Andy Ann and the Freedom to Reinvent a Family Legacy
For Andy Ann (安宇昭), family legacy is not an instruction to repeat the past. It is a foundation for building something new. The grandson of Dr. Ann Tse-kai (安子介), Andy has carried his family's emphasis on learning and purposeful work into a career as a technology entrepreneur, investor and venture builder. As the founder of NDN Group, he has built businesses of his own while helping other founders turn their ideas into reality.
In this episode of FGA Trust's Legacy Lounge (傳承雅集), his story raises a question that matters to entrepreneurial families: how can a legacy be protected without limiting the next generation's ability to create? His answer brings inheritance, innovation and the role of family trusts into the same conversation.
The Principles That Outlive Wealth
When Andy speaks about his grandfather, he returns to lessons rather than possessions. Dr. Ann Tse-kai's work to make the Chinese language more accessible reflected a wish to help the wider world understand Chinese culture. Within the family, another lesson was just as enduring: everyone has the same twenty-four hours each day. What matters is how those hours are used.
Andy has made that principle part of his own life. In the conversation, he describes committing around 300 hours each year to learning, exploring subjects beyond his immediate business experience. For an entrepreneur working through successive waves of technology, learning is not simply preparation for the next opportunity. It is a family value put into practice.
This is the inheritance he also seeks to share with his teams and fellow founders: the discipline to keep learning, the willingness to work hard, and the intention to build something meaningful. The continuity lies in the principles, even when the businesses look very different.
From Building Companies to Enabling Other Founders
Andy's entrepreneurial journey has followed the changing uses of technology, from Wi-Fi networks and mobile applications to social data and AI transformation. Yet the thread running through these ventures is not technology for its own sake. It is the practical work of turning an idea into a business that solves a real problem.
Over time, he recognised that his strength lay in taking ventures from zero to one. He also recognised that partners and teams could be better placed to lead their subsequent growth. Through his venture studio, and as a mentor, investor and co-founder, he now helps younger entrepreneurs make that first transition. He shares the experience gained through both successful ventures and painful setbacks.
One example in the conversation is particularly telling. Andy recalls supporting former team members who wanted to build a business of their own, and the satisfaction of seeing their company later achieve a successful exit. The achievement was not only commercial. It showed how knowledge and opportunity could continue through others. In this sense, his legacy extends beyond his family and the companies he founded.
The Role of Trusts: Protection With Room to Innovate
Asked about trusts and the preservation of family wealth, Andy begins with risk. Earlier generations often built their businesses by accepting considerable uncertainty. As families move towards preserving what has been created, however, the structures intended to provide stability can become too restrictive.
Andy recognises the protective role of trusts, but stresses the need to give the next generation “breathing room”. Younger family members should be able to test ideas, take responsibility and learn from failure. If there is no room to establish new businesses or respond to a changing market, protection can come at the expense of renewal.
From a legacy-planning perspective, this suggests that a trust should be considered alongside the family's ambitions, not separately from them. Trust arrangements can formalise how assets are held and administered, and how beneficiaries are supported over time. A family's wider governance framework can also distinguish resources intended for long-term support from capital allocated to entrepreneurial experimentation, with clear responsibilities and agreed limits. The appropriate approach depends on the trust deed, applicable law and the family's circumstances.
At FGA Trust, part of Payment Asia Group, we regard intentional planning as the foundation of lasting legacy. Andy's reflections highlight why that planning must consider both continuity and change: preserving the resources a family depends on, while making considered provision for the next generation's development. Structure and opportunity should be discussed together.
A Legacy That Gives the Next Generation a Future
Andy's perspective is equally clear when he speaks about his daughter. Rather than prescribing a particular profession, he encourages her to pursue her own direction and understand the opportunities emerging in a changing world. What he hopes to pass on is not a fixed career path, but the ability to learn, choose and create.
He applies the same thinking to social impact. Helping others, he believes, should be embedded in business and everyday action, rather than postponed until a distant milestone of wealth or success. His wish to continue helping people turn ideas into reality gives his understanding of legacy a practical purpose.
For entrepreneurial families, the lesson is that succession planning involves more than transferring assets. It also involves preparing people to use those assets responsibly. A thoughtfully considered trust can form part of that framework, alongside shared values and clear governance. The aim is not simply to preserve yesterday's success, but to support the people who will build what comes next.
We warmly invite you to watch the full FGA Trust Legacy Lounge conversation with Andy Ann, exploring how family principles can inspire innovation — and why protection and freedom both matter in a lasting legacy.
Contact Us Now to explore how FGA Trust can help you plan for the continuity of your family's assets, values and aspirations.
