generation might not be willing or able to take the reins someday.

As we reflect back on 2023 and resolve to do better in the New Year, here are some of the more insightful articles we ran in the past year about succession and its many challenges.

Heirs, fears and tears: The succession stories of three families

Some succession stories are larger than life.  The recent experiences of three high-profile families – the Rogerses of Toronto, the Murdochs and the Arnaults – highlight the pivotal role of clear and legally sound governance in preventing disaster.

You might know which of these families struggled the most, and you’ll learn which has everything buttoned up seemingly perfectly. Contributors Eric Morgan and Andrew Tebbi of Kushneryk Morgan LLP give us the rundown. 

Father’s illness drove young sisters to take over Calgary’s Britt Radius

Young as they were, there was no other option for Brittney and Breanne Ramsay than to pick up the reins of their father’s business when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at 48. Dad Ray Ramsay had built what is now known as Calgary-based Britt Radius into a successful business offering surface land acquisition services to the energy sector.

Brittney Ramsay was 26 when she became president (now she is CEO). With Breanne as CFO and Dayna Morgan as COO, they rebranded in 2021 and expanded their services. Today Britt Radius and its women-owned and -operated company are rare in their sector, especially in Western Canada.  Brittney and Breanne tell the family’s story. 

Survivor of three successions (one ‘a nightmare’), David Bentall advises from experience

Succession can be as tangled and cutthroat as depicted in the HBO series Succession. But it doesn’t have to be.

David C. Bentall, founder of Next Step Advisors, a Vancouver-based family enterprise advisory firm, endured not one but three successions at Dominion Construction, a business acquired in 1915 by his grandfather, Charles Bentall.

“The first one was a complete nightmare,” says Bentall, who has written three books, two of which are focused on family business succession.  Hindsight has further shaped his insights into lessons he now shares with other business families, and with Canadian Family Offices readers.

Ottawa’s Sonia Fisher went ‘from knowing very little to being president’

It may have been a surprise to some customers and colleagues when a woman took over as president of the iconic menswear company E.R. Fisher Ltd. in Ottawa. But third-generation family member Sonia Fisher was undaunted. With 117 years of her multigenerational family legacy to uphold, Fisher said she had to remember to shut out what she calls the “unnecessary noise” that can surround gender stereotypes in succession planning.

Here she tells her own story, including her belief that women can bring something special to family enterprise when it comes to their unique perspective on “reading the room” and using that in their recipes for success.

Winging it often works for business founders. But not in succession

What if your chosen successor says no?  You might have heard the story about the parents who hid their extensive wealth from their two sons. “We want our sons to have big hearts, not big pockets,” they said.

But when it came time to pass on their business, the sons were not interested. Nor were they interested in managing the wealth they would one day inherit. This left the parents disillusioned; they had thought that by hiding information about their assets, their children would be better people, not ones unprepared and disinterested in succeeding them.

It’s one of the gulfs that can develop between the generations. Check out these coping tips from two long-time advisors. 

Next-gens uninterested in taking over the business? This may help

Few enterprising families feel prepared to engage the next generation, but private equity may hold a unique solution. Considering private equity investment during succession planning could help to establish a more successful transition to the next generation by involving them in projects that speak to them.

Private equity investment can help them to feel excited about the family business. Young investors’ interest in ESG investments can also keep them engaged. Two experts talk through the strategies.

Jonathan Westeinde, next-gen member of Ottawa construction family, on finding his own path

While some younger members of enterprising families step smoothly into roles in the family business, others create their own way in life. Indeed, some are even encouraged to do so by their families.

Here, Jonathan Westeinde, part of the family that founded Ottawa-based Westeinde Construction Ltd., talks about his own journey. He carved out a path for himself outside the family business after a “failed succession” and founded Windmill Developments as a real estate development startup focused on being the leader in sustainable real estate development in Canada.  Read his story here. 

More from Canadian Family Offices:

• Four family-office executives and what they’re investing in today
• The tax benefits and tax traps with estate freezes
• Top Canadian celebrities and athletes lend star power to charities
• ‘Friending’ clients: Unprofessional, or a way to deepen ties and boost confidence?

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