Family Mission Statements

For ultra-high net-worth families, the burden of preserving and transferring wealth to future generations is one of life’s greatest challenges. Successfully transitioning wealth from one generation to the next requires a disciplined process rooted in your family’s core values. This post describes how to define your family values and create a mission statement that will guide your wealth management process.

Your family’s wealth management process is not set in stone. Rather, it should evolve with the times and reflect the capacity of your family members. Additionally, your evolving wealth management process should be grounded in an understanding of the values that have made your family successful and the implementation of plans that support transitioning your family legacy to a new generation.

Your family’s financial wealth will grow by nurturing its social, spiritual and intellectual capital. Clearly defining your family values and financial objectives become the foundation of plans for a successful wealth management process. Overall, each family is unique and the plan to manage your family’s wealth will reflect your unique values and objectives.

Making a family mission statement or a family values statement provides a foundation for setting goals. This begins by defining what your family values are. Your family office advisor can create a list of values from discussions with family members of all generations. Afterwards, you and your advisor can use that list to craft a family mission statement.

Common Family Values

For example, here is a list of commonly held values that may apply to your family:

• Integrity (Ethics, Honesty)
• Respect (Trust, Dignity)
• Excellence (Quality, Performance)
• Responsibility (Accountability, Commitment)
• Teamwork (Collaboration, Cooperation)
• Innovation (Creativity, Ingenuity)
• Achievement (Results, Success)
• Fairness (Diversity, Inclusive)
• Care (Service, Compassion)
• Passion (Enthusiasm, Fun)
• Leadership (Influence, Competitive Advantage)
• Learning (Continuous Improvement, Knowledge)
• Customers (Customer Satisfaction)
• People (Employee Engagement)
• Safety (Health)
• Community (Corporate Citizenship)
• Environment (Sustainability)

Family Mission Statement Examples

Moreover, here are three examples of family mission statements:

• “We are honest, hard-working entrepreneurs”
• “The Jones-Chan Family believes in freedom and creativity, and we support a fair and inclusive society for all Canadians”
• “Our overarching goal is to strive to make the capital under our management a force for liberation, empowerment and environmental sustainability”

Creation Process

All in all, creating your family mission statement and defining your family values can be done with the help of a family office advisor. Your advisor can serve as the mediator of discussions and facilitate conversations between family members. Particularly, your family office advisor will take input from family members and draft mission statements for review. Once your family values are defined and a mission statement is created, the next step is drafting an Investment Policy that will guide your family’s unique wealth management process.