Kognise and Family Legacy announce new collaboration

Kognise is delighted to announce a new collaboration with Family Legacy, bringing together our work with businesses and founders with their expertise around the personal and family side of wealth. Kognise works with companies through growth, funding, governance and delivery, including preparing for succession or exit. Family Legacy works with founders and their families on their personal objectives, wellbeing, succession, the next generation and what they ultimately want their wealth to achieve.

There is a natural connection between the two. Kognise will be able to bring Family Legacy into client engagements where personal or family considerations need to become part of the conversation. Equally, where Family Legacy identifies something that needs addressing within the underlying business, they can bring Kognise into the discussion around strategy, capital, growth, governance or exit.

Connecting the business and personal journeys

Most advisers working with a growing business will at some point ask the founder: what’s your exit strategy? It’s a sensible question, but there’s another that often doesn’t get asked: what’s your number? If you’re building towards an exit, what does that exit actually need to deliver for you and your family, and what do you want to do afterwards?

Understanding that personal destination gives much greater context to decisions about the business, its growth, value and eventual exit. Those conversations shouldn’t wait until someone is ready to sell either. If you’re spending years building a company, your personal and family position needs consideration along the way, including making sure those closest to you are properly provided for if circumstances change.

Working with Family Legacy means we can identify those issues earlier and give clients support to work through them. Family Legacy doesn’t advise on specific regulated financial products such as investments, pensions or life assurance. Family Legacy helps clients understand what they’re trying to achieve and, where specialist advice is needed, can bring the appropriate financial, legal or other expertise into the conversation.

A relationship built over several years

The collaboration builds on relationships that go back a number of years. Tony has had an extensive career in finance including as a Founding Director of St. James’s Place Wealth Management. Orchestrated the name change from Rothschild to St. James’s Place between 1994-1997. Founder Caerus wealth, sold to Intrinsic/Quilter in 2017. Founder Legacy Group in 2017, assisting Family Offices with the retention of wealth and health. We have worked together on several projects, including running an investment fund, and along the way we’ve become good friends. I’ve wanted to find the right opportunity for us to work together again, and his work at Family Legacy creates a natural connection with what we do at Kognise.

I’ve also known Max for a number of years. He brings around 20 years of consulting experience and considerable experience in this field. Over the last couple of months, conversations between the three of us have made the opportunity to connect our respective areas of work increasingly clear.

We’re now working through how we build those connections into both businesses. I believe it will benefit clients on both sides: giving Kognise clients access to expertise around the personal and family journey, while giving Family Legacy clients access to business expertise when they need it. Ultimately, it’s about connecting what is happening in the business with what the people behind it actually want that business to achieve.

Anthony King, Kognise

“We spend a lot of time helping founders build value in their businesses. This collaboration allows us to connect that with what they actually want that value to achieve for themselves and their families.”

Tony Smith, Family Legacy

“Business success and family wealth are part of the same journey. Bringing the two together means we can start those important personal conversations much earlier.”

Max Smith, Family Legacy

“This gives us a much more joined-up approach. We can understand both the family’s longer-term objectives and the business that is creating much of that wealth.”