Charles W. Collier, in Wealth in Families, expands on the theme urged by James E. Hughes, Jr. to which I’ve alluded in the past–the idea that, as Collier quotes Hughes (perhaps from a personal interview; I have been unable to find these exact words in either of Hughes’ books themselves): “A family’s duty is to work to preserve the family’s principal wealth-generating assets: its human and intellectual capital. The family leadership and governance structure should provide an environment that values and enhances each family member’s ability to pursue their individual life calling.”

As I have meditated on Hughes’ comments and, more recently, on what Collier says, I have realized, on the one hand, that they call our attention to things most of us ignore to our peril. On the other, I have realized that there are several other asset classes that they don’t really address.

I would like to call your attention to four such non-financial, wealth-generating asset classes. What follows, then, combines a bit of Hughes, a bit of Collier, and serious dollop of John Holzmann as well. Read the rest of this entry »

One of James Hughes’ great themes–something he stressed in his first book, Family Wealth, and that he emphasizes again in his latest volume, Family: The Compact Among Generations–is the idea that a family needs to grow its human and intellectual capital. The growth of human and intellectual capital must come before the growth of monetary capital. Human and intellectual capital are more important than monetary capital.

In Family: The Compact Among Generations, Hughes insists that family members must participate in the family from desire and interest rather than out of any sense of obligation or external compulsion.

“[N]o human being will voluntarily join any organization unless he first perceives that he will be enhanced by it before having to contribute to it.” And so, Read the rest of this entry »

How do you help your family members write personal resumés that will help your family account for all of its “human and intellectual capital”? Here’s one model.

[If you haven't read my preceding post about Family wealth, unique abilities, and personal resumés, I think you'll want to read it. It explains the basic idea of the "human and intellectual capital" resumé that "includes everything the particular family member believes her or his best friend might know."]

Read the rest of this entry »

As I noted last time, James Hughes says that a family’s wealth is contained, first and foremost, in its human and intellectual capital. Certainly sounds high-minded. But what difference might that make in practice? And how do you account for such wealth or capital? Read the rest of this entry »