"Family offices aren't business clients. They aren't private clients either."
A family office is like a small firm inside the family. We bring trust, company and relocation specialists together in one coordinated job, under one consistent set of rules.
How we work with family offices.
A family office is like a small firm inside the family — company matters, personal matters, moving country, property, giving and reporting, all run under one set of rules. We bring the trust, company and relocation specialists together in one coordinated job.
We don't manage the family's money. We build the office and run its governance, bringing in checked investment chiefs (CIOs), custodians and administrators to match what the family has asked for in writing.
Every job is written up in a family office charter that sets out who decides what, how the next generation is brought in and how disputes are settled. The legal and practical setup is built to serve the charter, not the other way round.
What we've seen go wrong.
- Building the practical setup before agreeing the family's rules, then having to rebuild both when the family disagrees
- Appointing an investment chief and administrators without writing down conflicts of interest, responsibilities and who checks on them
- Keeping everything with one private bank, losing bargaining power and creating a single point of failure
- Treating the next generation as people who just receive money rather than people who decide, and losing the family office in the second generation
The steps, in order.
Every engagement is specialist advisory, quoted in writing before any work begins. No hourly billing.
- 01Drafting the family charter with the family (4–6 weeks)
- 02The full legal and holding structure: trusts, foundations, companies and where they sit
- 03The practical setup: custodian, banking, bookkeeping, reporting, and introductions to an investment chief and administrator
- 04Handover: board packs, policies and a yearly calendar
Questions we hear from family offices.
- An office for one family, or shared with others?
- Below roughly $250m of assets, a well-run shared (multi-family) office is usually better value. Above that, your own office becomes competitive and gives you full control. We help families decide before building either.
- How are outside investment chiefs and custodians appointed?
- Candidates are assessed against what the family wants, its governance needs and the total cost, with commercial arrangements written down before they're appointed.
- Can you work alongside our existing lawyer or accountant?
- Yes. Most of our family office work runs alongside a family's long-standing lawyer and accountant. We own the governance and structuring; your existing advisers keep their day-to-day roles.
Explore further for family offices
Family Office Set-up
Designing single- and multi-family offices: who decides what, written rules, and how it runs day to day.
Trusts & Foundations
Trusts that protect and pass on family wealth, in every common form, plus Panama and Nevis foundations.
Private Banking Introductions
Personal introductions to top private banks in Singapore, Hong Kong, Monaco, Switzerland and London.
Every engagement begins with a twenty-minute advisory call. The fee is in writing before any work begins. No hourly billing.