A Single Family Office (SFO) is where a family establishes and operates a legal entity separately from its operating businesses. The entity is solely devoted to providing Family Office services to that family. Services often include finance administration, accounting and investment management, and have broadened over the years to include a greater focus on governance, leadership, succession, philanthropy and wealth education. A SFO may have a family or non-family CEO, employ staff and utilise outside expertise.
As outlined in Mutual Trust’s whitepaper: Why the Modern Family Office Matters, there are strengths and challenges associated with all Family Office models. Traditionally, in the case of the SFO, many families value the total control, privacy and dedicated team that come with managing their Family Office requirements in-house. Over the years, however, the cost of running a SFO has steadily increased – today, families require at least $500m in investible assets for their SFO to be sustainable in the long-term.
This rising cost, combined with evolving requirements around scalability, talent, technology and wealth ownership, is prompting many families to review their Family Office structure to ensure it remains fit for purpose for generations to come.
So how do families work out whether their SFO will continue to meet their needs for the long-term? Mutual Trust explore this topic in their latest article. Click to view the PDF in full below.