WM FOCUS OPTIMIZATION FILTER

The core consulting services that WM Focus offer are sometimes referred to as “family office services”, but we prefer to refer to them as “WM Focus optimization services (or filter)”, since “optimization” is exactly what we do. In other words, we maximise the family wealth, under the restriction of risk, cost, personal preferences and others. It is a continuous and iterating optimization process that includes all major financial compartments, as illustrated below.

The WM Focus’ optimization filter with the different financial areas or compartments

 

To use a metaphor, WM Focus is the trusted “family doctor” that speaks the same language as the different compartments’ “specialists”: it can understand, discuss the “patient’s” specific issues with the different specialists and find the best solutions. But only the family doctor has the “patient global situation” under control, thereby coordinating and interacting with the different specialists and “translating” all technicalities to the client.

The value-added of the optimization offered by WM Focus stems from the following main elements:

  • best benefit / price ratio achieved by the “family doctor” when interacting with the different area’s “specialists”
  • optimization between private affairs and company business; tax, insurance, succession aspects can be optimized between company and private
  • in family businesses, the client can take advantage of the WM Focus’ extensive experience in strategic management, change management and strategy implementation projects. In a fast evolving and changing world a correct strategic positioning is key. We can facilitate difficult decisions, thereby avoiding costly strategic errors.
  • the client is relieved from investing a lot of his precious time in all these matters.
  • one single-point-of-contact for all financial compartments
  • coordination between all compartments
  • last but not least: the client knows that his entire situation is constantly monitored, which will undoubtedly provide a sense of relief.

 

THREE COMPARTMENTS AS AN ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF OUR “OPTIMIZATION” SERVICES & SUPPORT

Financial planning

The necessity of a sound financial management evolves during the years. Complexity and the number of elements to take into consideration increase over time, such as:

  • Family situation, succession
  • Fiscal situation (company, private)
  • Insurance matters
  • Wealth protection and growth. Diversification of assets (financial, real estates, others)
  • Credits (mortgages, others)

 

For this reason, it is highly advisable to proceed with a complete analysis of the total wealth and its evolution well in advance before retiring age. In fact, such analysis will check the entire insurance situation and project all cash-ins (all sources) and -outs (present and future needs) in the years to come. This will allow to identify problematic areas (for instance at the technical insurance level) and decide on possible corrective actions to balance cash-ins and –outs, considering also important tax optimization issues. Well-balanced future cash flows in agreement with the wishes and desires of the client is indeed the final objective of the financial planning work.

For the data collection and technical analysis phase we will be supported by one of the major specialists in Switzerland, who owns a proprietary dedicated software package.

The financial planning compartment is often the first choice among the WM Focus optimization services, since it allows to quickly gain a global picture of the financial situation, both at the private level and relating to the family business (if any).

 

Wealth management

According to your risk profile, cash flow, family needs today and tomorrow and your personal preferences, we will advise you on the best investment opportunities, and will assist you in the choice of the most appropriate asset management company and depository bank.

It is of fundamental importance that the asset manager remains independent from all counterparties (banks, products’ providers, others), avoids undisclosed kick-backs, assures a transparent pricing and let the client take advantage of a true open architecture.

This assessment is part of WM Focus “optimization filter”. If the client introduces to us its current asset management company, we will evaluate it according to state of the art criteria such as:

  • Professional qualifications and experience, governance, authorizations (FINMA and others)
  • Quality of the entire asset management process, from the client’s risk profile to the continuous monitoring of the value at risk (VAR) and of the Sharpe Ratio, to the assets’ liquidity status and diversification, to the reporting
  • No conflict of interests, transparent pricing, no undisclosed kick-backs, fair compensation
  • Depository bank’s services and pricing

 

After the initial analysis, WM Focus will continuously interact between the client and the asset management company, monitoring the activity of the latter and reporting back to the client as needed. Since we speak the same technical “language” and have extensive experience in this most sensitive area, we embody an important additional security layer for our clients.

If the client, on the other hand, does not currently have this kind of independent asset management service, WM Focus will consult and introduce to him a company with which we have been working for several years and that of course meets all the professional criteria mentioned above.

 

Management and business administration consulting

WM FOCUS has extensive experience in management consulting and in supporting companies with all the classical fields of business administration, such as:

  • Strategic planning, concepts, analysis and implementation support
  • Management
  • Human resources management
  • Controlling
  • Organisation (structural, processes), governance
  • Marketing
  • Procurement, funding, financing
  • Tax, optimal solutions between private and family business
  • Risk management
  • Mergers and Acquisitions, succession

 

Depending on the issues to be addressed, WM Focus will be supported by specialists (i.e. tax advisors, lawyers and others); nevertheless, we will take responsibility of the entire project and of all the necessary coordination between the different areas.

Regarding strategic planning and assessment, a correct and competitive strategic differentiation is vital (“sustainable competitive advantages” - M. Porter), as already mentioned in the Welcome section. WM Focus has developed an ad-hoc methodology to support the client in this assessment process: the “SAM” (“strategic assessment methodology”).

SAM will support in identifying and evaluating (benchmarking) all the strategic business factors that play a major role in business success.

The spider below illustrates the final result of one of our latest assessments and depicts the positioning of our client’s present situation (grey line) and a target one (blue line) for each strategic business factor. All elements are measured from 0 (very low or inexistent) to 3 (best in class) vs. a chosen benchmark. This spider graph (based on hundreds of single assessment elements), is the top summary one of many similar ones that are prepared for each factor.

SAM is easy to understand and very useful to help identify the problem areas and the strategic investment needs.

SAM: An example of a benchmark analysis vs. some of the classical strategic success factors

 

WM Focus can support the client both in the analysis process, as well as in the implementation phase of a new positioning project, helping to manage all the initiatives that will derive from the SAM analysis. The gap-areas between the red and the green curve will be specifically addressed according to the chosen priorities and eventually eliminated through specific projects.

 

In case of an M&A process or succession, such strategic positioning analysis will be of crucial importance, since the company’s value will derive from the discounted future cash-flows, which in turn depend on a sound strategy. A good framework and “strategic analysis dossier”, possibly prepared well in advance of M&A negotiations, will have a key impact on the final price and deal.

WM Focus can support preparing such a dossier and SAM can be part of it. We can accompany and help the client throughout the entire process, identifying the best valuation methodology (such as the DCF = “Discounted Cash Flows”), preparing all the input data (such as the adjusted cash-flows) and choosing other important parameters, as for instance the applied discount rate.

In a M&A processes, there are moreover important legal and procedural steps to be defined, also in compliance with to Swiss merger law. Biding or non-binding offers? Due diligence? Letter of intent? Term sheet? Data room?

In can well be that specialists such as lawyers, tax experts and others will be involved, but WM Focus will always be there to coordinate the entire project.