Meet The Team [Bryan Hanning]

Bryan Hanning chose to work with family businesses early on in his financial services career. Having owned and operated a successful contracting business, he felt that he could relate to the issues they faced. “People lose sleep over leaving too much money to one child versus another, or sacrificing their own lifestyle for the sake of their children,” he explains. Mostly, clients struggle with issues surrounding family business succession. He finds that many stall in making sound financial decisions as a result of complicated family dynamics.

As Bryan cultivated expertise in this area, he identified like-minded professionals in other disciplines, such as psychologists, attorneys, CPAs, and financial professionals, with whom he could partner to tackle these complex problems. In 1994, Bryan and a partner started the Kansas Family Business Forum, an organization that aims to bring owners, families and managers together to address issues of ownership and management succession, strategic planning, family dynamics and family governance.

Today, Bryan is known for his collaborative approach, a global view of the financial challenges of business owners, and his deep knowledge of estate planning, risk management, and tax efficient strategies. In addition to his work with business owners, Bryan enjoys showing a wide range of clients how to maximize their wealth and positively impact the causes and communities they care for using tax-smart financial tools.

Bryan’s work is deeply rooted in discovering, understanding and assimilating his clients’ values. He helps clients articulate their beliefs in a way that can help transfer “both value and values” to the next generation and beyond. “Clients seek guidance on how to help their children manage wealth and live good, productive lives,” he says. Once a family’s vision is clearly defined, then appropriate solutions are presented to help achieve those goals.

It comes as no surprise that Bryan’s own value system is firmly established. A former football player for Wichita State University, Bryan married his college sweetheart, Cindy, with whom he has three children and seven grandchildren. An elder at his church, Bryan is dedicated to his family, his community and his faith, which also informs his worldview. Even outside of work, Bryan gravitates to family-oriented events and organizations.

Bryan is a member of the Planned Giving Council at Wichita State University. He is a former member of an advisory council to the National Christian Foundation. He is a Certified Family Business Specialist and has been a part of a family wealth-counseling program for almost two decades.

He resides in Wichita with his family.