What is a family office?
A family office is essentially a private wealth management advisory firm and is typically set up to oversee and manage financial affairs and succession planning.
In terms of structure, a family office can comprise of a single entity or a group of entities and can be made of companies, partnerships, trusts, or a combination of these.
Why might you need a family office?
A family office is essential for families looking to preserve and manage their wealth in a centralised, efficient manner. Instead of each family member individually handling their assets, a family office streamlines the process, ensuring that wealth is managed cohesively and strategically.
This central management not only leads to significant cost savings by consolidating services like investment management, tax planning and estate administration, but it also ensures that all family members, across multiple generations, benefit from a coordinated approach to wealth preservation. This consistency is particularly advantageous to large families.
What services do family offices provide?
Family offices fulfil a wide range of services that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each family, recognising that no two families are alike. These services typically fall into three main categories: wealth management, financial planning, and family governance.
- Wealth Management
Family offices manage the family’s wealth by providing services such as investment management, asset allocation and risk management. This ensures that the family’s assets are not only preserved but also strategically invested to grow over time. By centrally managing these aspects, family offices help optimise returns while minimising risks, allowing for a more cohesive and effective wealth strategy.
- Financial Planning
Family offices also assist with tax optimisation, estate planning, philanthropy, and succession planning. These services are crucial for preserving and growing wealth across generations. For example, a family office might work on minimising tax liabilities, setting up trusts for estate planning, advising on philanthropic endeavours, and creating a plan for passing on wealth to future generations.
- Family Governance
Family governance services are designed to help families manage their businesses and assets in a way that aligns with their values and long-term goals. This includes planning for business succession, establishing family values, and creating guidelines for how the family wants to handle various situations. Through effective family governance, a family office helps ensure that the family’s legacy is preserved and that all members, across generations, are aligned in their approach to wealth and business management.
What are the advantages of having a family office
Having a family office offers several key advantages for families looking to manage their wealth and affairs effectively:
- Control and Privacy
A family office provides families with a high level of control over their financial and business decisions while maintaining a strong degree of privacy. With everything managed centrally, families can ensure that sensitive information stays within a trusted circle, allowing them to make decisions confidently.
- Personalised Services:
One of the significant benefits of a family office is the ability to tailor services to the specific needs of the family. This personalisation ensures that wealth management aligns with the family’s values, long-term goals, and risk tolerance. Whether it’s crafting a specific investment strategy or setting up a bespoke estate plan, a family office adapts to meet the unique requirements of the multi-generational family unit.
- Dedicated Team of Professionals:
Family offices bring together a dedicated team of professionals who specialise in various aspects of wealth management, such as financial planning, legal services, tax optimisation, and investment management. This team approach ensures that all facets of the family’s wealth are handled with expert care, providing comprehensive support across different areas of business and personal finance. This bond between family office and advisor is one that can also span multiple generations. In fact, we have been acting as advisor to a substantial property-based family office, with its own Charitable Foundation, for over 100 years. The relationship was first established with our founder, Harold Sharp, and today we act for the fifth generation.
How do you set up a family office
As has been a recurring theme throughout this blog, clearly defined goals, values and objectives are fundamental to a successful family office. Agreeing these goals, values and objectives across multiple generations is a key first stage of setting-up a family office.
As a second stage, a team of professionals need to be assembled, including investment advisors, tax specialists, accountants, legal experts and others depending on the exact needs of the family. This is where Harold Sharp’s deep experience of advising family offices can really add value as part of your dedicated team.
How can we help?
We really enjoy our relationships with family offices and have built a great reputation over many years, working with stakeholders to build understanding and to keep the family office relevant to the needs of all generations. To find out more about how Harold Sharp can fit into your trusted team of professionals, contact Rebecca Holloway, email intouch@haroldsharp.co.uk or call 0161 905 1616.
Rebecca Holloway
Associate Director & Head of Proptech
T: 0161 905 1616
E: rh@haroldsharp.co.uk