Nikè Anani is the Director of Next Gen Advisory at Northern Trust. She grew up in an enterprising family in Nigeria, where her father, a self-made entrepreneur, founded and ran their family business.   At the age of nine, Nikè relocated to the United Kingdom with her mother and two siblings in search of a better life as her father remained in Nigeria to run the family business.  Sixteen years later, Nikè returned to Nigeria where she learned that her father’s “family business” had grown significantly over the years into a large-scale business enterprise. 

In this episode, Nikè shares how her experience shadowing her father, and ultimately running his family office, shaped her decision to devote her career to helping the next generation of wealth inheritors realize their potential.

What we discuss:

• (2:00) – What was Nikè’s upbringing like?
• (4:09) – What was it like moving from Nigeria to the UK?
• (5:31) – How was life for Nikè in the UK until she moved back to Nigeria?
• (8:18) – How did Nikè transition to working in her father’s business?
• (10:34) – How did Nikè’s involvement in the family business affect her relationship with her siblings?
• (13:07) – What are some of the challenges of being part of a family-owned business?
• (15:11) – If Nikè could go back in time, what would she like to have done differently during her on-boarding to the family business?
• (17:19) – What are some effective strategies for transitioning wealth or business ownership from one generation to the next?
• (20:17) – Why can there sometimes be hesitancy towards having conversations about wealth and legacy between generations?
• (22:10) – What is the difference between the next-gen and the rising-gen?
• (24:27) – Why is it important for the next-gen to form peer groups and communities?
• (26:47) – What is the ‘why’ that drives Nikè?
• (27:23) – What does Nikè’s father think of her new role?
• (28:43) – How have Nikè’s life experiences and her role with Northern Trust influenced the way she teaches her own children about wealth?