multi family office

China’s billionaire business families are setting up their own family offices at a phenomenal rate as ageing principals shift their priorities from wealth creation to preservation and succession.

More than three-quarters of Chinese families surveyed by Campden Wealth said they either established or joined a family office after 2010. In the last six years, interest has been growing, and almost one-third reported they began using family office services in either 2018 (13%) or in the first eight months of 2019 (18%).

As family offices continue to grow in structure and wealth, how is this affecting the commercial multi family office industry? How are they managing wealth or is their focus shifting away from investment advice? Alexander Ferguson reports 

After 2008, the commercial multi family office (CMFO) industry was anxious. More than a quarter of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) either pulled assets out of their wealth management firms or left them altogether, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

US wealth manager Abbot Downing has established a new business strategy to better focus on single family office clients, with its president stating that more investment entities are transitioning into family offices in the face of increasing regulation.

The group announced last month that it would be appointing Joe Freeman its new head of family office services. The platform would facilitate access to products and services provided by Abbot Downing’s parent company Wells Fargo.

Working alongside future generations of clients was one of two driving factors in governance and ownership changes at Matter Family Office, according to a member of its new board of managers.

The US multi family office, based between Denver and St Louis, announced last month it was shifting from a firm led by a CEO and managing director to a partnership. Founded in 1990, the firm serves 50 core clients across 20 states, with $5 billion assets under management.