The power of taking conversation away from money and focusing on values  

This is the second in a series of articles by PBY Capital that examines the multi-family office landscape. 

In the multi-family office (MFO) space in Canada, one consistent theme is the importance of aligning family values—and how difficult it can be.

Why is that? For a multitude of reasons. MFOs vary in terms of how they are structured. They are not all created equally, and each MFO handles their clients differently. And an approach that works for one family will likely not work in the same way for the next family in terms of value alignment.

As well, MFOs are dealing with a family history where they don’t necessarily know every single childhood event, trauma or instance of favouritism from parents towards a specific child. As Patricia Saputo pointed out in Canadian Family Offices‘ Women in Family Offices panel, these familial relationships often start in childhood and continue to impact family dynamics into adulthood.

MFOs approach these complexities in distinct ways. In her work advising family offices, Saputo helps each family member understand their own “winning conditions” and what the winning conditions of their family counterparts are. That way, when they’re having a conversation and people start to feel anxious, and the anxiety builds up, they are better equipped to defuse the conflict before it escalates. 

For Lindsay Hollinger, co-founder and vice-president of Granite Family Office in Montreal, addressing such challenges starts with meeting the client and finding out what worries them.  

“Not everybody is looking only to maximize returns,” she says. “Of course, you want to optimize returns, but I try to get to what the pain points are: What are their preoccupations, their anxieties? And I try to understand the emotional relationship the client has with money. I try to normalize talking about all things money.”

Adds Hollinger: “A lot of families don’t have anyone with a financial background. I like to bridge that gap for them and create a real relationship—one that goes beyond just documents or numbers. Hopefully, for them, it’s almost like having a family member who’s knowledgeable in the financial space.”

Canadian Family Offices recently had an opportunity to sit down with Hollinger, whose background in philosophy and tax law laid the foundation for how she views clients and the family office space today.  

You’ve said your role working at a multi-family office is ‘perfect’ for you. Why?

The relationship part of being in a multi-family office and getting to know my clients is truly rewarding—much more so than being just an investment professional, where I had many, many clients, and it was more about the portfolio than the person. Now my role is more about the person. 

Also, I find value in being able to appreciate someone’s entire financial situation. And my tax law background really helps with that. Most investment professionals don’t have a deep understanding of tax planning. 

What do you tell clients about the value of transparency?

I would love to see families be more transparent. It’s great when there’s communication about money. I love when there’s buy-in and engagement from multiple family members. I try to help families eventually get to a place where they are as collaborative, communicative and empowering as possible for all members. 

We recently had a meeting with an entire family where we saw the emotional dynamics at play. I think it was the first time that different generations had sat in one room and talked about money. And slowly but surely, as the comfort level increased for G1, new pieces of information began coming out. And you could feel the evolution, the progress, the understanding gained among the whole family. G2 understood their parents better after hearing them talk about different pockets of things they had done over the years, things they had never brought up before. 

Do you find younger generations often need extra support when it comes to financial literacy?

Financial literacy has become one of my greatest passions since I started in portfolio management. I am still, to this day, amazed at how few people understand their money—even those with large amounts of it. 

I try to empower the younger generations, even if the older generation isn’t ready to have a conversation about money. I like to equip them with financial knowledge so that when they eventually find themselves in a situation with more wealth, it isn’t a destabilizing experience. 

You’re also passionate about helping families connect with the deeper, more personal value of their wealth beyond dollars and cents.

As a philosophy student, I was obsessed with what it means to live a good and meaningful life. So, I find it powerful to take the conversation away from money specifically and talk more about goals and values. 

We think of money as a key resource, but the awesome thing is that I get to work with clients who often think about time and energy as the most important resources. Having a lot of money serves to free up time and energy for the better stuff, for the more fulfilling, meaningful stuff. And that is the mentality, or the sweet spot, of really making the most of your wealth. 

When you’re investing not just in money, but also in family members, the stewards of the family, and communication, you tend not to have the generational breakdown we commonly see. 

Disclaimer: This story was created by Canadian Family Offices’ commercial content division on behalf of PBY Capital, a member and content provider of this publication.

PBY Capital Limited is registered as an exempt market dealer, portfolio manager and investment fund manager with Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities, servicing family offices and their professionals. For more information, visit: www.pbycapital.com. The opinions and information provided in this article are solely those of the writer and are not to be construed as personal, legal, accounting, taxation, or investment advice, or as an endorsement of any entity.