In this video recorded in downtown Singapore, Richard C. Wilson discusses attributes and trends regarding single family offices. As a consultant for single family offices, Richard C. Wilson shares direct insights from working with single family offices. To learn more, and get two chapters from Richard C. Wilson’s best selling book, “The Family Office Book: [...]

In this video recorded in downtown Singapore, Richard C. Wilson discusses the future of the single family office industry before he presents at a Private Equity Conference. Learn more about the future of the single family office industry and some current trends and insights. To learn more, and get two chapters from Richard C. Wilson’s [...]

The following video was recorded in Berlin, it is 2 minutes long and explains what you will get by attending our live full-day family office workshops in Los Angeles and New York. To reserve your seat for Friday May 10th in Los Angeles or Friday June 7th in New York at the Harvard Club please see this [...]

Virtual family offices are sprouting up all over the world to serve the needs of the ultra-wealthy. This trend is rarely discussed at conferences in the industry, however. A virtual family office is a solution for those families with between $20M and $300M in net worth who want the services of a top tier family [...]

In my recent book, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Wealthy, I talk to several family office executives about the importance of attending conferences and training events in order to sharpen your knowledge of the industry and trends as well as to build relationships within the family office community. I have attended hundreds [...]

A number of single family offices and multi-family offices will be in Los Angeles to attend the Family Offices Group full-day workshop.  Join us on May 10th in Los Angeles for a full-day family office training workshop covering family office industry fundamentals, best practices, investment insights, and fund manager selection preferences.  Seating is limited, if you’d like [...]

In our most recent edition of the Family Office Newsletter, we tackled a hot topic in the family office industry: separating actual single and multi-family offices from investment funds and service providers using the family office label in order to lure clients, access exclusive family office events or gain other benefits of being recognized as [...]

Single family offices avoided what could have been burdensome and potentially costly regulation, courtesy of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.  Family offices were living under a veil of uncertainty for the last year after the CFTC issued a no-action letter in response to legislation concerning whether single family offices would have to register as commodity [...]

I received a great article from AxialMarket with commentary from finance and deal professionals on the economy, challenges and opportunities ahead, executing successful deals and other interesting topics.  The article includes an excerpt from an interview I recently did with AxialMarket, you can read that in full  here. Family Offices Are More Comfortable Acquiring in an Uncertain [...]

I recently did an interview on how professionals can build relationships and connect with family offices.  One common issue I’ve heard from family offices at my events is that they do not have consistent interactions with other family offices so this was a great opportunity to explain how not only parties looking to work with family [...]

In my recent book, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Affluent, I interviewed dozens of family office executives and they often highlighted the importance of family governance in the family office industry.   Today I wanted to take a quick look at this topic and sort of skim the surface of what is covered [...]

TABOR Family Office Event Oct. 10-12 | Boulders Golf Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, AZ Tabor Capital is hosting a family office & fund manager conference in Phoenix, AZ October 10th-12th. I will be speaking there during the closed door family office part of the event on “Character Analysis Best Practices for Family Offices.” Family [...]

When I talked to family office investors for my recent book, assets under management was an important aspect they considered when evaluating a fund. Assets under management is not necessarily an indication of how a fund might perform. We have all heard the stories of basement traders generating huge returns with only a few thousand [...]

How family offices make decisions on managing their clients’ investments is very important and that is why family offices often carefully structure their investment committees to be as efficient and effective as possible.  In my recently published book, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Wealthy, I spoke with several family office executives on how [...]

In my recent book, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Wealthy, I spoke in detail with top family office executives on how they invest and what they look for in a fund manager.  Most family offices employ a number of professionals with an investing or financial management background so they will often draw upon [...]

Question: How Many Clients Do Family Offices Serve? Answer: Somewhat obviously, a single family office serves a single family as its only client but multi-family offices can serve many more clients.    Multi-family offices can serve anywhere from two clients to 500+ ultra wealthy individuals and families.  For some family offices, the management team prefers to focus [...]

At the Family Offices Group, we’ve been tracking some of the great feedback on my latest book,  The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Affluent.  Business Insider has been combing through the book interviews I did with family office executives and the latest article highlights tips from a family office professional on Getting a Job [...]

ALTERNATIVE ASSET SUMMIT 2012 TO BE HELD: OCTOBER 17-19TH 2012 WYNN, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA I wanted to let readers know about an exciting alternative investing event that I will be speaking at this fall.  The Alternative Asset Summit 2012 is a great opportunity to network, meet with top industry professionals and investors and hear on [...]

Who’s Reading My Book on Family Offices? I just wanted to give an update on my new book on family office investors, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Affluent.  It’s only been a couple weeks and the book is already a bestselling book having recently ranked in the top .01% of topselling books on [...]

There’s a great article on the front page of Bloomberg today of a big trend in wealth management: the shift among the ultra-wealthy away from traditional and private banks to family offices. This has been a big story for years, especially since the financial crisis, as wealthy families look for a more tailored wealth management [...]

Key Strategies for Running a Family Office Today I release my newest book, The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Affluent. I worked on this book for over 400 hours, interviewed over 30 family office executives, and included 29 free video modules. This book is worth at least $20,000, and I believe it will become [...]

The family office investment committee is a critical part of a family office operation, and while used by both types of family offices it is more often employed formally in a multi-family office setting.  Family offices will often use an investment committee to evaluate investment opportunities and manage the current investment portfolio.  In my discussions [...]

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has rescinded an important exemption for family offices trading in commodities, according to law firm Handler Thayer.  The CFTC overhauled the definitions of a Commodity Trading Adviser (CTA) and Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) and the available exemptions from registration as a CTA and/or CPO for family offices. Rescinding the “Family [...]

The research firm Rothstein Kass recently did an interesting survey of financial advisors on family office service.  The most interesting finding was that 80 percent of financial advisors are interested in incorporating the multifamily office model.  Many financial professionals would like to offer multifamily office services to their clients but have yet to do so. [...]

Asian family offices are relying less and less on private banks, a relationship that had up until now been fairly strong in Asia.  Asian family offices and wealthy families often used private banks to help manage wealth but that model is now shifting as more and more private bankers strike out to set up their [...]

Last month, we reported on a deal that brought together one of the largest multi-family offices and a Portland-based investment consulting firm.  Being based here in Portland, Oregon we were naturally interested in the deal and now RIAbiz offers a more detailed look at how the acquisition fits into BMO Group’s Harris MyCFO business and [...]

There is a new family office focused on serving physicians exclusively, the Physicians Family Office. Here’s more on this new family office from a press release: The average investor has to work smarter and harder by working longer hours and, according to Business Wire, 50% of the population must postpone retirement. Wealthy, successful people who [...]

I was able to serve as Opening Day Chairman of GAIM International last year, one of the largest hedge fund and family office conferences in the world.  Now, ahead of GAIM International this June in Monaco, Neal Berger, President, Eagle’s View Asset Management, takes some time to talk on challenges facing investors, where he sees oppportunities and how [...]

Press release: Northern Trust Adds London-Based Managing Director to Build Global Family Office Team Northern Trust selected Daniel F. Lindley to fill the role of Managing Director, Global Family & Private Investment Offices Group — EMEA and APAC. In his new role, Lindley will manage the expansion of Northern Trust’s business with family and private investment [...]

Family offices are seeking a benefit from hedge funds and private equity funds that was once almost exclusively reserved for institutional investors: lower fees.  According to a recent family office panel, fees are becoming an ever-important issue for family offices who have sought to attain higher returns through investing in multiple managers (and thus incurring [...]

One of the valuable services that family offices provide their clients with is financial education and wealth management strategies.  Pathstone, a U.S.-based multi-family office, has taken this service a step further with Path2Responsibility.  Path2Responsibility is a program developed by Pathstone that boosts young next-generations’ knowledge of finance and leadership. Path2Responsibility will target children as young as [...]

A book co-authored by a family office manager recently debuted; The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom is a book written by Carol Pepper and Camilla Webster.  Carol Pepper is an award winning high net worth wealth manager and founder of Pepper International: a family office for families with $100 million and more.  It is becoming increasingly common for [...]

oXYGen Financial Adds Three Financial Professionals to Grow Family Office The following is a press release on a family office in Atlanta, oXYGen Financial Family Office Three new experienced financial advisors Alex Watson, Sara Watson, and Thomas Kettering join the oXYGen Financial team ATLANTA, GA (MMD Newswire) April 25, 2012 — Atlanta based oXYGen Financial, [...]

I just read a great interview on Business Insider with a former trader who made her way through the financial world, climbing from a floor trader to a family office manager in an impressive career.  This story highlights the unique career path that many family office managers take.  Some family office managers come from accounting, [...]

I read an interesting story today on the issues that “new money” families face in managing and maintaining their wealth.  The article in Barron’s highlights one family office that actually specializes in first generation wealth creators, or families that are newly wealthy as opposed to the more conventional idea of a family office client as [...]

Wealthy families who can trace their prominent heritage back centuries in Europe are increasingly looking to move their assets to Singapore.  To do this, very affluent European families like the Spinola family of Genoa are launching family offices in Asia, specifically Singapore.  Even before taking the final step of forming a family office to manage [...]

I’ve written on this several times, but here’s a great article about how family offices are increasingly attracting top talent to work for them instead of traditional Wall Street jobs.   More and more, family offices are succeeding in persuading talented financial professionals to leave hedge fund or investment banking careers and work for a [...]

I was recently in Singapore delivering a speech on how private equity firms can effectively raise capital from family offices. Too often, private equity firms and hedge funds will treat family offices just like any other investor without taking into consideration the unique investing preferences and concerns of family offices. In the following 30 minute [...]

Hedge fund manager and financial heavyweight George Soros made headlines last year when he decided to convert his hedge fund into a family office, only managing money for close friends and family.  Now, another Soros, George’s son Jonathan Soros, is looking to launch a family office.  Jonathan Soros worked at Soros Fund Management for almost [...]

A recent story by Bloomberg caught our eye, as it is based on the Family Office Database produced by the Family Offices Group.  Bloomberg used that data to create a ranking of family offices, ultimately concluding with the top 50 family offices by assets under management.  If you’d like to see how Bloomberg came to [...]

Join 800 Attendees in Monaco 18-20 June | 15% Discount  The GAIM International Monaco Conference is the largest and longest running hedge fund event in Europe and I have secured an exclusive discount to attend this event.  I was able to attend last year’s GAIM International conference and I found it to be a great opportunity [...]

Richard Wilson Capital Partners now Offers a Dedicated Family Office Capital Raising Team to Institutional-Quality Fund Managers Portland, OR March 19th, 2012 — Third party marketing firm, Richard Wilson Capital Partners, now provides institutional-quality investment funds with capital raising services exclusively targeting family office investors.  Richard Wilson, founder and chief executive officer, has nearly ten [...]

Japan Hedge Fund Event Capturing Market Opportunities While Suppressing Portfolio Volatility If you are looking to attend a hedge fund conference in Japan, the 6th-annual Hedge Fund Investments Japan Congress is a chance to hear from top fund managers and institutional investors.  I had the opportunity to speak at this event last year and it [...]

The family office industry has gone through a lot of changes since its earliest forms hundreds of years ago. Today, the family office industry is growing to manage billions of dollars and spans across the globe. In the following video recorded in Switzerland, Richard C. Wilson describes how family offices have evolved over generations to [...]

Question: What are some family office best practices? Answer: It can be difficult to find high-quality information on growing and managing a family office, partly because the family office industry is still growing and also because of the relative exclusivity associated with family offices.  Fortunately, we have compiled the largest collection of free family office resources [...]

Question:  Do you have any family office marketing advice? Answer: Yes, we have already created resources on family office marketing that we are sharing here.  Additionally, we are working on creating more free family office marketing articles, tools and videos so that multi-family offices can more effectively target family office client prospects and grow assets [...]

In the following video recorded in Liechtenstein, Richard Wilson discusses family office operations.  In this video, Richard covers the three typical family office business models: outsource model; expert generalist model; and the institutional model. Video Transcript/Summary: The strategies and tips provided within this video module include: Coming soon. I hope this video has provided you with [...]

In the following video recorded live in Zurich Switzerland, Richard Wilson discusses the global differences  in family office wealth management.  Richard has spoken at industry events around the world and discussed family office wealth management with managers around the world. Video Transcript/Summary: The strategies and tips provided within this video module include: Coming soon. I hope [...]

Question: How can I start a family office? Answer:  It is not easy to start a family office, and even more difficult than other investment and business vehicles, given the relative lack of information available on the family office industry.  If would like to learn how to start a family office, you should watch the [...]

Investing in hedge funds is very different from investing in traditional investments like stocks or mutual funds. In the following video, I point out five warning signs that hedge fund investors should look out for while investing in hedge funds. This should not be considered financial advice, rather it is a few red flags that [...]

Managing and Building Wealth Through Effective Financial Management, Oversight, and Making Informed Investment Decisions Pepperdine’s Certificate in Financial Management for the Family Office in partnership with Lido Consulting The Certificate in Financial Management for the Family Office is a two and a-half day curriculum-based training program developed by Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and [...]

Based on our work consulting with fund managers and family offices, we’ve become pretty good at identifying signs that a fund manager is not investing in the business.  The following video recorded by Richard Wilson in Nice, France is a quick introduction showing you the warning signs to identify whether your hedge fund manager is [...]

Whether you are a wealth management firm converting to a family office or you are starting a multi family office or you are a current multi family office looking to grow your assets, this video will be very helpful to you. In the following video, I provide you with six tips on growing your multi [...]

In the following video, I explain what types of investors that hedge funds pursue, why they target these investors, how that changes as a hedge fund’s assets under management increases and why it is important that you understand this concept if you are in the hedge fund industry, looking to raise capital or starting a [...]

Video Summary:  In the following video, Richard discusses the Satellite Core investing model, one that he outlines in his upcoming book on family offices, The Family Office Book.  Satellite Investing Model looks like and why it is used by many types of institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, and family office wealth management firms. This [...]