Day Pitney Hosts Annual Palm Beach Family Office Forum

Day Pitney hosted its annual invitation-only Palm Beach Family Office Forum at the PGA National Resort and Spa. Now in its eighth year, the event draws attendees, including family office principals, executives and family members, as well as other high net worth individuals and advisors, from across the country to discuss topics impacting family offices. R. Scott Beach, Chair of Day Pitney’s Corporate and Business Law department and head of its Family Office practice, welcomed the more than 100 attendees, provided opening remarks and introduced the keynote speaker, Kevin Depew, Deputy Chief Economist of RSM, who provided an economic and political outlook, including geopolitical shifts, investment and inflation concerns and thoughts on potential tax policy changes.

Following Depew’s keynote, Tasha Dickinson, a Trusts and Estates Partner at Day Pitney, introduced Kelly Smallridge, President and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, who discussed the key factors driving Palm Beach County’s growth, migration of family offices and investment firms into Palm Beach County, and addressed some of the broader infrastructure issues facing the county. Next, Ken Himmel, President and CEO of the Related Companies, spoke about Related’s development plans for West Palm Beach; and Pam Rauch, Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development of Florida Power & Light, presented on the evolution of the business climate in Florida and its future prospects for growth.

David Bogan, an Energy and Communications Partner at Day Pitney, moderated the first panel, “ESG Investment Opportunities in Energy,” with panelists Pam Rauch and Georgina Owino, Counsel at Generate Capital. The panel discussed ESG drivers, tax credits available, metrics to measure ESG performance, ESG initiatives and challenges, and opportunities in developing new solar energy.

Gregory T. Rogers, Founder and Managing Partner at RayLign, moderated the next panel “Stories about the Clash of Culture and Strategy in Enterprise Families,” with panelists Keith Lender, President at Baldwin Street Management and Matt Womble, Owner of EverWatch (both family office principals). The panel discussed the arc of culture building and structural design through generations, the evolution of structure and family governance, and intra-family dynamics.

Jaclyn M. D’Esposito, a Family Office attorney at Day Pitney, moderated the day’s third panel titled, “Involving the Rising Generation: Challenges and Opportunities,” with panelists Mercy Goddard, Vice President at Investment Resources Corp.; Mindy Earley, Chief Learning Officer at Family Office Exchange; and H. Wayne Huizenga III, President and Founder of South Wake Capital. The panel addressed the top challenges faced by the rising generation of both operating and financial families, irrespective of age or generational characteristics, and strategies for overcoming these challenges, emphasizing the importance of intergenerational communication about family matters and clearly defined roles within the family enterprise.

Next, Tasha Dickinson moderated the panel, “ESG from Theory to Practice,” with panelists Alex Kotsopoulos, Partner at RSM and Jeff McGrew, Chief Investment Officer, and Partner at Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC. The panel discussed the methods and approaches family offices can implement to operationalize ESG.

Lastly, Bill Roberts, a Cybersecurity and Data Protection Partner at Day Pitney, moderated the final panel of the day “Crypto and NFTs in EdTech – Investment Opportunities in Technology that Will Change Education,” which provided an overview of NFTs, trends in EdTech and EdTech cryptocurrency platforms. Panelists included Rob Hutter, Managing Partner at Learn Capital, and Alex Grebnev, CEO of Let Me Speak.

A copy of the agenda and list of speakers can be viewed here.