Ken Mathieson is a respected presence in the New York financial services sphere who currently holds responsibilities as founding partner of Laidlaw Asset Management, LLC. Working with family, corporate, and institutional investors, Ken Mathieson has extensive knowledge of multi-generational strategies that preserve and sustain wealth.
For those looking to leave behind a lasting legacy, two central strategies are a donor advised fund (DAFs) or a private foundation. Providing a sense of prestige and purpose, foundations provide donors with complete control over which qualified charities are given grants. They also offer control over board member and trustee succession over the lifetime of the organization.
By their nature, foundations are complex with extensive paperwork, as well as the involvement of upfront and annual maintenance fees. In addition, they must annually pay between one to two percent of net investment income to satisfy the excise tax and distribute five percent of their total assets.
In contrast, DAFs can be set up immediately with no upfront costs involved, and they offer superior tax benefits when it comes to deducting charitable donations. With no excise tax placed on investment gains, they also offer more privacy than foundations, as they can’t be looked up in public databases.
An overarching advantage of both vehicles is that they enable control over tax deduction timing and when charities distribute funds. This can be strategic move during years of unusually high income.
Laidlaw Asset Management Founding Partner Ken Mathieson 