Family Office Navigator

Not only is the world of business and investments diverse and complex today, but families are, too. They are more geographically dispersed than in prior generations which requires them to have to grapple with an intricate web of national and international legal, tax, inheritance, and citizenship systems and regulations. This geographic dispersion is accompanied by more individual-centric lives, careers, interests, and needs on the part of family members. That means the wealth management of their common assets needs customization, and families need to work harder to remain unified and connected, both emotionally and financially. Because of this increased complexity, families are turning to family offices as vehicles to serve their specialized needs through bespoke services. A family office can act as a unifying, central, organizing vehicle that provides a family with an aggregate view of all their businesses, investments, donations, assets, and other activities. The more integrated the family office is with the family’s larger family enterprise ecosystem, the more it can support the vision, strategy, and needs of the broader system, rather than operating as a silo. For example, families are increasingly leaning on family offices to help plan proactively for generational succession to enhance the sustainability and success of the businesses, investments, and bloodlines over time. A family office is considered by many to be the logical next step for a family in business. As overall distrust in institutions rises, partially fuelled by scandals in the investment world, it is more important than ever for families to sit in the driving seat when managing their investments and steering their family enterprise. If organized well, a family office can be the right place for a family to exercise their active participation, ownership, direction, and oversight. Why a Family Office Navigator? We’ve established that there is an unprecedented demand for family offices as a platform to support families and, in response, a rapid increase in the number of family offices around the world seeking guidance, especially in the beginning of the journey. No family office can operate without external resources and partners, so at the same time, the number of service firms in this domain has skyrocketed. The result for families is a large, unwieldly sandbox, making it challenging to navigate this space, know what support they might need and who the right partner might be. It is therefore of critical importance that families feel empowered and in charge of their family office journey – knowing exactly what they are looking for, what types of questions to ask, how to assess the answers they receive, and how to execute the right plan for their situation. This allows a family to set off confidently and successfully from the get-go.

Get ready for your fami ly off ice journey | 26