Strategic guidance for multi-generational families
Navigating complex family dynamics to form clear strategies for the future
We serve multi-generational families, from founders thinking about how to pass on their assets for the first time to later generations who recognise the challenges of keeping the family together.
We always work for ‘The Family’ rather than advising individual family members.
Creating consensus
We support the family in aligning around the key decisions they need to take as owners. We help you to:
Align around and articulate a common purpose
Monitor the performance of collectively owned assets and address shortfalls versus expectations.
Keep family and holding company governance up to date and fit for purpose.
Develop family talent.
Prepare for succession.
Ensure family members who wish to exit the ownership group can do so on terms that are fair for all, and in ways that that protect the core assets.
This list is not exhaustive; we help clients address their most relevant challenges.
Seeing the Whole Picture
Our approach is holistic; listening, understanding, and seeking common interests and ways forward. Drawing on diverse examples from past experiences, we explain how these insights can be adapted to your unique situation.
Each family has its own narrative, and discussions should be grounded in a rich understanding of that narrative. Financial performance also plays a crucial role – as a key element of the glue that binds families together.
By being clear on what good performance looks like and working with you and those that work with you, we can help develop a vision for your assets and deliver against that vision.
Common challenges families face
Often, we find families that are stuck or where there is disagreement about how to move forward. Conflict lurks under the surface or is bubbling to the top.
Communication may be difficult. Certain owners may be feeling left out, kept in the dark, or have difficulty accessing or understanding the real issues that owners confront.
Assets might be underperforming, or governance out of date. There may be low trust or lack of confidence. Perceptions of the next generation might be outdated, and generations might have difficulty talking to each other.
There may be an underlying lack of conviction that the family wants to continue together – or disagreement about in which direction to head.
Moving forwards
We help families work their way through these issues. We often start with the simple questions: ‘Do you want to continue owning these assets together?’, then ‘Why?’ as well as ‘What would need to change to make you want to continue?’
Using the figures to centre discussion
We believe in using data to guide our thinking, and that whilst listening, discussing and deciding are key, we can bring information to bare that helps centre the discussions and focus on what really matters.
This can mean distilling your high-level financial data into clear strategic insights. It can mean sending out ‘health check surveys’ or ‘audits of beliefs’. These allow you to build on areas of consensus and dig into the areas where there is disagreement.
Guiding Families Through Sensitive Dynamics
In our experience, a clear and structured process is key to managing complex family dynamics; we often we find ourselves acting as ‘shuttle diplomats’ moving between branches of the family and helping to bridge the disagreements, seeking common interests and highlighting win-win situations or the need for compromise.
We take the time to understand the formal structures that dictate where decision authority lies, but we also seek to establish how each family’s power dynamic has evolved. We seek to identify pragmatic solutions that work for each family’s unique circumstances.
Who we are
Independent strategic advisors to Owners
Acanthite Partners is an independent, specialist advisory firm dedicated to addressing the unique situations faced by family-owned groups. Our mission is to help families make the right decisions for their business and investments and protect their legacies for future generations.
We create lasting solutions, enabled by decades of experience and an intimate understanding of family dynamics.
CLIENT STORY
Crafting a fresh vision for the next generation of owners
A fourth-generation family business was entering a critical phase: the transition of ownership to the next generation, which would consist of 25 beneficial owners. The current generation recognised the need to articulate a renewed vision; one that would engage the incoming owners while preserving the unique culture that had defined the family enterprise for generations. The challenge was to craft a shared sense of purpose that could reflect the evolving ownership structure and support the family’s long-term unity.
To meet this challenge, our partner worked with the senior generation to identify a group of five Next Gens. This group was tasked with leading a structured process to explore the family's future as owners – in terms of financial objectives, strategic intent, purpose and vision. They consulted with the existing Owners’ Council to ensure alignment.