What is a Family Office?

“A family office is the purposeful, organized, and collective effort by family members, with the assistance of non-family professionals, to transition the soul, spirit and ethos of a family, and its tangible wealth, to subsequent generations.” - Carolyn J. Cole

Administrative

The primary function is managing bill payments, creating consolidated reporting, and taking on various other administrative duties. Many times, the family has simply hired a bookkeeper.

Legacy

A family determined that succession planning needs to be transitioned into continuity planning and brings a team of dedicated professionals together for the family to create a cohesive legacy and intergenerational harmony.

Embedded

Employees within a family owned and operated company begin to support family on matters such as tax planning, real estate purchases, consolidated reporting, bill payments and other duties.

Institutional

Either through a full liquidity event or cash-flow, a family begins to strategically deploy their private capital with due diligence, measurements, and governance. "Family Matters" are generally not part of the focus. The processes are institutionalized.

Family Office

It’s often easy to invite non-blood family for Thanksgiving dinner. However, when it comes to transitioning shares of your business, your wealth or your heirloom assets, you may feel a bit less inclusive.

Family can be defined differently depending on context. Before you work on keeping your family together for a united purpose, it is important to understand the multiple definitions of family and how they apply to specific circumstances.

What does it take to build a family office?

Most importantly a family office requires the emotional and financial commitment to the process by the family.

An early vision of the common purpose for the family’s future is helpful.

Following the vision comes leadership, impartiality, customization, and the agility to change direction when needed.

Typically a team of professionals is assembled to support family initiatives.