Skip to main content

UHNW Consulting

First World Problems?

Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. While the world might view wealth as a panacea, wealthy families know that their financial position brings a whole set of genuine challenges and complexities.

These fall into a two broad categories: the management of financial vs non-financial capital.

Under financial capital, there is wealth management, estate planning and legal issues, risk management and impact/philanthropy. In many families, these areas can intersect. These fields are the domain of wealth firms, private banks, lawyers, accountants, and other such specialists.

The complexities around cultivation of non-financial family capital are often put on the back burner, but can have a huge impact on the family, especially when things go awry.

In this category are areas like family dynamics, governance & decision making, learning and development (usually with a focus on the rising generation), leadership & transition planning, and health & well-being.

These pose many challenges for families:

  • How to minimise a sense of entitlement in children?
  • How to develop in them a sense of purpose and ambition, when they actually don’t need to work?
  • Teaching them how to find happiness in things other than consumption.
  • How to minimise conflict over unfair treatment of family members (actual or perceived)?
  • Dealing with a relatively sudden change in financial status (like after the exit from an operating business or an asset sale)

How can I help?

I help others who are on similar journeys to the ones I’ve traversed. That way, I can have genuine empathy for what you are experiencing.

I grew up in a wealthy family (with all the good and bad that comes with it). I took a slightly different path doing “my own thing” as a tech entrepreneur, and learned much more about family dynamics from my network, extensive study and a number of non-profit roles. That background and experience created in me not just a deep “inside and out” understanding of families, but a passion for helping other families be the best they can be.

What next?

Book a free 30 minute discussion where you can discuss any concerns and get some feedback on your situation. If you find that helpful and we proceed no further, I’m happy to have provided my time. If you then decide I can help, then I’m even happier.

What People Say About David

David brings his professional and spiritual self to everything he does. This shows up so well in his work with families. As we all know wealth means well-being and financial capital is something else. David understands the profound difference a families’ experience of well-being will be as he helps it unpack this vast difference in consciousness and its outcome for them. .He helps the family put its efforts towards enhancing each individual’s and the whole families’ well-beings towards theirs and its flourishing.

James E Hughes Jr - author of Family Wealth

David has been an inspirational and insightful thought leader as a member of PWN. He has presented for us on many occasions and always done an excellent job, with different and compelling content and ideas. Furthermore, he writes beautifully and express complex ideas through his writing exceptionally well. As an advisor he offers a unique perspective and an important offering for business families, focusing on releationship and succession challenges without having any conflicts of interest. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his services and I often do.

Richard Milroy, Private Wealth Network

David chairs the advisory board of GBA Capital and board of Koa Capital. He has excellent commercial acumen, good humour, and the ability to maintain our strategic focus. As a consultant, or board member, David is a trusted adviser and ongoing source of wisdom.

Sebastian Jurd, Managing Director of GBA Capital, Co-Founder of Koa Capital

David is one of the most insightful thought leaders on family dynamics. I regularly read his newsletter and value his perspectives. I read his book “Transition” when I first started studying and applying the intellectual discipline of family business succession planning. It sits on the bookshelf beside my desk and I often refer back to it. Its wisdom is universal and timeless.

Henry Brandts-Giesen, Dentons Kensington Swan