FS Private Wealth

Applying legal principles to governance for family-owned businesses and family boards

STEPHEN HOWELL, SARAH JUDGE   Effective governance requires separating the roles of family member, owner and employee.

Managers to stewards

KIM VENTER   Across Australia, family business and family office leaders are navigating a period of profound change.

The AI SaaSpocalypse: Learning and opportunities for today and beyond

CHRISTOPHER SMITH   Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest technological developments in history. Since 2025, the market has worried that AI will displace software-as-a-service (SaaS).

Why gold in 2026? Australia's macro shifts and the case for gold

MARISSA SALIM   Australia's economy continues to grow, but resurgent inflation and the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision to resume tightening in February 2026-diverging from some of its peers-raises questions around portfolio allocations.

Technologies fighting climate change and biodiversity loss

TOM ATKINSON   The Earth's biodiversity is deteriorating at an alarming rate, causing damage not only to the natural world but to wider society and the global economy, which often relies upon it as a resource used directly by people and business.

Tokenisation: reducing costs and building alpha for tomorrow

ADAM BELDING   Asset managers had a difficult 2022.Calastone's Fund flows: Fighting the bear report found that 2022 saw record fund outflows across the globe, with funds seeing the biggest fall in assets under management (AUM) since the Global Financial Crisis.

Setting up a family trust in Australia

ANSHU LUKKA   Family trusts are a powerful legal tool to help protect assets, preserve private family wealth across generations, and provide tax advantages.

Family office: Substance and robust governance

LINDA BEIDLER-D'AGUILAR   Family offices are generally recognised as integral to the cohesive and coherent management of a family's diverse business interests in tandem with its domestic and personal affairs, and this article examines here the opportunities afforded by the establishment of such offices, the substance and ...

Sub-funds

LOREDANA FYFFE   Giving is one of the most powerful ways Australians express their values-during their lives and in their Wills.

Opportunities for the for-purpose sector

JOHN MCLEOD   This paper comprises an excerpt from JBWere's 'The Bequest Report: Reshaping Australia by passing on more than assets' of July 2024.

Family trust distributions tax: Avoiding the pitfalls

DHARAV GANDHI, PAUL BANISTER   Trusts are widely used by private and family groups to protect and preserve wealth.

The contractor versus employee debate

ANTHONY KAZAMIAS, DERRICK PEREIRA, ELENA BOGOMOLOVA   Recent decisions by the High Court of Australia confirm that written contracts are the starting point when deciding if someone is an employee or a contractor. While the substance of the work should align with the contract, the terms of the contract take precedence over the conduct of the parties in determining this.

Understanding Spam Act obligations in financial services

LYNDA DOWLING   The Spam Act 2003 applies to most Australian businesses, including financial services, that send commercial messages for marketing or other purposes.

Closing loopholes legislation: Groundwork done, more to come

ALICIA MATAERE   To assist employers prepare for the proposed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act), this paper highlights the key amendments (from a total of over 80 proposed changes), which will likely have the greatest impact.

Intergenerational wealth transfer: An opportunity to pass on more than wealth

JUSTIN CHERRINGTON, JUSTIN ROSETTO   Much has been written about the ever approaching 'unprecedented' intergenerational wealth transfer, in which between $3.5 trillion and $5.4 trillion in assets is expected to pass from the Baby Boomers to their heirs.

Family charter essentials

HENRY BRANDTS-GIESEN, EDWARD MARSHALL   Family charters are important components to families' governance structure. They are documents that families can use to help them with building guideposts, decision-making rules, and codifying a family's values, mission, and vision.

Effective strategies for pitching to family offices

DANIELLE PATTERSON   In the world of high-net-worth (HNW) investing, family offices represent a unique opportunity for investment firms, entrepreneurs and fund managers.

The startup funding landscape

RACHELLE HARE   This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the startup funding landscape, emphasising the critical role of early stage funding; the impact of adequate capital on business growth; the need to understand the dynamic startup funding landscape; the processes needed to secure startup funding; and common challenges faced by startups.