At the heart of any family office is investment management and financial oversight, but as your family office we can provide a number of other services, ranging from training and education to ensuring that best practice is followed in family governance.
Investment management services
Typically, this will be the main reason for setting up a family office, as it is central to ensuring wealth preservation. These services will include:
- Evaluation of the overall financial situation
- Determining the investment objectives and philosophy of the family
- Determining risk profiles and investment horizons
- Recommendation and monitoring of a suitable asset allocation plan
- Recommendation of suitable investments
- Providing due diligence on investments and external managers
- Managing liquidity for the family
- Discretionary asset management
Philanthropic management
An increasingly important part of the role of a family office is managing its philanthropic efforts. This will include the establishment and management of a foundation, and advice on donating to charitable causes. These services would typically involve:
- Philanthropic planning
- Guidance in planning a donation strategy
- Assistance in formation of foundations and charitable trusts
- Organizing charitable activities and related due diligence
Life management and budgeting
Some of these services are typically defined as “concierge” in nature, but they are broader in scope, inasmuch as they also include budgeting services. Services under this heading will include:
- Coordination of club (golf, private, travel, etc.) memberships
- Budget services, including wealth reviews, analysis of short- and medium-term liquidity requirements and long-term objectives
Business and financial advisory
Beyond the asset management advisory as your family office we will also assist in providing advisory services on financing and business promotion. These will include:
- Debt review and management
- Employer compensation and retirement plans
- Bridge financing
- Structured financing
- Private equity
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Succession planning
Estate and wealth transfer
As your family office, we will be involved in business succession and legacy planning along with your legal team, enabling the transfer of wealth to the next generation. These services will include:
- Wealth protection solutions and planning related to of all types of assets and income sources
- Asset protection strategies
- Guidance on family governance
- Guidance regarding wealth transfer to succeeding generations
- Assistance with the adoption of a family charter or constitution
Training and Education
Much of this revolves around the education of the next generation on issues such as wealth management and financial literacy, as well as wider economic matters. These services will include:
- Organizing family meetings
- Coordination of generational education with outside advisors
Reporting and Record Keeping
The maintenance of records and ensuring there is a strong reporting culture is another core part of a family office’s services. Key to these services is:
- Consolidating and reporting all family assets
- Consolidating performance reporting
- Annual performance reporting and benchmark analysis
- Provide tax reporting documents to tax advisor and/or CPA
Administrative services, or back-office services
These are essential to the smooth running of a family office. These services will include:
- Assist with opening bank accounts and investment-related accounts
- Review new Investment documents
- Oversight of referrals and management of other advisory firms and professionals
Tax and legal advisory
As your family office we will work with your legal team and your accountants and tax experts. Together we will provide the following services:
- Assist with tax planning
- Assist with designing estate planning strategies that take into account both investment and non-investment income sources and their tax implication
Risk management and Insurance services
This is a service that has assumed a more important role in recent years because of the financial crisis of 2008–09 and the subsequent fallout. It will be a crucial service for family offices in the future as well. These services will include:
- Risk analysis, measurement and reporting
- Assessment of insurance requirements and monitoring
- Evaluation of existing policies and titling of assets
- Formulation of disaster recovery options and plans
- Protection of assets, which could involve the use of offshore accounts
- Development of strategies to ensure hedging of concentrated investment positions
- Assist with developing data security and confidentiality