Middle Market Growth Conversations

This episode is brought to you by RSM US, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm focused on the middle market. RSM develops multi-generational relationships with family offices by providing tailored advisory services to help sustain the family’s vision in an evolving, digitally driven world. It's part of a five-part series highlighting issues relevant to family offices. *** In this episode, Tony Wood, RSM’s global practice leader for family office, joins the podcast to discuss succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer. Wood begins by talking about what he’s observed among the family offices he works with in terms of their understanding of succession planning and how far along they are in the process. He offers insight into what works when creating a succession plan, and how to avoid conflict among family members in what can be an emotional process. There are also ways families can prepare the next generation for involvement in the organization, including through tailored education and real-world experience working with carved-out assets. Succession planning extends beyond the family itself, and Wood encourages families to create plans for roles held by non-family members as well. As family offices fill positions at the top of the organization, Wood notes a growing trend toward hiring leaders with legal backgrounds. The conversation closes with a discussion about environmental, social and governance priorities and how ESG intersects with succession planning. To learn more about RSM’s family office advisory services, visit rsmus.com/familyoffice. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm focused on the middle market. RSM develops multi-generational relationships with family offices by providing tailored advisory services to help sustain the family’s vision in an evolving, digitally driven world. It's part of a five-part series highlighting issues relevant to family offices. **** This episode features a discussion about technology, and how it can be used to address common challenges within family offices, like disparate systems that don’t communicate with each other, manual processes and more. Joining the podcast for this episode are Mike Johnson, RSM partner from the firm’s Family Office Enterprise, and leader of the firm’s family office technology efforts; and Lauren Demas, a principal with RSM who works on PartnerSight and FamilySight—a suite of offerings for single and multi-family offices. In the interview, Johnson and Demas talk about how integrated technology solutions can help family offices cope with the talent shortage, provide tailored data based on individual needs, and integrate data to make it work for the organization. The two also discuss FamilySight, including how its capabilities can be used by different roles within a family office. Plus, Johnson and Demas provide real-world examples of how family offices have used the platform to improve operations and outcomes for their organization. To learn more about RSM’s family office advisory services, visit rsmus.com/familyoffice. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm focused on the middle market. RSM develops multi-generational relationships with family offices by providing tailored advisory services to help sustain the family’s vision in an evolving, digitally driven world. It's part of a five-part series highlighting issues relevant to family offices. **** In this episode, RSM’s Global Family Office Markets Leader Bill Bijesse joins the podcast to discuss governance, and how creating a constitution and educating family members contributes to the family office’s long-term success. Bijesse, who also leads global family office governance and best practice efforts for RSM, outlines the three steps a family office should take to set a solid foundation for its governance. He also talks about the role a constitution plays in establishing a framework for decision-making, codifying the family’s values and history, mitigating conflict and more. Finally, Bijesse discusses education, and why the younger generation isn’t the only group to focus on when educating family members. Throughout the interview, he shares anecdotes from his work advising families that underscore the human element of governance and why it can be an emotional exercise. To learn more about RSM’s family office advisory services, visit rsmus.com/familyoffice. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm. RSM develops multi-generational relationships with family offices by providing tailored advisory services to help sustain the family’s vision in an evolving, digitally driven world. It's part of a five-part series highlighting issues relevant to family offices. **** In this episode, RSM’s family office tax leaders Ben Berger and Tommy Wright join the podcast to discuss five key areas that family offices should focus on. They explain potential tax policy changes related to charitable giving and estate planning and offer various strategies that family offices can use as they plan for 2022 and beyond. Berger also walks through the implications for a family office's choice of entity, and Wright explains why succession planning and governance are especially important for family offices today. (Succession planning and governance will each be discussed further in later episodes of this podcast series.) Finally, the two talk about planning, reporting and the role of technology, and how integrated tools like RSM's FamilySight can address the needs of modern family offices. To learn more about RSM, visit rsmus.com/familyoffice . **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm. RSM develops multi-generational relationships with family offices by providing tailored advisory services to help sustain the family’s vision in an evolving, digitally driven world. It's part of a five-part series highlighting issues relevant to family offices. **** Christina Churchill, principal and family office consulting leader for RSM, joins the podcast to talk about the structuring options available to family offices, and what to consider when choosing a location. In the interview, Churchill outlines the pros and cons of establishing a single, multi- or virtual family office, along with key questions to ask when deciding on a structure. She also talks about outsourcing and how to determine which functions belong in-house. The conversation closes with a discussion about the trend toward global expansion among family offices, and technology's role in supporting operations. Churchill offers a list of questions family offices can use to identify the technological tools that fit their needs, and she explains the benefits of using an integrated platform like RSM's FamilySight—a topic that will be explored further in a later episode of the five-part series. To learn more about RSM, visit rsmus.com/familyoffice. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by Twin Brook Capital Partners, a direct lending finance company focused on providing cash-flow based financing solutions for the middle market private equity community. *** Pete Notter, a partner at Twin Brook Capital Partners, joins the podcast to discuss middle market deal activity in 2021 and how businesses and industries have fared throughout the year. In the interview, Notter describes the state of the market today and shares his perspective on how elevated levels of M&A activity are affecting deal processes and timelines. He also points to observed trends in private equity sponsor behavior. Notably, as investment bank auction processes have become more exclusive, sponsors are getting more engaged earlier on and financing partners are often being brought in at a later stage than they have in the past. Notter talks about how Twin Brook has been able to accommodate those tighter timelines and the role that strong pre-existing relationships with clients play in today's active deal environment. The episode closes with a discussion about Notter's outlook for the middle market and M&A activity in the year ahead. To learn more about Twin Brook, visit www.twincp.com. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US LLP, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm focused on the middle market. **** George Douvris, a partner in RSM’s M&A tax practice and the leader of the firm’s business acquisition and sale advice practice, joins the podcast to talk about the role that M&A tax plays in creating value in a private equity deal and why it’s a growing area of focus for investors. In the interview, Douvris explains what private equity firms should consider when structuring a deal, and the tax attributes that they tend to focus on. He breaks down tax considerations for buyers as well as for sellers, and he shares best practices for when tax issues should be addressed during a transaction—including real-life success stories of how he helped clients deliver more value to their LPs. Douvris also discusses proposed federal tax changes and the impact that new legislation could have on M&A tax. To learn more about RSM, visit rsmus.com. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by Twin Brook Capital Partners, a direct lending finance company focused on providing cash-flow based financing solutions for the middle market private equity community. *** Drew Guyette, chief credit officer and senior partner at Twin Brook Capital Partners, joins the podcast to discuss how a high-touch approach to underwriting and portfolio management supports a lender’s ability to serve sponsors and borrowers, and why team infrastructure and human capital is an integral part of that. In the interview, Guyette describes the segmentation within the middle market and how relationship management and lines of communication differ across those segments. He also addresses the critical role of data, examining how a robust control set of deals and archive of information can position a lender to move more quickly and effectively in support of sponsors and borrowers. The episode closes with a discussion about lender differentiation and what private equity firms and their portfolio companies are focused on when it comes to lender selection. To learn more about Twin Brook, visit www.twincp.com. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

This episode is brought to you by RSM US LLP, a leading accounting, tax and advisory firm dedicated to the middle market.  **** Lauren Demas, a principal with RSM who works on the firm's tax compliance technology tool, PartnerSight, joins the podcast to talk about what private equity firms should be doing with their tax data.  Demas previously worked at a top-five asset management firm, where she managed all of its U.S. tax compliance filings, and she has seen firsthand how tax data is employed throughout the lifecycle of the deal. In the interview, she offers her perspective as both a client and a provider to explain why tax data is something that firms are looking at closely, the benefits of managing tax data more effectively, and the types of resources required to improve data management across the organization. To learn more about RSM, visit rsmus.com. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.

Randy Schwimmer, co-head of senior lending at Churchill Asset Management and the founder and publisher of the Lead Left, joins the podcast to talk about the state of private credit today, including how inflation, rising interest rates and increased M&A activity could impact the asset class. Schwimmer also discusses Churchill's portfolio and how it was positioned heading into the COVID-19 crisis, and he shares what he believes to be the greatest opportunities and challenges facing the middle market today. **** The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.