June, 5, DC – Brett Rees joins Waldron Private Wealth as a Managing Director – Wealth Consultant in the Greater Washington DC area. Waldron, a wealth management firm who focuses on serving individuals, families, and business owners. Rees will lead and expand the firm’s operations in the mid-Atlantic region.

“After spending over 25 years serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients and their families at an institutional firm, I am pleased to join an independent, boutique and personalized wealth advisory enterprise that aims to provide customized advice that is in the best interest of the clients,” said Rees. “Waldron aims to help individuals and families coordinate all aspects of their complex financial lives so they can focus on the things that are most important to them. Waldron has the breadth of experience, customized approach to managing wealth and the services to help create a comprehensive, objective, and holistic family office experience for our clients.”

Headquartered just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Waldron is an independent wealth management firm catering to high-net worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Waldron’s team has a strong commitment to the company’s founding principles and strategic vision. Central to this approach is maintaining a low client-to-staff ratio, currently better than 5 to 1. This key differentiator allows Waldron advisors to customize planning and investment solutions for each client’s unique situation.

“Waldron has a focus on strategic growth and, while we have been serving clients in the Washington DC area for nearly 30 years, having the opportunity to bring in a seasoned professional like Brett to lead our expansion into the Mid-Atlantic region was an easy decision” says John Waldron, CEO & Founder of Waldron.  “Brett will be responsible for introducing new potential clients to the firm and help with hiring local talent with the ultimate goal of expanding our presence to open an office in the region.”

Since Waldron’s founding in 1995, the firm has built up a strong client base in the greater Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Strategic growth in the Greater Washington DC area mind prompted a permanent hire to lead our service and growth efforts in the region. As a Managing Director – Wealth Consultant, Brett will be tasked with building client relationships, providing comprehensive wealth planning services, and growing the clientele base in the region.

“We approach every hire at Waldron very thoughtfully and selectively – to help ensure that each person is the right fit for our culture” said Mike Krol, Partner & Head of Wealth Advisory of Waldron. “Brett is a great addition to our team, helping us to grow our footprint in the metro DC area.”

Prior to joining Waldron, Brett was a Regional President at a national financial services company.  Throughout his career Brett has worked towards becoming a trusted advisor for his clients and he brings that experience with him to Waldron.

For more information about Waldron’s services in the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas, please contact: brees@waldronpw.com

Waldron Private Wealth (“Company”) is an SEC registered investment adviser with its principal place of business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Company may only transact business in those states in which it is registered, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration requirements. For information about the Firm’s registration status and business operations, please consult Waldron’s Form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

Disclosure

Accomplished business owners of significant wealth face many challenges; but perhaps the one we hear most often is “how do I reduce my tax bill”. Here are five advanced tax strategies specifically designed for wealthy business owners. By leveraging these strategies, you increase the potential to minimize your tax burden, optimize your after-tax returns, and pave the way for long-term wealth preservation.  After all, it doesn’t matter “what you make”; what truly matters is “what you keep”.

1. Strategic Business Structures and Entity Selection:

Choosing the right business structure and entity selection is a fundamental step in mitigating taxes. From limited liability companies (LLCs) to S corporations and partnerships, each structure has unique tax advantages and considerations. And you need to consider both current taxes and future taxes (for example, upon business sale) in order to take advantage of significant savings opportunities such as QSBS.

2. Should I Use Qualified Retirement Plans:

Qualified retirement plans such as 401(k)s and defined benefit plans provide excellent opportunities for tax deferral and wealth accumulation. However, their current tax benefits are often significantly outweighed by longer term tax burden.  Before piling money into qualified plans, make sure you are thinking about the long-term ramifications.

3. Coordination with Investment Portfolio:

Did you know that you can offset income generated by various forms of business entities with tax-savvy moves in your personal investment portfolio?  For example, by strategically harvesting capital gains and losses, you can offset taxable gains with losses, thereby reducing your overall tax liability.

4. Current and Future Charitable Giving:

Philanthropy presents a powerful tool for tax planning. But all too often, we find that business owners don’t take advantage of all the tax benefits they are entitled to.  For example, if you attend charitable galas or have charitable intentions denoted in your will, we have found that you are likely not taking full advantage of the tax benefits of your charitable intentions.

5. Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Strategies:

Too often we see that business owners do not focus on estate planning and generational wealth preservation until after the sale of a business, and thereby forego millions of dollars of potential tax savings.  By utilizing strategies such as GRATs, BCBDs, family limited partnerships, valuation discounts, etc., you can effectively reduce your taxable estate and maximize the value passed on to your heirs.

Mitigating taxes is a fundamental aspect of wealth management for successful business owners. By implementing advanced tax strategies such as strategic business structures, leveraging retirement plans, capital gains and loss harvesting, charitable giving, and comprehensive estate planning, you can proactively reduce your tax burden while working towards increasing your wealth preservation and growth potential. At Waldron Private Wealth, we help tailor tax optimization strategies to the unique needs of wealthy business owners. Contact us today to explore how we can help you navigate the complex tax landscape.

Waldron is neither a law firm, nor a certified public accounting firm, and no portion of the commentary content should be construed as legal or accounting advice.

Waldron Private Wealth (“Company”) is an SEC registered investment adviser with its principal place of business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Company may only transact business in those states in which it is registered, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration requirements. For information about the Firm’s registration status and business operations, please consult Waldron’s Form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be an offer, recommendation or solicitation to purchase or sell any security or product or to employ a specific investment strategy. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions, aforementioned information may no longer be reflective of current position(s) and/or recommendation(s). Moreover, no client or prospective client should assume that any such discussion serves as the receipt of, or a substitute for, personalized advice from Company, or from any other investment professional. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of money invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Asset allocation and diversification do not guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Company is neither an attorney nor an accountant, and no portion of the web site content should be interpreted as legal, accounting or tax advice. 

Disclaimer

“We are different, we are the same.”

We have had the good fortune over the years to work with successful business owners all across the country.  And as we learn the fascinating stories about how they built and cultivated their successful businesses, one word always springs to mind to describe them — “unique.”

Yet, despite their differences we consistently see a number of strikingly common themes in helping business owners develop a strategy to manage their investment portfolio.  And three items in particular that they would be well-advised to avoid.

Taking unnecessary risk

Most successful business owners do not view their business as inherently risky. This is typically because they have built stability of income and exercise control over the decisions that can drive business success.  Because of this, along with an overall high tolerance for risk, business owners frequently take unnecessary risks with their investment portfolio and fail to have their investment portfolio risk coordinated with the other components of their wealth (such as business interests, real estate, etc.). In our view, the most successful investment portfolios are always managed in coordination with one’s business and the other components of your financial life.

Prioritizing the business over personal finances

Most business owners focus, and appropriately so, on the engine that is creating their wealth – their business. In fact, it is not unusual for them to view an investment portfolio as an insignificant part of their overall financial life, and to treat it with a “set it and forget it” approach. While it may not represent a significant portion of wealth for many, relative to their business, it is important to have a strategic plan for your investment portfolio that – just like your business –  is executed, reviewed and monitored appropriately.

Managing a portfolio like a business

The most problematic mistake is when business owners try to manage their portfolio with the same principles that drive success in their business. As a business owner, you might often need to make significant strategy adjustments as markets conditions change, and focus relentlessly on how to drive and grow your income over both the short and long term.  These are both examples of principals that work in a successful business, but do not work in a successful investment portfolio.  In fact, there are many decisions in the proper management of an investment portfolio that are contrary to basic human instincts.  Investing great Warren Buffet summarized this well in recommending to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.

Despite the uniqueness we have witnessed over the years with business owners across industries, geographies and sizes, we continue to find that these similarities hold true.  We are different; we are the same.

Disclaimer

The Smart Business Dealmakers Conference connects hundreds of local dealmakers — from middle-market CEOs, to top investors and lenders, to leading M&A advisors. Dealmaking continues at a unprecedented pace as sellers cash in on record levels of liquidity. But how long can the party last? Wednesday May 4th, 2022, Waldron is sponsoring a panel discussing how to make sound family business decisions.

Navigating the options for family-owned businesses can be a complicated process. Do you transition to the next generation? Should you consider an outright sale?  Join a third-generation family business owner, a specialty Private Equity Firm executive that helps closely held companies become ESOPs, and two advisors including myself, who work with family businesses as we discuss how to probe that all-important question: What’s next?

This is a great opportunity to meet and mingle with Detroit’s top dealmakers and entrepreneurs from the region, including many of our own Waldron team members at Detroit’s Townsend Hotel. For more information, please visit: https://www.smartbusinessdealmakers.com/detroit/event/

Disclaimer

Fear and uncertainty regarding the spread and impact of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak have created widespread volatility across various investment markets beginning in late February of 2020. And while many news outlets and headlines focus on the risks the virus poses to the general population and drastic drops in domestic markets, there have also been unexpected market opportunities created in the wake of the virus that may benefit wealthy investors.

An enormous question that is hard to answer is how long the current market conditions will last. Much of that depends on when cases of the disease peak globally and important foreign economies, such as China’s, return to strength. In a research paper, consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggested in the best-case scenario this may happen as early as Q2, but the current conditions are more likely to last into Q3 and possibly through the rest of the year. The situation remains fluid and subject to change by many experts.

We should all hope for the best case, of course, but in the meantime, an investor can still endure the volatility and may benefit in the conditions created by the coronavirus.

Leverage investment returns in historic rate environment

With a slowdown in the growth of the global economy expected — and even worries over a possible recession — fear in the marketplace often stirs up a perfect storm of unique opportunities for investors with the right strategy.

The current situation in the wake of the coronavirus is of tremendous historical significance, as the yield on the 10-year treasury bond dropped to its lowest point in history on multiple occasions in 2020. This is not a good thing for prospective bond investors looking to reinvest in the market, but it is a tremendous opportunity for wealthy investors who have the ability to borrow using their portfolio as collateral and lock in fixed borrowing rates never before seen. Of course, this is increasing your level of debt and debt is something one has to be comfortable holding.

These low borrowing rates first appeared during one of the largest-ever weekly declines in the U.S. stock market. When you combine the ability to borrow at extremely low rates relative to history and simultaneously invest in long-term growth investments at a significant discount, it is a particularly unique wealth opportunity for those with the necessary means, ability, and capacity to borrow.

Save significant taxes at the intersection of interest rates and tax policy

Wealthy investors are often subject to substantial taxes throughout their life and, for many, even more taxes at their death. There is a $10-million ticking “tax time bomb” that will impact very wealthy couples over the next 5-6 years, which, in our estimation, many will fail to take advantage of prior to its currently scheduled expiration. When you combine this time bomb, with the fact that historically low interest rates create a very favorable environment for certain estate tax-saving strategies, you have a chance to create millions of dollars in generational wealth savings.

Deploy cash when it seems each type of investment has its own set of issues

If you have just sold a business or experienced a major liquidity event, where should you deploy cash when bonds are paying historically low interest rates and equities are experiencing a decline not seen since the financial crisis? The answer may not be holding cash, either, as rates of return are quickly returning to the low levels of recent years past.

Unfortunately, neither is “wait and see” a good idea. There were many nervous investors with large amounts of cash in late 2018, and their reluctance to invest cost has cost them to the opportunity cost of a diversified portfolio. In the past 20 years, we’ve only had one other 30%+ year in U.S. equities.

During times of market uncertainty, it’s easy to react emotionally. But the fact that our economic status ebbs and flows over time will never change. The key is knowing how to take advantage of market opportunity, while investing and planning for the long term.

Disclaimer

“We are different, we are the same”

We have had the good fortune over the years to work with successful business owners all across the country.  And as we have heard their fascinating stories of how they built and cultivated business success, the word that best probably best describes each of their stories is “unique”.

Yet, despite their differences we consistently see a number of strikingly common themes in helping business owners develop a strategy to manage their investment portfolio.  And three items in particular that would be well-advised to avoid.

Taking unnecessary risk

Most successful business owners do not view their business as inherently risky. This is typically because they have built stability of income and exercise control over the decisions that can drive business success.  Because of this, along with an overall high tolerance for risk, business owners frequently take unnecessary risks in their investment portfolio and fail to have their investment portfolio risk coordinated the other components of their wealth (such as business interests, real estate, etc.). In our view, the most successful investment portfolios are always managed in coordination with one’s business and the other components of your financial life.

Prioritizing the business over personal finances

Most business owners focus, and appropriately so, on the engine that is creating their wealth – their business. In fact, it is not unusual for them to view an investment portfolio as an insignificant part of their overall financial life, and to treat it with a “set it and forget it” approach. While it may not represent a significant portion of wealth for many, relative to their business, it is important to have a strategic plan for your investment portfolio that – just like your business –  is executed, reviewed and monitored appropriately.

Managing a portfolio like a business

The most problematic mistake is when business owners try to manage their portfolio with the same principles that drive success in their business. As a business owner, you might often need to make significant strategy adjustments as markets conditions change, and focus relentlessly on how to drive and grow your income over both the short and long term.  These are both examples of principals that work in a successful business, but do not work in a successful investment portfolio.  In fact, there are many decisions in the proper management of an investment portfolio that are contrary to basic human instincts.  Investing great Warren Buffet summarized this well in recommending to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.

Despite the unique-ness we have witnessed over the years with business owners across industries, geographies and sizes, we continue to find that these similarities that hold true.  We are different; we are the same.  And if you happen to be curious where this quote came from (as I was after I wrote it) a “google” revealed the source.  Night-time reading to my two children has left its mark!

If you would like to learn how we can seamlessly integrate your investment portfolio into your financial planning strategy, feel free to contact us.

Interested in learning more about investment insights?

Disclaimer

We are in the middle of the longest running bull market in history.

Naturally, many investors are wondering, especially those with cash reserves or who have just gone through a liquidity event, is now the right time to invest in the market? The answer depends on a number of factors, including your time horizon, your goals and your immediate needs. In this video, Partner and Head of Wealth Advisors, Mike Krol, dives into how these factors play into the current investment landscape.

Disclaimer