Exclusive | Goldman Sachs champions legacy planning as US$6.1 trillion wealth transfer looms in Asia
For family-owned firms in Asia-Pacific, legacy planning is crucial to ensure business sustainability, US bank’s Carra Cote-Ackah says
Goldman Sachs is pushing legacy planning in Asia, including succession and philanthropy, as family offices boom and family-owned businesses continue to dominate the region.
The changing regulatory landscape, growth of family offices and high proportion of family-owned businesses in the region made it a “particularly important period” for wealthy families to engage in generational transition, manage legacies and navigate tensions, said Carra Cote-Ackah, head of legacy planning and philanthropic engagement at the bank’s private wealth-management division.
The US investment bank aimed to provide “best resources” ranging from advisory and fiduciary to philanthropy to Asia’s unique clientele, who were often first-generation wealth creators in innovative and disruptive industries, she said in an interview recently in Hong Kong.
With industry estimates showing that around 85 per cent of Asia-Pacific companies were family-owned, generational legacy planning was crucial to ensuring business sustainability, preserving family wealth and maintaining harmony across generations, according to Cote-Ackah, who was in town for Goldman Sachs’ summer series for the next generation of its wealthy clients.
“Your family legacy is what you build together, not just what you leave behind,” Cote-Ackah said. Sometimes founders are very clear on their long-term vision for the business, but have not really reflected on their long-term vision for themselves without the business, she said.