Family Office Stories

In the third episode we take a look at the governance and operational organisation of a family office. The family has to decide who is the owner, shareholder and final decision-maker. In most cases, it pays off to set up an Investment Council. And selecting the family officer is just as important, as they act as the contact person and trusted partner, and run the family office. The family officer usually specialises in certain asset classes and must understand their scope of action. The family and the family officer need to exchange views regularly and clarify how the costs are passed on to the users of the family office.

The second episode is dedicated to the strategic principles for setting up a single family office. This includes the vision for the family assets, as well as goals, values and room for manoeuvre. The various duties, such as asset accounting, controlling, reporting, regulation of successor issues and community engagement, are derived from the strategy. This then leads on to operational decisions like choosing a location, personnel, compensation model, budget and network. We also pay special attention to harmonising company, family and private assets as well as the associated interests.

In this episode, we talk about setting up a family office with the aim of structuring family assets in a sensible manner, exploiting cost and value creation advantages and avoiding conflicts of interest. We discuss the differences between a single-family office, a closed multi-family office and a commercial multi-family office. We also explain what type of family office is appropriate depending on the volume of assets and how to find a suitable family officer.