Transgenerational Wealth Transfer Climaxes Discussion in the Cordros Wealth Summit 2023

Issues around transgenerational wealth transfer were the crux of discussion at the Cordros Wealth Summit 2023 held recently in Victoria Island, Lagos with the theme: “The Future of Wealth”.

The Cordros Wealth Summit brings together ultra-high-net-worth investors, industry leaders, and stakeholders to engage in insightful discussions, collaborate on groundbreaking strategies, and explore cutting-edge innovations that shape the landscape of wealth management and investment in the country.

Setting the ball rolling, the Chairman of Cordros Capital, Engineer Charles Osezua OON, who spoke on: “Wealth Management and Family Legacy” commended Cordros for putting together the summit and believes that the it will shape the future of wealth management because wealth must have a future, and go beyond the wealth creator; it must be transgenerational.

While speaking on managing family wealth and legacy, the chairman pointed out that each time he talks about vision he finds a convergence with legacy, stating that, achieving a family vision is more than a water-tight financial structure. He stated that managing family wealth requires the deliberate application of principles, just like managing a business.

According to him, it is only by applying those principles that people can achieve their financial vision and build a legacy. He noted that a lot of people creating wealth spend less time with family and fail to transfer the values that made them succeed in their businesses to their respective heirs.

“Yes, we have built a comfortable home environment, and we have created an inheritance but because some of us failed to transfer values to our family, it is discovered that our vision gets jettisoned and then you see families in court trying to find a way forward after the wealth creator is no more, and in the process, a legacy that the wealth creator built over the years is destroyed.” He said.

While proffering a solution, he stressed thus: “To overcome this challenge, I want to emphasize that we need a principle-centered approach in management and transfer of wealth. At times, doing that can be very challenging, indeed, it can be messy. I have been there. You need to have a vision and make it known to members of your family. This is simply because the sooner you let your family members know, the better it becomes for you.”

While speaking on the future of wealth, a panelist, Ifeoma Udom, Managing Director, Cordros Trustees said, “In most cases, wealth creators give birth to wealth dissipators while wealth dissipators give birth to wealth creators, adding that, wealth creators have to be deliberate about their plan of wealth transfer by teaching their children the value of their business.”

According to her, the family governance structure is important, one can achieve that by having a family office but, if you can’t have a family office, you can have a family council that will be the representation of every generation of the family that will interface with the directors.

Earlier in his opening remark, the Managing Director of Cordros Asset Management, Adegbolahan Aina who welcomed all attendees to the event said that the event is about knowledge sharing on wealth management and family legacy and indeed, the Cordros Wealth Summit was insightful as attendees confessed.

Wale Agbeyangi, the Group Managing Director of Cordros Capital, in his speech about Cordros and their track records, stated, “I am happy to inform you that Cordros has made significant progress as a credible capital market operator. We have evolved into a financial services super house comprising six subsidiaries with over a hundred staff members in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.”

The business that has been around for over 15 years has been able to grow and consistently deliver good returns to shareholders, achieving a 5-year CAGR to FY-2022 of 52% and 113% in revenue and profitability. They have also increased AUM by approximately 69% on average over the last five years. In 2023 especially, the business has grown exponentially, having met all financial targets.

Wale Agbeyangi concluded his speech by stating that “We expect this to continue for years to come with the support of our board, our clients, our people, and all our partners.