The Family Enterprise Advisor Program Part 1 Of 2

Peter Cotterill of the UBC’s Sauder School of Business – Business Families Centre (BFC) contacted me to introduce himself and the The Family Enterprise Advisor Program and I thought that you would appreciate this.

UBC’s Sauder School of Business – Business Families Centre (BFC) works with and educates business families and their advisors around issues like succession planning and managing collaborative decision making amongst family members. We have been working with families for 10 years and over the past 5 years we have been working extensively with the professionals who advise them.

Based on demand from the families we work with, the BFC developed an education program that now leads to a professional designation through the Institute of Family Enterprise Advisors.

As a Coach and Trainer for Financial and Investment Advisors, Peter asked me to pass along this introduction to the Family Enterprise Advisor Program (FEAP).

The program is qualitative in nature and assumes that participants are already proficient in their technical area of expertise. The program is designed to help experienced advisors gain insight to the complex dynamics inherent within business families and provide tools and strategies that will assist them in developing solutions that serve the business and family well over multiple generations. Graduates come away with a better understanding of the implications of their advice as well as the capacity to consider a broader spectrum of family enterprise specific issues. Our graduates and current students include accountants, bankers, lawyers, insurance & financial planners, wealth advisors, family members as well as soft skills professionals such as coaches, therapists and facilitators.

Peter also shared this overview of the Program which starts again in May.

UBC’s Business Families Centre at the Sauder School of Business is committed to supporting business families through innovative programming, leading research and enriching education. Since family enterprise forms the backbone of the Canadian economy—comprising a staggering 80% of all businesses—we want to ensure that businesses transition successfully over multiple generations.

Part of that critical success factor includes educating their professional advisors. The Family Enterprise Advisor Program (FEAP) is offered in Toronto and Vancouver to experienced professionals working with business families. Whether you’re a lawyer, accountant, financial planner, wealth manager, therapist or coach, FEAP augments your formidable technical skills with a more sophisticated understanding around business families and their unique challenges. With a focus on multi-disciplinary advising, the program encourages advisors to work collaboratively together to achieve results for their clients.

Families are becoming more discerning about the advisors they bring into their fold. Graduates of our advisor program are putting themselves ahead of the curve by being one step closer to receiving the only family enterprise advising designation in the world. The Institute of Family Enterprise Advisors (IFEA)—an organization committed to excellence and standards for business family professionals—has selected FEAP as the exclusive education prerequisite for their designation. Learn more about the designation at www.ifea.ca

Due to increased demand in the Family Enterprise Advisor Program, UBC is now offering an additional cohort this spring. The next program begins in Toronto and Vancouver in May and you can learn more at www.familyenterpriseadvisor.com.