A family office is the organization that is created, often after the sale of family business or realization of significant liquidity, to support the financial needs (ranging from strategic asset allocation to record keeping and reporting) for a specific family group.

No formal data exists, but we estimate that there are between 2500 and 3000 family offices in the U.S. and believe that another 6000 exist informally inside privately controlled businesses in the U.S. For Europe and Asia, the concept of a family office is just evolving, but new family offices are being formed monthly in these areas.

• Investment Advice, Management, Monitoring
• Financial & Tax Planning
• Wealth Transfer Planning
• Financial Recordkeeping & Compliance
• Family Foundation Management
• Client Education & Goal Development

Additional information on this topic can be found within About Family Offices in the Best Practices section on the website.
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Creating a family office that will meet the varying financial and personal needs of your family group is a complex undertaking. At FOX, we believe there are seven critical components in developing a new family office. Over the past 10 years, we have helped dozens of family groups start offices based on the seven critical components of an office, which we call a Blueprint™. Like an architectural blueprint, ours is a detailed sequence of steps used to customize an office to your particular situation. The process will give you a clear picture of the financial services that should be offered and the staffing needs required to provide such services.

A Multiple Family Office (MFO) is an organization that provides family office services to more than one family group. Most MFOs begin as a dedicated office serving one family group. The decision to “open their doors” often happens in response to requests from friends of the family to offset the cost of the office or to enhance the group buying power. For additional information, click here to view our section on Multiple Family Offices

Each family office is as unique as the family it serves, but there are several common types of offices.

The Founders Office is focused on the needs of the founder and spouse, typically has wealth preservation as a purpose, and usually evolves into one of the other office types depending on the founder’s long-term goals.

The Strategic Investment Office focuses on asset diversification and performance, is often supported by an investment consultant, and may be led by a Chief Investment Officer.

The Financial Planning Office provides clients with financial plans that are integrated with the investment and wealth transfer planning process.

The Trust and Compliance Office consolidates the recordkeeping and reporting functions, coordinates trust and tax compliance work and implements client requests.

The Philanthropic Services Office is driven by the family’s philanthropic goals; the investment and reporting needs of family members are often handled separately.

The Multiple Family Office (MFO) is usually run as an investment business; a menu of services is available to clients.

The structure of the family office varies depending on its purpose. However, according to the FOX Surveys, almost 60% of participants operate as a C or S corporation. Family offices formed after 1985 seem to be following a trend to limit liability by structuring an LLC (Limited Liability Company).

We do not publish our client/member list in order to maintain our members’ confidentiality and ensure their privacy. Our members are family offices and professional advisory firms from around the globe. Family office member assets range from $30 million to several billion, with an average asset size of $350 million. Almost 40% of our family office members still own some percentage of an operating company, while 60% have sold the business. Just about 50% of our advisor members are investment managers, followed by bankers, consultants, accountants and attorneys. Click here to view our membership statistics.

A Limited Purpose Trust Company (commonly known as a Private Trust Company) is generally defined as a corporation organized to conduct non-depository trust business. Private Trust Companies are usually required to adhere to state banking regulations.

No, we advise family groups about wealth management alternatives and possible roles for the office, but do not serve as a front-office by offering services to clients.

FOX is a for-profit company. The sources of revenue for the firm are membership and consulting services.

Families start family offices to take advantage of any of the following benefits:

• One central source for information on, advice about or oversight of all of the family’s financial matters. We call this integrated financial services.
• Pooled purchasing power across a family group, resulting in better service for a better price than individual family members could attain on their own.
• A dedicated team of professionals who are focused on client goals in a completely confidential manner.
• Continuity from generation to generation on issues of family heritage, the family trusts, family values, or family philanthropy.
• Access to professional advisors who can educate family members about their reponsibilities of ownership and participative governance.

The average family office manager is a well-educated, seasoned professional who understands and appreciates the unique needs of his/her clients. The leadership of a family office is typically defined by the goals of the office. A Strategic Investment Office is often run by an Investment professional; a Compliance Office might be run by the former CEO of the operating company; a Financial Planning Office could be led by a CEO who is a former estate planning attorney.

Founded in 1989, FOX is a leading provider of strategic advice for financial families. We have earned the trust of hundreds of investors who rely on us for objective information about the wealth management process.

Our Focus:

• The leading global authority on the best practices in wealth management across disciplines for sophisticated families of exceptional wealth.
• An exclusive network of families, family offices and key wealth management industry professionals.
• A resource for peer exchange, discussion and progressive education.
• A central network location of leading advisors and resources to identify the best advice.
• A consulting group highly skilled in the custom design, implementation and intricate advancement of the family office and family office services.
• A focused executive search team with unique capabilities for identifying, qualifying and placing specialized professionals employed by family offices and wealth management industry organizations.
• A buying consortium that provides access to and discounts on wealth management products and services.

Our private website for members offers educational content on financial issues, a database of leading wealth management advisors, and opportunities to collaborate with other sophisticated families in areas of specific interest.

General Advisors are professional entities who are dedicated to the family office and wealth management industry and serve the interdisciplinary needs of financial families. Advisor firms and individuals who become members of the FOX community have been screened for their work in wealth management. They represent a wide variety of disciplines and expertise.

The answer to this question completely depends on the goals of the office, services provided, number of clients, number of taxable entities managed etc. However, our research indicates that running an independent family office can save a family group up to 1% of the cost of purchasing the services individually from external service providers.