About Xylogenesis®:
Deeply Rooted in Family Offices
Single Family & Multi-Family Offices
Family offices that: wish to modernize, or are in transition of some type; have outgrown themselves due to new mandates, mission creep or size, diversity and complexity of family members and the required services; are moving from family-led to non-family led or from founder-led to next generation family led, or are underperforming and need alignment or restructuring; want to merge or combine with another family office; want to wind down and distribute.
Embedded Family Offices
Families with operating businesses that have employees providing embedded or personal family services who recognize this structure creates a liabilty, and is either not sustainable or creates a business performance challenge due to distraction, overstretched or unqualified internal staff, and lack of privacy and confidentiality, and want to optimize the impacted business’ performance.
Wealth Accumulation: Pre- and Post-Liquidity Scenarios
Families who have accumulated wealth (i.e., business, employment, investment, inheritance, lottery, etc.) and/or either had a liquidity event (and need some sort of organizational design and structure) OR have a pending liquidity event (and are being proactive to plan ahead) to support and manage their new reality, complexity of life, wealth, and legacy.
Trusted Advisors
Trusted advisors who serve these complex and sophisticated families yet do not have this specialized knowledge and family office operating experience.
Real Experience
We have a unique combination of “firsthand” family office experience to develop and implement strategic plans that can be operationalized. Our team has experience through multiple lenses: growing up in a family office, leading, managing and advising others’ family offices (of all types), serving as both inside and outside general counsel to family offices, and owning and operating portfolio companies of family offices.
Independent, Unbiased, Objective
Xylogenesis™ is truly an independent resource and offers no other services to family offices and does not accept or receive payment for the referral or recommendation of other trusted advisors or service providers. We sit on the same side of the table as the family at all times allowing us to ask the critical questions that the family either does not know to ask or prefers us to ask. Our approach and philosophy allow us to be completely client-loyal and focused on the needs of our clients 24/7.
Candid & Direct
Due to our personal and professional family office backgrounds, we appreciate how challenging it can be to have difficult conversations with family members, family office principals and their leadership teams. Family dynamics and long-term, loyal employees often experience difficulty in saying “no,” and confronting sensitive topics and legacy matters. At times, broaching difficult topics can be considered taboo, perceived as breach of loyalty, or, even worse, insubordination or loss of trust which could lead to disenfranchisement of a family member or result in an employee’s or professional advisor’s termination. Due to our outside perspective, we also have the ability to see and say things that others within the organization lack experience, comfort or confidence in doing or have become desensitized. Our candid and direct perspective and knowledge of best practices from other family offices can add fresh energy and help to create higher performing organizations.
Navigate Dynamics
We provide strategies to navigate the complexities of multigenerational relationships, family and non-family working arrangements, and the interplay between the family – family office – operating businesses, philanthropy, and other endeavors. Integral in our work is also establishing trust and coordination with the family’s external trusted advisors to leverage their expertise in a collaborative, efficient manner.
Expert Generalist
We are the “Swiss Army Knife,” providing family offices with a versatile range of services and resources that empower family offices to achieve durable family harmony, financial prosperity, and operational excellence.
“Rich’s comments to the family office documents were the most thoughtful and meaningful comments blending technical concepts with family values. Never seen this magic before. We asked the family client if we could use his work as a template for other family office clients.”
3 Core Xylogenesis® Benefits for Your Ever-Evolving Family Office
Clear Perspective & Insight
Our baseline assessment tool will create stakeholder alignment and clarity on the satisfaction of your family office, will identify and prioritize which items to address and in which order, and will develop a smart monitoring tool to measure ongoing performance. This roadmap will help with organizational alignment, performance standards, and overall organization satisfaction. Our annual sustainment reviews and audits, thereafter, can help reinforce and ensure that your family office remains on track in a healthy, sustainable, and resilient manner.
Organizational Design & Operational Integration
Once the baseline is established and a pathway chartered, the organization design can be confirmed, slightly modified, or totally reimagined. This will then lead to operationalize the functions and family office team (internal and external) to define and achieve goals that are actionable with assigned accountability and comprehensive integration.
Peace of Mind
We provide an unfiltered, non-conflicted, and objective assessment of your family office, and create and implement strategies for the present and future. Your family and family office is too important to ever wonder if you are being provided with advice you “want” to hear, instead of the candid advice you “need” to hear.
Meet Rich Wolkowitz
Founder, Xylogenesis® Family Office Advisory
Honored to be Named Among the FamCap 50 World’s Top 50 Family Enterprise Advisors
Rich was recognized as one of the FamCap World’s Top 50 Family Enterprise Advisors, an honor that highlights the top advisors in the family enterprise world.
The Xylogenesis® Name
Xylogenesis is a metaphor for multigenerational families. Look inside a tree and you’ll discover the beautiful xylogenesis effect. The tree rings record a rich history of the tree’s growth, health, sickness, and even trauma, a reflection of both natural, organic growth and external factors, such as weather and environmental conditions, disease, insects, lightning, and more. A family and their enterprise evolve organically too and is also impacted by external factors such as birth, death, divorce, business cycles, and industry changes that can strengthen and weaken the family system.
Like tree rings, the family core begins very close and has even concentric circles. But over time the tree rings grow uneven, develop individual characteristics, and spread further apart. Families need not chase the perfect concentric tree ring circles as that may not be realistic or attainable; setting that as your goal may lead to frustration, disappointment and unhappiness. Instead, healthy families embrace their uniqueness and imperfections to learn from and to grow and create a healthier family future. A correctly designed and evolving family office structure will protect and enhance a family’s personal and financial system.
