The Sixth Annual Family Wealth Report Awards 2019

The Rudin Group founder April Rudin is a widely acknowledged top marketing strategist for the financial-services and wealth-management sectors. Her firm designs bespoke marketing campaigns for leading wealth-management firms, fintechs, and family offices; campaigns that strengthen brand value and drive client acquisition. Recognized as an IBM “influencer,” she is a regularly-featured source of expertise, contributes to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report, produces the CFA Institute’s annual U.S. outlook, and often speaks about wealth, next-gen, and fintech. She’s been published extensively and judges the Family Wealth Report’s annual Wealth Management Industry Awards and is a member of their advisory board. Her two sons say she has always been an “influencer”.

Mr. Sharon is an executive vice president and product strategist based in the New York office. He is responsible for broad business management as well as developing and leading strategic initiatives aimed at driving growth within the traditional product franchise. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he was a principal at Blackstone, where he helped launch the firm’s retail alternatives initiative. Previously, he was a managing director at AllianceBernstein, where he ran multi-asset product management, led wealth management group research and marketing, and was interim head of investor relations for the firm. He has 18 years of investment and financial services experience and holds a Ph.D. from Boston University. He received an undergraduate degree from Emory University in Atlanta.

Gemma Leddy, CPA is the founder and Partner-in-Charge of the award-winning PKF O’Connor Davies Family Office practice.  She is also managing director of PKF Funds and Family Office, headquartered in London. Gemma has spent over 30 years working with high profile and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, multi-generational families and family offices. Gemma and her team provide comprehensive financial management and CFO services, accounting and reporting, family investment administration services, tax planning and compliance, lifestyle and transactional support and family advisory services.   Before joining the firm, Gemma was the Chief Financial Officer of a private family office and investment firm and a Partner in a New York City CPA firm and led their Family Office and Business Management Division.

James “Jamie” McLaughlin founded J. H. McLaughlin & Co., LLC, a management consulting firm focused on strategy and practice management for wealth management and investment advisory firms, private banks, trust companies, single and multi-family offices, in 2010.  He is a co-founder of The UHNW Institute, an independent “think tank” directed at the needs of ultra-high-net-worth families and their advisors.  Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, a partner at Convergent Wealth Advisors, the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management’s New York region, and a financial advisor at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc.

Mr. Reilly is an investment and strategy consultant to family offices and the host of the Private Capital Podcast. He was the co-founder and founding president of the Family Office Association, a global forum for single-family offices that is based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Previously Mr. Reilly helped to start a single-family office and foundation in New York where he was an investment manager for five years. He was an energy specialist focused on options and futures trading at Credit Agricole Indosuez in New York prior to that and started his career at Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Reilly has spoken on family office issues at many conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Forbes, and Bloomberg, and currently does a monthly interview series with notables in the family office world for Family Wealth Report, where he is on the global editorial board.

Mary Duke is an internationally recognized advisor to families navigating the complexities of substantial wealth. Her work is anchored in the facilitation of family meetings, mentoring, education and strategic planning and governance for family businesses, their private trust companies and family offices. She is known for her deep expertise in generational transition in family enterprises and the impact of trusts on families. An attorney trained in family systems and dispute resolution, she has an excellent track record helping family members collaborate more effectively. Previously, Mary headed two private family offices, spearheaded a leading bank’s award-winning global family wealth platform, and has served tours of duty in both private client law and business consulting.

Leading results-driven strategic planning for growth-focused organizations, Patti operates two distinct yet compatible consultancies. As Founder and President of Boyle Consulting Group, she applies her expertise in developing brand positioning, mission/vision/values and digital marketing to private equity-owned businesses, including those in WealthTech and FinTech.  Following an early career in global marketing agencies, such as JWT and FCB, Patti led SEI Investments’ UK-based Marketing Team for Private Banking. Patti is also CEO of an early-stage venture, Sapience Leadership, affiliated with The University of Pennsylvania.  In this role, Patti works with a team of inspiring educational leaders in the areas of Educational Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Executive Coaching.  Applying business principles and leadership experience to Education brings a unique balance to Patti’s work and has resulted in dynamic growth for both of her client communities. She has been active with the FWR Awards, since its inception in 2013.

Sigrid Seibold is advisory lead partner for one of the firms largest clients. She has specialized on technology topics and has been working for the past 25 years with financial institutions across the world. Prior to KPMG, Sigrid was the global digital lead for Accenture’s capital markets clients, focusing on emerging technologies and FinTech. Moving from Germany to Singapore in 2010, Sigrid assumed responsibility for Accenture’s ASEAN capital markets activities with a special focus on wealth management. Her previous experience includes a decade in IBM’s consulting division across capital markets topics and working for Deutsche Bank as FX-trader.

Susan is Principal and Co-founder of Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd. Since 2000, Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd., has provided customized support to high net worth individuals, families and closely held companies to help them effectively maximize the impact of their charitable gifts. Susan has authored, or co-authored, numerous articles for publications such as Family Wealth Report, PAM (Private Asset Management), Alliance and STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners). She is Chair of the Social Impact and Philanthropy Domain for The Ultra High Net Worth Institute and on the Advisory Board for Family Wealth Report as well as a judge for the Family Wealth Report Awards.

Mr. Handler is an advanced planning attorney focused on taxation, estate planning, and business planning for executives, family offices, and family businesses. He has authored numerous professional articles and lectured extensively both nationally and internationally at wealth industry, professional and family office educational conferences.

Mr. Handler is a recognized thought leader in the advanced planning and family office marketplaces. He has been named one of the Top 15 Wealth Planners and one of the Top 100 Attorneys in the U.S. numerous times. Tom has won three Lifetime Achievement Awards including the prestigious 2021 PAM award in addition to being named International Wealth Planner of the Year, Private Client Lawyer of the Year, and winner of the Excellence in Estate Planning Award. Private Wealth Magazine called him “one of the most respected tax and estate attorneys in the world.” He is a frequent author, lecturer, and expert commentator.

Bill has spent his career advising founders, wealth creators, closely held business owners, and family offices across a wide range of wealth management disciplines, including investment management, taxation, estate planning, philanthropy, and wealth education. He joined SVB from Citigroup, where he was a managing director and head of the Family Office Group for Citi Private Bank. Before joining Citigroup, Bill was a managing director and head of the Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW) and Family Office business for Credit Suisse.

Bill began his career in “Big Four” public accounting, where he spent a decade providing tax and related planning advice to clients. He left public accounting to run the family office of one of his clients, a Hong Kong–based family with 40 employees and operations in Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Bill was also a founding member of myCFO, an integrated wealth management and technology firm started by several well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Shortly before the sale of myCFO to Harris Bank, Bill joined Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group and oversaw an integrated investment advisory practice for UHNW families and family offices ranging in net worth from $25 million to $2 billion. Bill earned a master’s degree in accounting from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of California, Irvine.

A frequent author on wealthy families’ issues, Bill co-wrote “The Family Office: A Comprehensive Guide for Advisers, Practitioners, and Students,” published by Columbia University Press. He’s been quoted extensively in financial publications and was named one of Family Capital’s 100 Influencers – Consultants. In addition, he’s a lecturer in the Master’s in Wealth Management program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, the chair of the advisory board for the Stanford University Global Family Office Initiative, and a co-founder of the UHNW Institute, an independent nonprofit that provides thought leadership and content helpful to families, family offices, and professionals.

Bruce is a chartered accountant with over 37 years financial services experience, previously a partner in PwC, latterly as Global leader of their Wealth Management practice and the key driver of their bi-annual Wealth Management Report. Bruce is now CEO of Weatherill Consulting providing advice on client centricity and wider strategic matters to wealth managers. He is the author of The Value of Trust: the quest by Wealth Managers for Trusted Advisor status and a number of other thought leadership reports. Bruce is chairman of ClearView Financial Media and a non-executive of a number of companies including Fidelity Holdings UK, The Wisdom Council, ComPeer, JDX Consulting and Ten Group.

Joe Calabrese is Chief Operating Officer at Key Wealth Management. He is responsible for overseeing the development, integrated delivery, and strategic development of a full range of financial planning, investment, fiduciary and banking capabilities for Key’s clients. He joined Key in 2016, and lends his knowledge and expertise to affluent individuals, families, business owners, and institutions. Before joining Key, Joe held a wide range of executive roles including President and CEO of Geller Family Office Services, and President of Harris myCFO, which focused on serving clients with a net worth in excess of $100 million. Joe graduated from McGill University with a joint honors degree in Economics and Finance and holds a Chartered Accountant designation. Joe actively serves on the advisory board of The UHNW Institute and the Gaples Institute for Integrative Cardiology.

Having led Pitcairn’s transformation to an industry-leading multi-family office, Leslie has a unique perspective on managing the inevitable change that all families must navigate to achieve multi-generational success. She believes that a prosperous family office must focus on families as people, not just portfolios. It is this guiding principle, coupled with her immense industry experience, invaluable insights, and fearless leadership skills that have contributed to the long-term growth of the firm and its families. Recognized for multiple industry accolades, Leslie is also a member of the Wigmore association, a global collaboration of chief executive officers and chief investment officers from eight family offices across North America, Europe, Australia, and South America.

Lisa leads a team of highly experienced and credentialed professionals who provide customized financial, business transition and wealth transfer planning advice. Lisa has advised UHNW individuals and multi-generational families for more than 30 years.   She has been quoted in various media regarding tax and estate planning topics including Bloomberg TV, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining Comerica, Lisa spent over 20 years at Wells Fargo and predecessor banks building and leading wealth planning groups,  Lisa also spent 11 years at Arthur Andersen in Washington, D.C.  She is a CPA (not practicing), Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) and a CFP® professional. As a member of the American Institute of CPAs, Lisa has served on several committees and is currently chair of the Advanced Estate Planning Conference committee.

Having joined WE Family Offices as one of its three managing partners in 2013, Michael Zeuner oversees the firm’s US business. A management consultant by training, Michael has considerable experience as a leader in the wealth management industry. This included a leadership position at GenSpring Family Offices, where he was a member of the firm’s operating committee and senior executive partner responsible for the firm’s local family offices across the US. Before this he was managing director and global head of wealth solutions at JP Morgan Private Bank, having been head of strategy and marketing worldwide at Chase Manhattan Private Bank prior to its merger with JP Morgan in 2002. Michael is also a board member and co-founder of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard.

Rebecca guides family enterprises as they navigate the complexities of intergenerational ownership and planning for transitions. With the benefit of a systems perspective, she helps family enterprises address the need for evolving governance while enhancing leadership and collaboration skills among family members. This work enables families to embrace the gifts and talents of all family members to help ensure a sustainable enterprise. A key part of her focus is preparing next generation family members to take on new roles. Prior to joining Relative Solutions, Rebecca spent over 15 years as a business leader working in and with family offices, advising families on governance, communication, and family learning. She also wrote a guidebook for social impact investors as part of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania. Rebecca enjoys contributing to industry publications and speaking at conferences. Her focus is exploring practical approaches to helping enterprising families address the challenges that arise from sharing financial resources. Rebecca earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from the University of Maryland. She trained at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, DC, is a 21/64 Certified Advisor, and a member of the Family Firm Institute (FFI).

In a career spanning over three decades, Steve Prostano has distinguished himself as an innovator and thought leader in the wealth management and global financial services industries. Steve has served as CEO of Silver Bridge, a Global Partner of Amvescap, President of Atlantic Trust and Chase Global Asset Management, and an EVP of the Private Clients Group of FleetBoston Financial. He has also held senior positions with Mellon Bank and KPMG. Most recently at Bank of the West, Steve was a member of the Bank’s Senior Management Committee and the Head of Family Wealth Advisors - the first global MFO in the US. Steve is also a CPA and attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the financial sector, Amanda manages products and services tailored to the needs of ultra-high net worth families. She has responsibility for operational support and delivery, regional and national coordination, and management reporting. Her role further includes matrix supervision of all managing directors of client experience and specialized fiduciary services with the goal of achieving exemplary execution on behalf of Ascent’s clients. Amanda’s favorite quote from the writer and poet Maya Angelou informs her approach to client service: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Her aim is “to create an environment where clients are delighted and feel valued.”

Chris is former managing director of the family office practice at Oakbrook Solutions, a leading family office management consultancy. With over 20 years of operations and technology expertise within the industry, Chris has been a trusted adviser to family offices ranging from startup SFOs, to Forbes 400 families, to multi-billion dollar, multi-generational MFOs. Prior to consulting, Chris held C-level roles with The PrivateBank, Wilmington Trust, Bingham Legg Advisers, and Webster Management Group, leading business growth and transformational change initiatives. Chris is a frequent speaker at family office meetings and conferences and contributor to industry publications, thought leadership reports and white papers.

Dr Neild is CEO of InfoGrate, a consulting boutique specializing in information technology for family offices. We architect solutions that encompass GL/portfolio management/partnership accounting/CRM selection, data integration, operations, performance reporting, and infrastructure/ cloud management. Tania has over 25 years of academic and applied research in data integration. She began her career with the National Security Agency, which awarded her the National Physical Sciences Consortium Award to fund her research in heterogeneous database integration. She earned a PhD in computer engineering from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer sciences from Emory University.

Jon Carroll is an managing director in the Ernst & Young US Americas Family Office Advisory practice. His primary focus is advising family members, family business owners, trustees, and family office executives on how to grow and govern their single-family office. Jon has extensive experience advising families on the set-up and structure of their family office, strategic planning and implementation, leading practices, business and operational risk assess¬ment, and family office systems and technology search, selection, implementation and integration. Jon has over 26 years experience serving UHNW families, including seven years working in a family office as chief operating officer. Before joining Ernst & Young, Jon was president and CEO of Family Office Metrics.

Tricia serves as managing director at Geller Advisors. With over 20 years of tax advisory experience, she focuses on providing sophisticated tax planning strategies to high-net-worth individuals, families, and their related businesses. Tricia has an active role in business development, onboarding clients and coordinates with the firm’s other multidisciplinary financial advisors to assist clients simplify complex and intricate financial challenges and offer innovative solutions. She also serves as a member of the operating committee, helping to shape business strategy that guides activities on behalf of our clients. Prior to joining Geller Advisors, Tricia built her career at Deloitte, starting as an associate and advancing to Partner.

William Trout serves as Director of the Securities and Investments practice at Datos Insights, focusing on technology strategy and innovation in the capital markets. He has particular expertise in platform automation; data capture, storage and analytics; and portfolio management and optimization. Within the wealth and asset management arena, his interests include investment advisory and wholesaling and distribution services, as well as private banking and trust.

Will's research and consulting work is informed by more than more than two decades of industry experience. Prior to joining Datos Insights, Will led wealth and asset management in the U.S. and the U.K. at Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman, before launching separate advisor- and investor-focused research practices at Javelin Strategy & Research. Prior to those roles, Will spent many years in product and segment management at BBVA Compass, where he helped guide the introduction of a pioneering managed-accounts platform and the expansion of banking and investments services targeting high-net-worth and institutional investors.

An authority on digital advice delivery, Will has been widely quoted in the trade press as well as in publications such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and gatherings. In his spare time, Will is an avid runner and reader of history.

Will holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College.