Maximizing Results In Your Family Office: Treat It Like A Business
Family offices, a once shrouded and sleepy corner of the investment world, have emerged as formidable participants in global capital markets. The number of family offices globally grew by 38% from 2017 to 2019 and today they collectively control $6tn in assets. In 2021, family office backed deals accounted for 10% of the entire deals market—an unprecedented level. That said, the term “family office” describes a very heterogeneous set of organizations—ranging from an overworked accountant and a harried assistant booking private jets, to an eponymous venture fund, to a fully operational asset manager. Some of this dispersion is by design, but mostly it’s because family offices tend to be “built” around what already exists (teams, assets) rather than ”designed” from best practices as a conventional business would be.
In this article for FA Magazine, Wingspan Partner Liza Truax delves into the key challenges that family offices face and the steps they need to take to create the scaffolding of their business: setting a purpose; shoring up governance (family and corporate alike); carefully considering what to outsource or do in-house; getting talent and incentives right; and defining and capturing the relevant business metrics to measure progress toward goals.
