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A
family office acts as a Personal CFO or Chief
Advisor to wealthy families, with a dedicated team
of professionals who oversee and manage the complete
financial affairs of client families.
With origins tracing back to wealthy 19th century European and American families, family offices have a long history of providing a wide range of highly specialized and custom-tailored services.
Family offices have become known for their unbiased
advice and objectivity, and the integration and
coordination of the services they provide with those
of the family’s other advisors. They normally
provide highly customized service for several
generations of the same family.
Families usually engage a family office when their
assets have grown to a size where full-time
professional management is required or could be
beneficial.
A relatively recent phenomenon is the multi-family
office, where one firm manages the affairs of
multiple wealthy families. Northwood prides itself
on being Canada’s premier multi-family office,
having twice been selected
the ‘#1 independent family office in Canada’ in the
Euromoney Global Private Banking survey.
Benefits of the Family Office approach:- Advice is provided with a complete
understanding of all the family assets and
liabilities
- Services are provided to the entire high net-worth
family
- It ensures all advisors work together in a coordinated manner toward an integrated wealth strategy
- It provides benefits of combined purchasing power, allowing for reduced costs
- Investments are managed in the context of the overall family balance sheet
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“Wealth brings complexity, but complexity provides opportunities.”
Ashvin Chhabra et al, ‘Creating a Goal-Based Wealth
Allocation Process”, The Journal of Wealth Management,
Winter 2008 |
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