Do You Need A Family Office? The Key Factors To Consider
The more wealth you accumulate, whether it’s in equities, real estate, businesses, art or a mix of the above, you also accumulate complexity and an increased responsibility to handle nuanced regulations. Many UHNW investors turn to the family office to create a single, holistic source of truth for their financials, particularly when working with multiple professionals. A family office isn’t a necessity for everyone — but there are some compelling reasons to consider whether it’s right for you.
Top Benefits For UHNW Investors Of Securing The Right Team
1. Balancing External and Internal Advisors
You have a lawyer, a financial advisor and a CPA – you’re all set, right? Maybe. For UHNW families, situations can come up that require a specialized set of services. For example, a tricky, industry-specific tax consideration may be outside your CPA’s wheelhouse. In this case, your family office’s in-house accountant would be able to bring in external specialists and continue to keep progress moving forward by managing them for you, while ensuring that you get the specialized advice you need. This allows you to utilize resources on an as-needed basis, rather than trying to build in a permanent team to handle everything.
2. Cutting Out The MiddleMan (You)
UHNW investors have plenty on their plates — including, hopefully, enjoying their wealth on vacations and leisure activity or in retirement. Having to get into the weeds to manage every issue that comes across your desk is tiring and, if you have been used to having an assistant in your professional life, something you may not be particularly adept at managing yourself. A family office can help seamlessly handle issues without needing your direct interaction, from keeping your financial life running smoothly day-to-day, to handling important one-off events like a lost wallet on an international trip, where time is of the essence to replace documents and financial institutions need to be notified.
3. Joining Forces For Maximum Benefit
Multi-family offices (MFOs) are just that – a group of UHNW families (the average is around 35 families) that come together to share resources. What’s the benefit of joining forces with other UHNW families? Mainly it comes down to the quality and cost of the advisors you need. MFOs share resources, which reduces the cost for each family to engage specialists. This also usually means you can afford the cost of attracting and retaining top talent, who might not be as compelled to work for a single-family office.
4. Your Advisor Is (Probably) Not A Family Office
Your close relationship with your advisors aside, your financial advisors, CPA and estate attorney are unlikely to be serving you in the same way that a family office would. Your UHNW wealth manager may be serving as a family office if they are providing a comprehensive suite of services that impact your financial journey on a daily basis – not just for investment planning and management, but in the more mundane tasks of bill pay, accounting, staff payroll and philanthropic giving.
5. It’s The Little Things
Your wealth should be something you enjoy and leverage to improve your life and the lives of others — not an endless drain of approvals, requests and paperwork. Whether it’s providing a seamless experience or extra perks like concierge services, travel arrangements and reservations, a family office can help UHNW investors reduce frustration and complexity in their financial life, so they can get back to enjoying the things they want to spend their days doing.
It Starts With The Right UHNW Wealth Management Team
The first step to securing the right team for you is ensuring you’re working with an Ultra-High Net Worth wealth management firm. From reasoned advice and strategies designed to weather your wealth through volatile markets to premium resources and global access, your wealth management firm is a critical piece of every UHNW family’s infrastructure and a key to enjoying the success you’ve created.