We talk to Rockefeller Capital Management about its approach to financial planning, working with female clients, education, and business and financial literacy.

When a UHNW family becomes a client of a business such as Rockefeller Capital Management (RCM), one resource they tap into is the family experience of the firm they’re becoming a client of.

Mallory Findley, RCM’s head of financial education, says this sharing of ideas and experience is an important part of this organization’s value proposition. 

“Our financial education program was originally developed in partnership with and for the Rockefeller family, and leverages expertise from seven generations of wealth transfer to now empower new families and new generations to be good stewards of their own wealth and develop confidence in their financial decision-making,” Findley told Family Wealth Report.  

“We also leverage the expertise of our Rockefeller Next Gen Advisory Council, a 20-person advisory board comprised of forward-thinking leaders representing the next generation of family wealth. This group helps provide counsel on the issues that matter most to the emerging generation of entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists, particularly in the areas of multi-generational stewardship and family leadership, ensuring that we remain at the cutting edge of innovation,” Findley continued. 

FWR spoke to Findley around the time of International Women’s Day and around the tax-filing period that sees individuals and families wrestling with tax, financial planning and other tasks. It’s a time to reflect on the centrality of planning, values and communication. 

The emphasis of financial advice has clearly shifted in the past 10 years, Findley said. More than a decade ago, financial advice was mostly about portfolio advice; more recently, it has moved toward financial planning. 

“Now, there is more work on what we call the softer side of money: helping families handle family dynamics in support of successful multigenerational transitions of wealth,” Findley said. “A large concern we see with families is that they want to be empowered in their own financial understanding and decision-making.” Consequently, she said, financial literacy is an issue: “Everybody deserves to have confidence in their own financial decisions.”

These conversations with clients run through eight main elements: Personal finance; planning for the future; US tax basics; wills, trusts and estate planning; investing; sustainability and impact; philanthropy; and entrepreneurship, also known as a “mini MBA program” for next gens/families/entrepreneurs.

Women’s issues
Findley said gaps remain in terms of how women are advised about wealth and their position within financial services more generally. 

“There are still discrepancies in financial advice; women tend to live longer than men and often bear the brunt of responsibility when it comes to family finances,” Findley said. “Tens of trillions of dollars are being left in the hands of women.”

Rockefeller’s Findley is not alone in noting these issues. UBS recently noted that women, who manage an estimated $32 trillion of global spending, are due to control 75 per cent of discretionary spending worldwide. However, by the end of their working lives, women globally are expected to accumulate only 74 per cent of the wealth of men, UBS said, citing figures from the 2022 Wealth Equity Index from WTW and the World Economic Forum. Switching to the UK, women are still significantly worse off than their male counterparts in wealth terms, a recent bank survey found. 

Findley said women face problems in raising capital if they are running a business. 

“Women-owned businesses are an important part of the US economy, however, historically women business-owners have faced unique challenges when raising capital,” Findley said.

“Particularly related to our conversations around funding sources, research indicates that in many cases, men and women entrepreneurs may be asked different questions by investors, which can impact their ability to fundraise. For example, men tend to be asked promotion questions which allow them the opportunity to talk about potential gains, whereas women may be asked prevention questions that essentially set them up to have to defend potential losses,” she said.

“Through our curriculum, we seek to help emerging entrepreneurs address these challenges and help our women clients identify effective ways to navigate and, in many cases, reframe potential discussions with investors. How to build an effective pitch and cultivating strong mentor relationships are also part of this broader module – all critical to achieving success when seeking funding and running a business,” Findley continued. 

Value transfers
Passing over money is one thing: Transferring values that go above and beyond money is another matter entirely, Findley said. 

“It is easy to transfer wealth; it’s much more challenging to transfer values – as such our bespoke wealth and values exercise seeks to help individuals within a family define and articulate the values that are inherently important to them. We then moderate conversations during which family members can share their selections and rationale, while noting any common family themes around which they can come together,” she said. “We also note the differences in values between family members and discuss how families can better understand and appreciate those differences.

"When families can have these conversations successfully, they are able to reflect on how family wealth and resources are (or can) play a supportive role in family values, and they ultimately create a foundation of trust and respect that will govern and support them in their decision-making across all areas of life,” she added.