Selected Case Studies.

A founder in his early fifties sold a controlling stake in a specialist services business for a mix of cash and deferred consideration. The transaction increased the family’s liquid wealth from roughly one year of spending needs in cash and listed securities to a sum several times larger than their previous net worth. Proceeds and existing private commitments sat across three banks, while earn-out payments and tax instalments followed their own timetables.

Until that point, investment decisions had been taken around the margins of a busy operating life. The family now faced choices that would shape the next two or three decades.

Hatton Carter was brought in within the first quarter after closing. We began by establishing a working balance sheet that distinguished between immediate cash and capital that could sensibly be committed for longer, once near-term obligations had been taken into account. That meant lining up tax dates and the terms of the deferred consideration and mapping regular outflows for borrowing, family spending and philanthropy.

With that in place, we helped frame an investment policy that recognised the new scale of wealth and the fact that the operating company would no longer act as a buffer. The policy addressed target liquidity, ranges for growth and defensive assets, tolerance for drawdown and a practical path for moving from cash into a diversified portfolio over twelve to eighteen months rather than in one step.

At the same time, we introduced a more coherent reporting and oversight structure. Legacy portfolios run by different providers were reviewed for how they worked together and what they were delivering in practice and the family moved to a smaller set of mandates with a simpler overall pattern.

Within the first year, the family moved from an improvised holding pattern into an allocation and oversight framework that reflected their new position and the practical demands on the capital.

Two generations of a family with its roots in Northern Italy had gradually spread across three countries and two continents. The first generation still lived near the original operating businesses in Italy. The second and third generations were split between London and a major financial centre in North America. Their assets included shareholdings in trading companies, an investment portfolio held through several banks and property, together with an older trust that no longer matched how the family now lived.

Over time, decisions had been made locally — by country, by adviser, or by asset — with limited cross-referencing. The family wanted a better grasp of the overall structure before taking further steps.

Hatton Carter began by building a diagram of the main entities and ownership lines, including the trust, holding companies, special purpose vehicles and personally held assets. That exercise drew on existing legal and tax advice in each jurisdiction. The objective was not to re-do technical work that had already been done, but to assemble it into a form the family could use practically.

Once the structure was visible, several themes emerged. Some entities remained fit for purpose. Others were now awkward given where the beneficiaries lived and how money was actually moving through the structure. In some cases, modest adjustments — such as changing how distributions were handled or clarifying governance around certain vehicles — promised more benefit than wholesale restructuring.

We helped the family prioritise which issues to address first and which to monitor. We also worked with their advisers to improve the flow of information, so that key decision-makers received a regular, consolidated summary of the overall position.

Over the following year, the family made a series of measured changes: simplifying a few entities, updating trust documentation, tightening local reporting and clarifying roles for those family members who were actively involved. The main value in this work lay in making the whole structure visible and improving how it was coordinated, with a series of measured adjustments instead of wholesale change.

A family with long-standing wealth had accumulated holdings with a range of private banks and investment managers, alongside interests in private companies and charitable commitments. Over time, each provider had put its own reporting in place. The family office received quarterly or monthly reports from more than ten sources, all in different formats and on slightly different timetables.

The result was an information burden without a clear, timely sense of the overall position or upcoming capital calls. Senior family members felt they spent too much time chasing numbers and too little time making decisions.

Hatton Carter was engaged to improve how the financial life of the family was organised.

We started by examining the existing reporting flow in detail: which reports arrived when, who received them, what they showed accurately and where they left gaps. We also looked at how capital calls, distributions, maturities and major payments were tracked, or, in some cases, missed.

From there, we designed a reporting approach that focused on what decision-makers needed to see: a single, periodically updated view of holdings by broad category, a summary of liquidity, a schedule of expected inflows and outflows and a map of key risks such as concentration or covenant exposure. We also worked with their advisers to improve the flow of information. Key decision-makers began receiving a regular, consolidated summary of the overall position, built from existing data sources and small changes to how providers reported.

In parallel, we clarified how administrative and follow-up tasks were handled. For example, we agreed who would be responsible for funding capital calls on time and for managing key cash movements and documentation.

Within a few reporting cycles, the family and the internal team had a more reliable view of the position and a more orderly way of handling the practical work.

A first-generation owner in his sixties held a controlling interest in a privately owned company that employed several hundred people and supported multiple branches of the family. Two of his children worked full-time in the business, while their siblings had built independent careers elsewhere. The owner wanted to plan for a time when he would step back, while avoiding both operational disruption and unmanaged expectations.

He asked Hatton Carter to assist on the wealth side as discussions with the family and with corporate advisers progressed.

We began by clarifying the current economic flows: dividends, salaries, benefits and any informal arrangements that had grown up over time. We then considered what those flows might look like under a range of plausible scenarios for the business.

Working alongside the family’s legal and tax advisers, we supported modelling of different ownership and governance options: voting and non-voting shares, holding vehicles, possible buy-sell arrangements and mechanisms for providing capital to those not involved in the business. The focus was on designing something workable rather than forcing a theoretical ideal.

At the same time, we helped the family think about the investment implications. Under several plausible scenarios, material liquidity would be released from the business into the personal sphere. It was important to have a framework for how that capital would be managed, even if the timing and size of events remained uncertain.

The process took place over several years and involved repeated conversation and periods of reflection. In the end, the family agreed a structure with clearer roles in the business and more explicit financial provision for those outside it, together with a basis for handling future changes. Over time, that gave the family a more workable framework for addressing questions that might otherwise have become a source of strain.

A family with a long-established internal office had seen its investable assets increase significantly after a series of transactions and successful private investments. The internal team was experienced in day-to-day administration and the practical running of the family’s affairs, including relationships with banks. The principals nevertheless felt they would benefit from additional external perspective on investment strategy and on certain planning questions.

Their aim was to preserve the strengths of the existing set-up while adding capacity where it was most needed.

Hatton Carter was invited to work in partnership with the internal team, as an additional layer of support. The first months were spent on understanding how decisions were currently taken, what information was available, where the team felt stretched and where the family wanted more challenge or reassurance.

In this case, our role centred on a few defined areas. On the investment side, we provided input into the overall asset allocation and offered second-opinion analysis on larger investment decisions, alongside participation in portfolio review meetings. On the planning side, we contributed to discussions around future liquidity and possible changes in residence for some family members, including what those shifts might mean for structures and cash-flows.

Crucially, we agreed with the internal team how responsibilities would be divided. They remained responsible for execution and day-to-day relationships with providers, including internal reporting. We provided additional capacity and a more external lens on questions where that was useful.

Over time, the arrangement gave the family comfort that key decisions were being tested from more than one angle, without undermining the knowledge and continuity embodied in their own office.