CM Wealth Advisors

CM Wealth's chief investment officer, Paul Bodnar, will be among the panelists at The Union Club on Wednesday, October 23, for an Annual CIO Roundtable held in conjunction with CFA Society Cleveland. The event will run from 12-1:30 p.m. Members of CFA Society Cleveland receive complimentary entry, while non-members may purchase tickets through the link below: https://lnkd.in/grHv8C5z

With substantial assets and income, high-net-worth individuals face complex tax scenarios and higher tax liabilities. Effective tax planning can help mitigate these liabilities, ensuring wealth preservation and growth.” This is what I told SBN for a recent article: "Tax planning strategies for high-net-worth individuals". As we approach 2024 year-end and 2025 planning ‘season’, I wanted to share it as it might contain some information that may be of value to you. At CM Wealth Advisors, we strive to help clients preserve their assets for future generations. Our multi-family office offers a full suite of services with a boutique approach. We customize plans for wealth transfer, including strategic tax & estate planning and investment and wealth strategy to ensure that clients are protecting and growing their estates to meet their future goals. 

In their September issue, Smart Business talked with CM Wealth's Gary Isakov, CPA, about ways that high-net-worth families can implement an investment strategy to avoid tax traps. https://lnkd.in/g3AwBUf6

With a short-term trust, you can appoint top family members as your trustees, and it is relatively risk-free. But with long-term trusts, you have more questions to resolve, because the extended planning horizons of the long-term trusts demand more trustee administration, CM Wealth CEO and Managing Member Douglas McCreery points out. One way to manage a longer trust duration is through the establishment of a family trust company. https://lnkd.in/g9dedkPT

With a short-term trust, you can appoint top family members as your trustees, and it is relatively risk-free. But with long-term trusts, you have more questions to resolve, because the extended planning horizons of the long-term trusts demand more trustee administration, CM Wealth CEO and Managing Member Douglas McCreery points out. One way to manage a longer trust duration is through the establishment of a family trust company. https://lnkd.in/g9dedkPT

Great piece for those thinking about a single family office and the scale needed to fully support it.

A recent study concluded that even a small single-family office with two professionals and four support staff carried an annual cost approaching $2 million, a cost that remains even during periods of relative inaction. CM Wealth CEO and Managing Member Douglas McCreery points out that, in contrast to the single-family office, the multi-family office offers a more dynamic approach—a steady staff increases and eases its services to match a family's needs through seasons of change. This is only one of the many advantages to the multi-family office, and McCreery outlines several of them in the article linked below: https://lnkd.in/g5ix7mkR

Oftentimes matriarchs and patriarchs in ultra-high-net-wealth (UHNW) families worry that their children will squander generational wealth. They're not alone in that anxiety—a 2020 study across the U.S., U.K., and Canada showed that 54 percent of children in UHNW families fear that they will be the ones to lose their family's wealth, while another 44 percent worry that their children will be the ones to let it slip away. So how does a family ease these concerns shared by each generation? The solution can begin now through empowerment, by preparing children and grandchildren for succession into family governance. https://lnkd.in/gWZWjmhM

Business leaders involved in an M&A sale are often surprised to learn how a multi-family office can assist in the process. In a 2023 interview with Smart Business, CM Wealth's Chief Client Officer, Aileen P. Werklund, outlined the benefits of having your family office in place before a business exit rather than post-sale. "Some owners want younger generations to understand where their wealth came from. Some even produce videos for future generations, showing how the business was formed, how it grew, and how it impacted its community. A family office can get the proper individuals in place to help the business owner express the legacy being preserved." Read the full interview with Aileen: https://lnkd.in/gfA77SSF

While many AI-based stocks are priced to perfection and should be evaluated with caution, venture capital in startups staffed with talent from key leaders are receiving premium valuation and showing promise, says CM Wealth Director of Investments Ben Wallace. https://lnkd.in/g3RMJa2z