For various reasons, super-rich families with a net worth of $500 million or more choose single-family offices to coordinate and oversee critical aspects of their financial and personal lives. The ability of high-performing single-family offices to be in sync with super-rich families, act proactively and be right on point is a great advantage to these families.
According to Angelo Robles, founder and CEO of Family Office Masterclass, “Without a competent coordinator, wealth management services and other services such as concierge medicine and family security can very likely be disjointed, overpriced, and often inexact to the needs and desires of the family. Single-family offices aim to eliminate these problems.
In researching single-family offices, we regularly find a discontent between what they deliver and what super-rich families received from the professionals they previously relied on. Their dissatisfaction strongly motivates many super-rich families to establish single-family offices.
Without question, the private wealth industry is biased in favor of the professionals. Much of this is structural. High-performing single-family offices reset the balance in favor of their super-rich families. For example, most professionals are siloed. While they might use words like “holistic” and “comprehensive,” the reality is that they are focused on their expertise, which is why they are compensated.
In comparison, high-performing single-family offices are “holistic” and are not inherently biased in favor of one solution or another. More than any other type of provider, high-performing single-family offices are conflict-free or as conflict-free as possible. They exist to help a super-rich family address its interests and concerns.
Remember, high-performing single-family offices are built around each particular super-rich family’s distinctive needs and wants. Because they understand all aspects of the super-rich family, single-family offices can deliver superior results compared to other providers.
Because of the proven effectiveness of single-family offices, more and more ultra-wealthy individuals and families are gravitating to variations on the high-performing single-family office model. According to Vince Annable, CEO and founder of VFO Advisory Group and co-author of Your High-Performing Virtual Family Office: Maximizing Your Financial and Personal Lives, “We see very wealthy families that are financially unable or prefer not to establish single-family offices still wanting the advantages that the super-rich get from their high-performing single-family offices. For these families, the preferred solution is not a private bank or wealth management firm but a virtual family office. As each virtual family office is built around each family, it’s possible to provide many if not all of the benefits of a high-performing single-family office.”
Russ Alan Prince is the executive director of Private Wealth magazine and chief content officer for High-Net-Worth Genius. He consults with family offices, the wealthy, fast-tracking entrepreneurs and select professionals.
