As a staff member in a private household or perhaps considering a career in one then reading this comprehensive guide to understanding the role of a family office will leave you with a good grasp of this misleading title of a ‘family office’.
Understanding the Role of a Family Office
Firstly, they are not an office space in the property for the family to work!!! Family offices are private wealth management firms that serve ultra-high-networth individuals (UHNWI). They are there to deal with the complexity of families or private individuals’ lives.
They undertake many duties such as wealth, managing household staff, dealing with assets, making travel arrangements, payroll and legal affairs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_office
Who Works There?
Job roles within the family office may consist of the following:
CEO-Chief Executive officer is required to have expertise in operations management
CFO-Chief Financial Officer required to oversee budgets, assets and tax
COO-Chief Operating Officer-responsible for overseeing all assets such as planes, houses and security
CIO-Chief Investment Officer-Required to develop investment strategies
Legal counsel-Required to have knowledge of the Law and provide legal guidance
EA-Responsible for for managing the communications and schedules of company executives
PA-Mainly responsible for administrative tasks and arrangements for UHNWI
Do They Look After One Family?
At times yes and sometimes multiple. Very often we find that many family offices start just taking care of one family and then branch out via word of mouth and good reputation often from the client referring to the good work the office does. This can reduce costs as many people can manage more than one client throughout their working week. Often referred to as SFO a single family office and a MFO multiple family office.
There are currently over 179 registered family offices in London alone and more than 1000 in England.
What is the Difference Between a Hedge Fund and a Family Office?
Family offices tend to manage the assets of a wealthy family or group of families. Usually for ultra-high net worth families who have a high degree of complexity managing finances. A hedge fund offers asset management to investors. They take large amounts of capital for numerous clients. A hedge fund can transform into a family office with some slight changes to their roles, offering more than just wealth management and will reduce the clientele that they manage.
Family offices are not new, yet they have gained attention in recent years with the number of high-net-worth individuals/families rising all over the world.
Whilst most people interpret the idea of managing money there is more to it than that. A huge amount of time is spent understanding the family’s values and desired goals, enabling the staff to provide a personalized service. Therefore the role of the family is key to the success and smooth running of the families or individuals’ assets and wealth.
Why Do I Need to Know This Information?
Whilst you do not need to know what your boss does for a living there are many occasions where some aspect of your role may require you to be in contact with someone at the family office. Most commonly this is the personal assistant. Often they have information to be passed on information they need to extract from you or the rest of the team at the property.
Understanding the role of a family office will help you if you do find yourself in a position where you have direct contact with them. Therefore good lines of communication are essential. Establishing a good working relationship is essential for the smooth running of operations.
The chief operating officer will oversee the properties, yachts, jets and often security. For making arrangements they will follow the correct communication channels and more than likely this will be through the personal assistant.
We hope you enjoyed this comprehensive guide to understanding the role of a family office. We know that many family offices vary considerably in how they have their setup, so feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments.
At Polo and Tweed, we deal with family offices regularly and understand the role that they play. Working harmoniously with them. We find that we have a good understanding of their needs and they come to us because we can help with training and recruitment under one umbrella. If you’d like to chat with us, please do get in touch with us here or give us a call at +44(0)203 858 0233