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How EY can help
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EY Family Enterprise Business Services is designed to help enterprising families grow larger, more valuable businesses that will last for generations. We can help you develop and implement a plan for growth, generational transition and shareholder liquidity.
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Family Office Advisory Services offer domestic and cross-border tax services to high net worth individuals and families.
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For family enterprises, creating a liquidity policy that aligns with both family goals and the needs of the business can be a challenge. In this webcast co-hosted by the nonprofit Family Enterprise USA (FE USA), Sean Aylward, US EY Private National Tax Managing Director, and Dom Venditti, EY Family Enterprise Business Services Senior Manager, explore how family businesses can future-proof their shareholder liquidity strategies to avoid business disruption.
Shareholder liquidity has an impact on business growth and company capitalization, which is why creating a liquidity policy is critical for family enterprises. A well-developed plan balances growing the business so that it can successfully transition through multiple generations against the desire to distribute funds to stakeholders.
Three factors can increase liquidity pressures on family businesses:
- With more than 60% of family enterprise CEOs, presidents and principal owners over the age of 61, the next decade will see a wave of leaders transitioning out of the business, increasing the need to fund health care, retirement, and other associated costs.
- As ownership moves from one generation to the next, the “personal wealth gap” or the difference in assets that are illiquid versus liquid typically changes. After the first generation, the percentage of illiquid to liquid assets often shifts from 20%-80% to 90%-10% by the third generation.
- Over time, the number of inactive owners and beneficiaries grows. Where active individuals typically embrace a long-term stewardship mindset and are more likely to reinvest earnings back into the business, inactive individuals may have a short-term outlook and are more likely to call on the company to increase the funds available for redemptions or distributions.
A well-defined liquidity plan can serve a release valve, reducing the pressure and the potential for disruption. However, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for family enterprises to follow. Decisions should be informed by benchmarks, company performance, and stakeholder requirements. Family businesses have several liquidity policy tools at their disposal: