Prior to WW II most people lived in smaller communities, after the war with veteran subsided housing, the suburbs developed and now more people live in urban areas. From the small towns of the world came people to the city and a few became very wealthy in their new surroundings. One of the stories is about William Maxwell Aitken who was born in a small town in New Brunswick and went on to become a press baron of Fleet Street in London. He was similar to Rupert Murdoch of News Corp which also owns Fox. Mr. Aitken had staying power and his newspaper the Daily Express became the largest circulation in England and in those days the publisher had great clout with political elites, as well as business elites who bought the advertisements. In England, after you are accomplished there are titles to be given and Mr. Aitken was given Lord Beaverbrook. By the time he was in his 60’s he decided to give back to his hometown and province. A number of civic buildings were built and he also decided to collect paintings. If you have plenty of resources, the paintings quickly covered the walls of his country home. Towards his 70’s he decided the province of New Brunswick should have an art gallery to improve the culture in the province. In the book Beaverbrook   A Shattered Legacy by Jacques Poitras published by Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 2007 there lays both the solution and problem.

The idea of an art gallery is a good one – many people enjoy both looking at art and creating it. The building of an art gallery in a small town (50,000) was one in which Lord Beaverbrook wanted it done yesterday, while the realities of art gallery to ensure the art was properly lighted and temperature so as not to be damage the art quickly lead to cost overruns. In most art galleries, most of the art including paintings are not displayed, they are in storage. The art needs to framed properly and a host of other things – all take time. Art can appreciate in value and this is where the problem began. When Lord Beaverbrook had the idea of an art gallery and set up a funding formula was the art lent to the gallery? Or gifted to the gallery? Who has the say on whether the art can be sold? This was the reason for the title of the book A Shattered Legacy – the intentions were not set up for the next generation.

The next generation such as the one we are in have seen newspaper empires decrease in value and so it was for the Aitken family. The dividends that once flowed to the Foundations which funded the gallery and other ventures began to decrease and eventually the papers were sold. The directors looked to the paintings and discovered some had dramatically increased in value and wanted to sell. The Art Gallery people looked into who owned the paintings and said no, you do not own them. The court battle went on, cost millions to discover what Lord Beaverbrook should have done but did not and essentially the art gallery shifted to being one run by the people in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.

Linking to dividend stocks, while as owners we buy and live off the dividends, if you set up legacy funds, what should the trustees do if the money becomes less? When can assets be sold or how does changed happen? The foundations which the writer has sat on, we reviewed the will to give us guidance, remember  make it simple what you can and cannot do or legal fees will be paid.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.