WE Family Offices CEO Mel Lagomasino Discusses Role Transition at the 2016 Elite Summit

WE Family Offices Managing Partner and CEO Mel Lagomasino recently presented the keynote address at the Elite Summit 2016 in Montreaux, Switzerland. The Elite Summit, a gathering of independent advisors and international fund and asset managers, provides discussions about the key drivers shaping the wealth management industry.

In her presentation, Mel addressed an important but not often discussed subset of women: wives in ultra-affluent families and the challenges they encounter when, by choice or circumstance, find themselves transitioning into a leadership role in the family wealth enterprise®.

“One of the biggest challenges in the industry is that there will be approximately $30 trillion in wealth that is going to be transferred to either the wife, or the children or foundations in the next decade,” she explains. “We have to start building capacity and confidence in the recipients.”

Comparing the transfer of the decision-making role in a wealthy family to the transfer of leadership in a successful company, Mel stressed the importance of planning.

“Part of it is getting the ones who are making decisions now to realize this is something they need to explicitly get involved in and put in place a multi-year process,” she says.

You can see a portion of Mel’s presentation or hear a brief interview with her about the topic.