Opportunity at Risk
A Groundbreaking Approach to Planning for Family Wealth Preservation
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A Groundbreaking Approach to Planning for Family Wealth Preservation
Family wealth often vanishes within three generations. Not from poor investments, but from hidden forces that drain net worths over time. This “financial gravity” is the cumulative impact of taxes, inflation, lawsuits and lifestyle pressures that traditional financial planning often overlooks.
Opportunity at Risk reveals a smarter approach to protect what you’ve built and secure your family’s financial future. Drawing from decades of experience with high-net-worth clients, this book introduces the Total Family Balance Sheet™, a comprehensive framework that goes beyond assets to expose potential hidden liabilities that may threaten your legacy.
This approach isn’t theoretical. It’s a practical roadmap that is intended to align your family’s values with your financial strategy, coordinate across advisors and build true generational wealth with intention.
For families who have built wealth and are determined to preserve it.
Warren Barhorst is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in risk management, personal and commercial insurance, financial planning, distribution strategy and consulting. He currently serves as a Managing Partner at Higginbotham.
Your liability can bubble up.
Even with business structuring and commercial insurance in place, personal liability can still “bubble up” and threaten your family’s wealth. If structuring and risk transference have not been completed adequately, your personal assets (your home, investment accounts, family wealth, etc.) could be exposed to lawsuits, creditor claims and business losses.
This is true for virtually every type of business structure: Sole Proprietor, S-Corporation, C-Corporation, P-Corporation, LLC, LTD, LLP and 501(c)3.
Higginbotham’s advisors coordinate with a variety of professionals to seek to provide families and individuals with a more comprehensive picture of their risk.
Most high-net-worth families work with multiple advisors: CPAs, attorneys, investment managers and insurance agents. But these professionals often have limited, if any, communication with each other, which can leave dangerous gaps in protection.
Over nearly eight decades, families have unknowingly exposed themselves to catastrophic risk because no one was looking at the complete picture. The Total Family Balance Sheet™ by Higginbotham changes that.
Our proprietary framework is designed to provide an integrated global assessment of private, public, liquid and illiquid assets, their liabilities and their hidden exposures. It promotes cross-advisor communication and coordination to help identify where to deploy the four tools of risk management: assumption, mitigation, transference and avoidance.
The Total Family Balance Sheet™ by Higginbotham is designed to organize a family’s interest by the six asset silos where liabilities and off-balance sheet exposures often live. However, our clients may not have assets in all of these six silos; this framework can be used for a variety of families and individuals.
Whether you’re managing complex multi-generational wealth or just starting to build your legacy, Higginbotham can help you see what traditional planning might miss.
Includes stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETS, currencies, commodities, derivatives and passive investments in real estate investment trusts, hedge funds, and private equity funds
Valuable possessions like art, vehicles, boats, jet skis, motorcycles, jewelry and collectibles, as well as primary and secondary residences
The family’s intellectual property, reputation, relationships, influence and skills – the “brand” that supports deal-making and access to opportunities
Actively owned and managed residential, agricultural, raw land, project developments and commercial properties
Direct investments or hard money loans into privately held companies where the family has a vested interest
Any business where the family holds significant ownership and manages operations, hiring, culture and daily decisions
Example: Your Chartered Private Jet Could Cost You Everything
You negotiated the flight schedule and price, but did anyone review the indemnity clause?
Most chartered aviation contracts quietly transfer massive liabilities to you, the passenger. If there’s an accident, you could be personally responsible for tens of millions of dollars in damages – even though you don’t own the aircraft and have no control over maintenance or pilot decisions.
One standard contract clause can put your entire net worth at risk every time you step on a plane.
Higginbotham’s contract review team often consults with our clients’ legal counsel to help assess the risks being taken on and to either support the renegotiation of indemnity terms to mitigate risk or aid the client in securing a specialized insurance policy to transfer the risk.
Ultra-high net worth families have unique and evolving needs that require a holistic and tactical approach to risk management. Higginbotham offers an array of solutions designed to meet those needs.
The information contained herein does not constitute, and should not be relied on as, financial, tax or legal advice and is not intended to constitute an insurance advertisement, solicitation or offer for sale. Any reference to or description of the tax or legal treatment or impact of any product, service, solution or strategy described herein is based on our understanding of existing laws and, accordingly, is subject to the impact of any and all changes thereto. The information contained herein does not constitute a comprehensive summary of the laws that may be applicable to a given situation addressed herein. Furthermore, a number of factors that are not addressed herein and could lead to a different result than that which is described herein. You should consult with your financial, tax and legal advisors before implementing any strategy described herein.