The Elements of a Family Office Experience

“Its not a product solution. Its an advisor experience.”

To maximize the likelihood of sustaining wealth across generations, a family office’s central role is to provide integrated wealth management advice and services.”[1] By doing so, family offices provide a superior service and have a distinct advantage over traditional wealth management.

Virtual-Family-Office-Image“The focus on governance and education of family members is critical and it is one that is often missing in more traditional wealth management,” Michael Woocher, Head of Client Development, GenSpring. “It’s not a product solution. It’s an advisor experience.”

With Wealth Access, advisors are able to collaborate with one another to provide their clients with a virtual family office experience. Wealth Access assists with the following elements of an integrated wealth management experience:

• Tracking and monitoring investments, on demand. Storing an investment policy statement for all accounts and/or legal entities; monitoring strategic asset allocation and investment strategy; investment due diligence, selection and monitoring; and consolidated, real-time investment reporting.
• Document management, generally. Specifically, maintaining document inventory; maintaining summary of major assets, ownership and key contacts; and maintaining investment documents, statements, financial reports and correspondence.
• Coordinating tax documentation for tax compliance.
• Trust administration and management; component of data infrastructure to meet the complex obligations of the trustee.
• Development of individual and family education plans; delivery of educational programs focused on all aspects of family wealth; next generation education. Facilitate review and illustration of estate plan; creation and communication of wealth transfer and objectives; and annual estate plan review, recommendations and monitoring.
• Education on philanthropy; next generation involvement; shared values and giving interests identification; philanthropic mission statement development; foundation governance; charitable structure evaluation; and strategic tax planning.
• Family meeting facilitation; family mission statement development and implementation; family governance system development, including development of a family constitution; and succession planning.

Wealth Access allows you to broaden your investment mandate. We can help you provide the family office experience to your high net worth clients who do not have a formal family office established. We help advisors bring together expertise under one virtual roof, and establish coherence in planning, despite many siloed specializations, through clear visibility into clients’ entire wealth and other sensitive documentation, as well as data and collaboration through sharing.

[1] https://www.fwreport.com/article.php?title=The_Ten_Elements_Of_A_Family_Office_-_GenSpring_&id=55832