Insights

Day Pitney LLP hosted its annual invitation-only Palm Beach Family Office Forum at the Eau Palm Beach. Now in its fifth 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 the opening remarks and introduced the keynote speaker, Thomas C. Rogerson, President/Chief Learning Officer of GenLeg Co., Inc. and a recognized leader in family governance throughout the world.

Following Rogerson's keynote, he moderated a panel, "Family Governance and Succession Planning," where panelists Peter Culver, Founder, Family Legacy Council; Robert Grimaldi, Managing Director, Family Office; Wendy Rogers, Director, Griffin Family Investments, LLC; and Darren M. Wallace, Partner, Trusts and Estates and Family Office Practice, Day Pitney, discussed the role of governance, and related best practices, in promoting the sustainability of family wealth and harmony and address some of the complex challenges and related solutions with designing and implementing a viable succession plan.

The second panel, "Tax Strategies" was moderated by Daniel L. Gottfried, Partner, International Transactions and Tax at Day Pitney with panelists N. Todd Angkatavanich, Principal, National Tax Department, Ernst & Young, LLP and Jim Brennan, Executive Director, Tax, Private Client Services, Ernst & Young, LLP. The panel focused on various techniques and structures that can help family offices optimize their federal tax planning, including how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and recent tax court cases impact the taxation of family offices and provide numerous planning opportunities.

The final "Qualified Opportunity Zones" panel gave an overview of the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program and discussed how to qualify for tax benefits as an investor, how to structure, create and maintain a QOZ fund or business, and key areas of the program that are still developing. The discussion was moderated by Von E. Sanborn, Partner, Tax, Art Law and Family Office Practice, Day Pitney and panelists included Alfred J. Puchala, Jr., CEO of CapZone Impact Investments, LLC; Thomas Riggs, Partner, Director Financial Services Tax, PKF O'Connor Davies; and Michael Tillman, Managing Principal, PTM Partners.

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.