What a Family Office Does

Your family office is your most trusted advisor. Your family office advisor is who you rely on the most to provide you and your family with financial peace of mind. Your family office acts as your personal CFO.

This post describes some ways that your family office supports clarity and simplicity in your financial life.

Defines your Values

The first thing your family office advisor will do is help you explicitly define your values. This means truly understanding who you are and being clear about the most important things in your life. Your values may represent your religion or be secular, they may consider environmental sustainability, or they may show how you support your family and your community.

Identifies your Objectives

Once you have identified your values, your family office advisor will work with you to clarify your financial objectives. Your financial objectives will be based on your values and they will be the goals that your financial plans aim to accomplish. Your financial objectives will be broad enough to stand the test of time but also refined into specific financial goals from year to year to evaluate progress.

Outlines your Investment Philosophy

Before making any investment decisions, its important to outline your investment philosophy. Your family office advisor will help you describe how you believe a successful investor is defined and how successful investors accomplish their goals. For some investors, this might mean taking a passive approach to reduce fees and minimize the role of emotions. For other investors, this might mean doing thorough research and choosing investments that make positive environmental and social impacts.

Describes your Decision-Making Process

Your decision-making process is critical to your financial success. Your family office advisor will work with you to describe how you make financial decisions so that you are not distracted by the latest investment craze or the “flavour of the month”. Clearly documenting your financial decision-making process is also an important way to avoid fraud, high fees, and poor investment returns.

Writes your Investment Policy Statement

Once you have defined your values, your financial goals, your investment philosophy, and decision-making process, your family office advisor will craft your Investment policy. This document will serve as the roadmap for your investment portfolio. Your investment policy can be shared with your investment advisors and with your other professional advisors so that your entire team can follow your plan when providing their advice.

Tracks your Income

When you have multiple investments and accounts with different financial institutions, its important to keep track of your income in a consolidated way. This can be done with a bookkeeping process. Your family office can co-ordinate this bookkeeping process or work with your accountant to implement one. When you are tracking your income in detail, it becomes easier to evaluate the success of your investment portfolio and thereby make better investment decisions. Tracking your income might also provide you with greater financial peace of mind because you’ll have a clear idea of how much you are making vs how much your obligations are.

Protects your Privacy

As a wealthy family, you’re bombarded with people pitching investment ideas to you and charities asking for donations. Not to mention the CRA asking you for burdensome tax compliance. Your family office advisor will guard your privacy and filter solicitations so those who eventually get through to you are the ones who you truly want to support. Your family office does this by relying on guidance from the values and strategies outlined in your financial plans.

Is your Sounding Board

Imagine when you have someone you can trust who always picks up their phone when you call and listens to your troubles then finds solutions to help you solve problems. This is what your family office advisor will do. When you just need to talk through a financial decision or decide whether to take one course of action over another, your family office advisor will be your most trusted advisor and give you honest advice that is always in your best interest.

Organizes your Documents

Keeping track of your financial records, including your income and expenses, the documents related to your home and cottage, your will, accepting your mail, paying your bills, providing your accountant with information, and co-ordinating the review of your portfolio on a consistent basis can be time consuming and annoying. Most of us would rather not spend Saturday afternoon working on a spreadsheet, so this is what your family office will do for you. Your family office will organize your financial life so that you can spend time on tasks that bring you joy instead of tasks that waste your time.

Transitions your Wealth

Successfully managing and transitioning wealth to future generations requires a disciplined wealth management process. Your family office will help you define your goals and objectives and create an estate plan that ensures your heirs will build on your legacy. If you simply leave your heirs a pile of cash, or worse, a pile of confusing financial arrangements, they will likely feel burden and guilt from your wealth. But when you create a wealth management process that your heirs can build upon, they will feel a greater sense of pride in their responsibility.

Builds your Wealth Management Process

Your family office will support your wealth management process. This means supporting your team of professional advisors such as your accountants, your lawyers, your bankers, and your investment advisors, to ensure they also contribute to your success. Your family office will draft and update the documents that outline your wealth management process and provide you with timely customized reports that help you evaluate your financial life.

Our Family Office

Our family office services will bring peace of mind to your financial life by ensuring your wealth grows in a sustainable way your heirs can build upon. Our goal is to be our client’s most trusted advisor. We have decades of experience as personal consiglieres to wealthy families.