Bill is currently Head of Strategic Wealth Advisory and Family Enterprise Services for Boston Private, an SVB Company. Bill joined Boston Private, an SVB Company, from Citigroup, where he was a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Group for Citi Private Bank. Before joining Citi, Bill was a Managing Director and Head of the UHNW and Family Office business for Credit Suisse.

Bill began his career in Big Four public accounting, where he spent a decade providing tax and related planning advice to wealthy executives, families, and closely-held business owners. He left public accounting to run the family office for one of his larger clients, a Hong Kong-based family with 40 employees and operations in Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Bill was a founding member of myCFO, an integrated wealth management and technology firm started by several well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Shortly before the sale of myCFO to Harris Bank, Bill joined Merrill Lynch's Private Banking and Investment Group and oversaw an integrated investment advisory practice for UHNW families and family offices ranging in net worth from $25 million to $2 billion.

Bill has a master's degree in accounting from New York University's Stern Graduate School of Business and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine. He previously held designations as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Investment Management Analysts (CIMA). Bill was also a founding member and past President of First Graduate, a non-profit that helps students become the first in their families to graduate from college.  

 

Books, Articles and Collaborations
 

Columbia University Press Blog, July 2021, “Regulating Family Offices Is Not The Answer.” https://www.cupblog.org/2021/07/30/regulating-family-offices-is-not-the-answer-by-bill-woodson/

 

The UHNW Institute, July 2019, “The Evolving World of Broker-Dealer Platforms.”
https://www.uhnwinstitute.org/content/2019/7/22/the-evolving-world-of-broker-dealer-platforms

Citi Private Bank, March 2019, “Organizational Design, Strategic Leadership, and Governance Insights for Family Offices: A blueprint for families, senior executives, and practitioners.”
https://www.privatebank.citibank.com/ivc/docs/OrgDesign_Leadership_GovInsights_FamilyOffices.pdf?ieNocache=573

Credit Suisse, EY and University of St. Gallen, 2014, “The Family Office Dynamic: Pathway to Successful Family and Wealth Management.”
https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/228357/1/CS_Family%20Office%20White%20Paper_2013-12-23.pdf.

Credit Suisse and Columbia Business School, 2013, “Life After an Exit: How Entrepreneurs Transition to the Next Stage.”
https://tiger21.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Entrepreneurs_White_Paper_0.pdf

Credit Suisse and Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, 2012, “From David to Goliath: How Entrepreneurs Overcome the Challenges of Company Growth.”
http://efficacitas.com/efficacitascom/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/3_CSPB_David_to-Goliath_-White_Paper.pdf

Credit Suisse, 2010, “Funding as A Family: Engaging the Next Generation in Family Philanthropy.”
https://www.jcfhartford.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Public/Credit_Suisse_Funding_as_a_Family_12-2010.pdf

Taxation for Accountants, February 1996, “GRATs Let Grantor Retain Control and Reduce Transfer Tax.” http://www.readabstracts.com/Business/GRITs-GRATs-and-GRUTs-offer-a-transfer-tax-break-Grantors-reversion-prevents-gain-on-sales-with-trus.html

The Tax Advisor, September 1995, “Swing Vote Attributes of Transferred Stock: Implications for Minority Interest Discounts.”
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%22Swing+vote%22+attributes+of+transferred+stock%3A+implications+for...-a017402535

Reviewed for publication in The Tax Advisor, March 1995, a flowchart of the IRC Chapter 14 regulations (estate freezes) prepared by Professor Richard Webber of Michigan State University.

In the Media

 

The Financial Times PWM, May 2021, “Private View Blog: Don’t blame family offices for sins of the individual.” https://www.pwmnet.com/Wealth-Management/Family-Offices/Private-View-Blog-Don-t-blame-family-offices-for-sins-of-the-individual

 

Family Wealth Report, April 2021, “Archegos Fallout: Don't Hit Family Offices with Blanket Red Tape – Comment,” https://www.familywealthreport.com/article.php?id=190957#.YIQat5NKhp9.

 

Business Insider, April 2021, “The $6 trillion family office industry is gearing up its lobbying machine as lawmakers look to crack down post-Archegos,” https://www.businessinsider.com/family-office-insiders-brace-for-regulation-after-archegos-lobbying-sec-2021-4.

 

The Financial Times PWM, April 2021, “Fintech on Friday: Moving the Family Office Online,” https://www.pwmnet.com/FinTech/Fintech-on-Friday-Moving-the-family-office-online?ct=true.

Worth Magazine, June 2020, “Shifting Your Family’s Philanthropic Focus During Times of Crisis.” https://www.worth.com/shifting-your-familys-philanthropic-focus-during-crisis/Links to an external site.

 

The Wall Street Journal, March 2020, “Manage a Family Fortune? Plane Ticket for the Nanny? No Problem: A family office executive’s range of responsibilities are like no other on Wall Street.”
https://partners.wsj.com/boston-private/all-in-the-family-office/manage-family-fortune/

The Wall Street Journal, February 2020, “Family Offices Enter a Growth Phase
A once-anonymous corner of the financial landscape has become Wall Street’s newest dealmaker.”
https://partners.wsj.com/boston-private/all-in-the-family-office/family-offices-enter-a-growth-phase/Links to an external site.
https://www.ft.com/content/ce87f48a-7208-11e5-9b9e-690fdae72044

Bloomberg News, October 2019, “For world’s wealthiest families, hunt is on for private deals.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/blog/for-worlds-wealthiest-families-hunt-is-on-for-private-deals/.

Business Insider, October 2019, “Wall Street gave Adam Neumann up to $500 million he was going to pay back after WeWork's IPO. Now that the offering is pulled, banks are scrambling to hammer out a solution.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-neumann-talks-with-lenders-over-500-million-credit-line-2019-10

Business Insider, August 2019, “Herding cows and hiring private investigators: Wealth advisers told us their stories about next-level requests from uber-rich clients.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/wealth-management-executives-list-memorable-requests-from-rich-clients-2019-8

Family Wealth Report, December 2018, “Interview with Citi Private Bank: Family Offices' Needs, Business Models Serving Them.”
https://www.familywealthreport.com/article.php?id=182068#.Xn96yS2ZPUo

Bloomberg News, July 2018, “It’s billionaires at the gate as ultra-rich muscle in on private equity.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/blog/billionaires-gate-ultra-rich-muscle-private-equity/.

Family Capital, July 2018, “The Top 40 Family Office Advisers – The List.”
https://sz-j.com/application/files/3215/4705/7529/Top_40_Family_Business.pdf

Institutional Investor, October 2017, “The Allure of the Family Office: More hedge funders want jobs managing money for the wealthy.”
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b15130k8lv0qr8/the-allure-of-the-family-office

Euromoney, February 2017, “Private banking: Smarter, faster ways of giving.”
https://www.euromoney.com/article/b12khnyn9v6f84/private-banking-smarter-faster-ways-of-giving

The New York Times, November 2016, “Disgraced Hedge Fund Manager Focuses on Aiding Veterans.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/giving/disgraced-hedge-fund-manager-focuses-on-aiding-veterans.html

Bloomberg Markets, October 2016, “It's a Family (Office) Thing.”
https://www.dhrinternational.com/about/news-media/its-family-office-thing/

Barron’s Penta, August 2016, “Family Office Talent on the Rise.”
https://www.barrons.com/articles/family-office-talent-on-the-rise-1471384103

Engaged Philanthropy, May 2016, “Laying the Groundwork: A Family Office Guide to Meaningful Giving.”
http://philanthropycommunications.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Getting-Started-Final-5_5.v3-1.pdf

The New York Times, February 2016, “A Philanthropist Drills Down to Discover Why Programs Work.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/your-money/a-philanthropist-drills-down-to-discover-why-programs-work.html

Forbes, October 2014, “Are Philanthropists Too Ambitious?”
https://risenetworks.org/are-philanthropists-too-ambitious/.

On Wall Street, August 2013, “Luring and Retaining Tomorrow's Moguls.”
https://onwallstreet.financial-planning.com/news/luring-and-retaining-tomorrows-moguls.

Richer Daddy, July 2013, “Robert Kiyosaki – Family Investment Offices: When Do They Make Sense?”
http://www.richerdaddy.com/robert-kiyosaki-family-investment-offices-when-do-they-make-sense/

Forbes Insights, 2013, “Alleviating Global Poverty: Catalysts of Change.”
https://i https://www.firepowercapital.com/about-us/market-insight/2213/mages.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Credit_Suisse_2013_REPORT.pdf

The Wall Street Journal, September 2012, “A 'Quarterback' to Oversee Your Investments.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443779404577643571065682662

Euromoney, February 2012, “Impact investing: Making money make an impact.”
https://www.euromoney.com/article/b12kjqc80n1f8p/impact-investing-making-money-make-an-impact

The New York Times, October 2009, “All This Anger Against the Rich May Be Unhealthy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/your-money/17wealth.html

Entrepreneur, February 2009, “The Long Shot: Tiger Woods may be great at golf, but his timing in business could use some work. Can the greatest name in sports survive a stumbling economy?”
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/199994.
 

Speaking Engagements

 

NYU Stern Family Office Council Summit, December 2019, Keynote from Lord Mervyn King: Former Governor of the Bank of England and a Fireside Chat with John Phelan, Co-Managing Partner & Co-Founder of MSD Capital.

CFA Society of Philadelphia, December 2019, 11th Annual High Net Worth and Family Wealth Conference.

NYU Stern Family Office Council Summit, Fall 2018. Keynote from Howard Buffett on Social Value Investing: A Management Framework for Effective Partnerships.

Cayman Alternative Investment Summit (CAIS), February 2018, Wired: The rise of alternative investments in the digital age.

Family Wealth Report, November 2018, Family Office Summit: Integrating the Full Balance Sheet from Investment to Lifestyle Management.

The Forbes 400 Second Annual Summit on Philanthropy, June 2013.

The Forbes 400 Inaugural Summit on Philanthropy, June 2012.
https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/creditsuisse_nextgen_report.pdfLinks to an external site.