EQUITY COMPENSATION | LIQUIDITY EVENTS | TAX & ESTATE

How We Help

We’d like to think we help Life Science executives and founders achieve their personal financial goals so they can focus on what matters most. For some, that’s building a business around ground-breaking science. For others, that’s retiring (or trying to) from a life dedicated to advancing life.

We do that by guiding you as your Personal or Family CFO.

“Family CFO, what’s that all about?”

We get that question a lot. Here’s our version of it:

We help make your financial life clean, simple and easy-to-follow (some would say ‘optimized’ but that’s a bit too jargony for us).

But making things clean, simple and easy-to-follow is actually kinda hard. For us, not you.

It’s hard because:

We personalize the (you know what) out of everything. We invest a lot of time and energy getting to know you and your unique perspective, goals, and comfort level around your money. Beyond the numbers, we see you.

After all, personal financial planning is 80% personal and 20% finance.

Because of that, we work hard to tailor our financial advice and counsel to your unique behavioral, emotional and analytical needs. Not easy. But you deserve it. Your wealth life isn’t cookie cutter. And we threw those out years ago.

For us, advising means partnering. Not telling. We rarely, if ever, tell you what to do.

We value your feedback and input too much to do that.

Instead, we’re a thought partner, problem solver and voice of objectivity. We educate you, present options, and simplify trade-offs – in your language, not ours. This way, you can make decisions that most align with your family’s views on money.

Much easier to tell you what to do. But that’s not how we roll.

Speaking of how we roll, being a Family CFO is also hard because…we’re with you through thick and thin. The Life Science life isn’t easy. We get it. So no matter what comes up in your financial world, we’ve got your back. Always.

“That’s all good (even the one-word sentence), but how, specifically, can you help me manage my wealth?”

Good question. We’re a one-stop shop for these customized solutions:

Equity Strategies: Manage employer stock options, restricted stock units, and founder shares.

Tax Efficiency: Plan and minimize taxes through various proactive strategies.

Tailored Investing: Build a personalized portfolio with individual stocks, ETFs, private equity, and real estate, all based on your comfort level.

Financial Roadmap: Model cash flow, plan for retirement, and optimize your executive compensation.

Legacy Planning: Protect your family with estate planning, risk management, and philanthropic giving strategies.

Guiding Future Generations: Empower your children and plan for multi-generational wealth.

Wealth Administration: Communicate and coordinate with the different players on your professional team: CPAs, attorneys, real estate agents, insurance brokers, other financial advisors.

Yeah, we do a lot. And we’re serious about it. But we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Fun, dare we say, is certainly a hallmark of our Family CFO approach. We’re always looking for ways to celebrate our clients. Big victories, small wins. These moments pair well with a California Pinot, smooth Tequila, small batch Sake, or all three.

Our clients love it. What they love most is that we’re always there for them.

Scientific breakthroughs, IPOs, M&A, that killer home with 180-degree ocean views, surfing in Tahiti (ok that’s more my journey).

We’ve got your back.

Let’s see how we can help.

It largely has to do with how I (Ty) was trained. Back in the day, I worked at a Focus Financial Partner firm in New York City that charged clients a flat annual fee to be their Personal or Family CFO. Most of our clients worked in finance – hedge fund managers, private equity partners, investment bankers – with a large portion of their compensation tied to equity.

They hired us to be thought partners, problem solvers and a voice of objectivity in what was becoming an increasingly complex financial life. They didn’t hire us to sell them things.

We helped integrate and oversee all the moving parts: taxes, stock options, blackout periods, executive compensation, risk management, investments, college funding, trust & estate planning, etc. Sometimes, the list never seemed to end. But we were always there for them. Through thick and thin (and a few over-the-top personalities), we tailored our advice and counsel based on what was uniquely important to them and their families.

After moving from NY to Japan and then to San Diego (my wife was a surgeon at Camp Pendleton), I found a similar thread in the world of Biotech. Significant equity-based comp, ISOs/NQSOs/RSUs, complicated pre-IPO/M&A agreements, 10b5-1 guidance, intricate tax & estate planning, and, of course, what to do with all that dough from a major liquidity event. All wrapped up in another even higher tax state. Ah, the planning opportunities abound!

But in the world of biotech, the stakes are incredibly high. You’re on a mission to cure cancer, fight the next pandemic, wipe out rare disease, and, ultimately, improve the human condition. That’s heavy stuff.

We don’t take it lightly. We know the sacrifices you’ve made to get where you are. The late nights, in the lab, or in the board room. The FDA trials. The missed family events. More FDA trials. And who can leave out the bankers. Oh, the bankers. That might be the most difficult part of it all! What’s easier to understand: mRNA capping technology or buyout agreements? Thought so.

You do all that for us. That’s pretty cool.

In a nutshell: You fight for us. We fight for you. Many, many thanks.

Ty Summerlin & Vernon Eberly