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📩 Family Office Growth News | December 2025
Welcome to the 28th edition of Family Office Growth News.
As 2025 closes, this issue revisits several conversations that shaped how Family Offices approached governance, execution, health, and leadership under real operating pressure.
Across these discussions, outcomes were set less by market moves and more by how clearly authority, discipline, and intent were established before capital was deployed.
Let’s dive in. ⬇️
🔥 ICYMI: 2025 Year in Review
This year’s most-watched conversations converged around a shared reality: breakdowns rarely begin with markets. They begin upstream, inside governance, operating discipline, and culture.
Chris Cecil on Governance, Compliance, and Internal Clarity
On Nasdaq TradeTalks, Chris Cecil of Biltmore Family Office joined Gerard Fox and Jill Malandrino to examine why governance failures rarely begin with markets or regulation.
“The lack of communicating the intentions really leads to a family office that lacks accountability, lacks responsibility, and more importantly lacks a structure to deal with conflict.”
Trust structures may be technically sound, yet when intent goes uncommunicated, heirs inherit complexity without clarity around authority, responsibility, or decision rights. As entities, assets, and operating exposure expand, unresolved authority compounds.
Carol Lavin Bernick on Leadership, Culture, and Legacy
Carol Lavin Bernick built a $3.7B outcome at Alberto Culver and then rebuilt her definition of legacy afterward. In this conversation, she unpacks the one lever most families under-engineer: the people system that preserves accountability when roles shift, tension rises, and the next generation steps in.
“Culture for us was recognizing that we couldn’t grow the business unless people felt better about being there. And until the people felt better, the business wasn’t going to grow.”
Many of the operating principles Bernick describes are explored further in her book Gather As You Go, which reflects on leadership, accountability, and building systems that endure across generations.
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📊 December 2025 Monthly Pulse
Signals shaping how capital, advisory relationships, and operating priorities are being set up for 2026.
⚖️ InvestmentNews | UHNW families prioritize control, cash flow, and tax efficiency
Coverage from Steve Randall shows families moving away from benchmark-driven portfolios toward structures emphasizing liquidity, governance control, and after-tax outcomes.
🔍 Reuters | Global banks reshape leadership to compete for Family Office trust
HSBC’s appointment of Ida Liu underscores intensifying competition for UHNW relationships built on judgment, continuity, and governance support.
🏛️ WSJ | Family Offices consolidate influence across private markets
Reporting from Gunjan Banerji highlights how families are syndicating directly, backing emerging managers, and shaping deal terms with patient capital.
Thank you for reading, and wishing you a strong start to the year ahead.
💬 What do you see as the most under-addressed issue inside Family Offices today?
Best regards,
Ryan Austin
Founder, Arondight Advisors
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: This publication is created and distributed by Arondight Advisors and may not be construed as investment advice. This newsletter does not provide an analysis of any company’s financial position and is not a solicitation to purchase or sell securities in any company. Arondight Advisors is an investment research and marketing firm, and not a registered broker dealer.
