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Family Office Planning

Wealth has the ability to help families achieve their personal goals, start businesses, foster employment and support charitable organizations—all in all, wealth contributes to the world in full. In order to accomplish these financial goals it is important to transfer your wealth the right way, and to make certain your heirs are prepared to receive it.

Not only monetary – wealth encompasses intellectual and emotional capital as well. When managing wealth within the family, one must have the understanding and skills needed to manage all three. Through Family Office Planning, you can accomplish your wealth management goals while ensuring that your heirs utilize it wisely, keeping your values in mind.

Types of Family Offices

Family offices are entities designed to manage the personal and financial affairs of one or more families. To date, there are two major types of family offices: the single-family office (SFO) and the multi-family office (MFO). An SFO is a separate family office that manages the personal and financial affairs of just one family. The MFO structure manages the personal and financial affairs of several families. In most cases, the MFO may offer advantages. By working with families that have similar circumstances, MFOs are able to lend their expertise more effectively.

Who It Serves

Family offices serve “middle-class millionaires,” with a net worth between 1 and 20 million dollars, the “ultra-affluent” with a net worth between 20 and 500 million dollars, and the “super rich” with 500 million and over.¹ Families with a net-worth of $10 million are often the underlying families introduced to family office services.

The Multi-Purpose Family Office

Russ Alan Prince, co-founder of Private Wealth magazine, categorizes family offices into two groups: wealth creators and wealth preservers. For wealth creators, the goal is to enhance the wealth of the underlying families; conversely, for wealth preservers, the goal is to conserve the fortunes of the underlying family. The first step in identifying your family office needs is to establish the goals of you and your family.  According to The Family Office: Advising the Financial Elite, around 80% of family offices focus on managing money for wealth creation, and mainly utilize investments to do so.