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CMG insights on business families

Frank Creaghan: Founder of CMG, visionary, and leading
advisor to Canadian business families

With sadness we announce the passing of Frank Creaghan, CMG’s founder and visionary, who left us peacefully at his home in Toronto on June 26, 2023...

There are a lot of ways to do succession, but this isn’t one of them

Few succession sagas have been watched as closely as the Murdoch family’s. For decades, speculation has surrounded billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s succession, the business magnate who built a single Australian newspaper into a global media empire, News Corp. After dominating the conservative media landscape and exerting considerable influence over politics, journalism, and entertainment for over seven decades, 93-year-old Rupert is now attempting to amend an irrevocable trust in court...

The Nordstrom family: Legacy through ownership

The Nordstroms are finally doing it: They’re taking their four-generation family business private. The deal marks the end of over 50 years as a public company since 1971 for the 123-year-old Seattle-based retail chain. This move will give the Nordstrom family the freedom and flexibility to focus on long-term strategy, without the pressures and scrutiny of being publicly traded. In other words, the Nordstrom family is repositioning themselves to play the long game...
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Research & commentary

Family, farming, and the future: The McCain family's entrepreneurial success story

For CMG, the McCain family stands as a shining example of excellence in family business. As a recent example, McCain’s CEO, Max Koeune, has been named the Globe and Mail’s Corporate Citizen of the Year, a testament to the family’s remarkable leadership and the company’s global impact...

The Hermès family:
A story of resiliency—and even growth—in hard economic times

Hermès seems to weather economic storms with ease, making the Hermès family one of the wealthiest in the world, as Bloomberg highlighted recently. What sets them apart? At CMG, we think three things make the family unique and worth watching...

The hidden secret to business family succession

We share our insights and four "real-life" case studies on the hidden secret of business succession...
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Technical resources

Expanding investment potential with participating whole life insurance

Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) has long been a foundation in the world of investment portfolio management. The added benefit of combining MPT with participating whole life insurance empowers business families to optimize the risk-return relationship within their portfolios, giving them another tool in their arsenal to steward the wealth they’ve worked hard to accumulate...

The “long tail” on the Capital Gains increase and its impact on business families

Much has been discussed on the impact of the recent increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, from 50% to 66.6%, effective June 25, 2024.  The federal government shared that it designed the increase to extract more tax revenue from ultra-high-net-worth Canadians to pay for its various spending priorities...

Bridging the leading generation to the next:
Overcoming trust barriers for effective communication

We explore bridging the gap between generations in business families, outlining five key steps to ease intergenerational tensions and ensure success...
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Business family stories

There are a lot of ways to do succession, but this isn’t one of them

Few succession sagas have been watched as closely as the Murdoch family’s. For decades, speculation has surrounded billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s succession, the business magnate who built a single Australian newspaper into a global media empire, News Corp. After dominating the conservative media landscape and exerting considerable influence over politics, journalism, and entertainment for over seven decades, 93-year-old Rupert is now attempting to amend an irrevocable trust in court...

The Nordstrom family: Legacy through ownership

The Nordstroms are finally doing it: They’re taking their four-generation family business private. The deal marks the end of over 50 years as a public company since 1971 for the 123-year-old Seattle-based retail chain. This move will give the Nordstrom family the freedom and flexibility to focus on long-term strategy, without the pressures and scrutiny of being publicly traded. In other words, the Nordstrom family is repositioning themselves to play the long game...

The Gucci family: Lessons in legacy, power, and succession

What started as Guccio Gucci’s vision of Italian luxury — inspired by his days as a luggage porter at London’s famous Savoy Hotel — quickly became a cautionary tale littered with deceit, fraud, and murder. Three generations of a family managed to make Gucci the most sought-after luxury brand and empire. But, over a few decades, they lost it all. Today, Gucci is owned by Kering, a multinational holding company based out of France...
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