The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra–Affluent

Praise for The Family Office Book

"Packed with information about what high–net–worth individuals want, need, and get from professional money managers. Richard Wilson pulls back the curtain on the almost mystical world of the super–wealthy. For investors who want to learn what the rich expect from the stewards of their money and for anyone interested in getting into the family office business. Expert interviews serve up details about what makes the family office an important element of the global investment community and what the future family office will look like."
Pimm Fox, Bloomberg TV and radio anchor, Taking Stock with Pimm Fox

"Richard Wilson works with family offices and ultra–wealthy clients on a day–to–day basis. The Family Office Book provides a unique perspective into exactly how those with $20M, $100M, or $1B are using family office wealth management vehicles to manage their capital."
Russ Alan Prince, President, Prince & Associates, Inc.

"The Family Office Book is unique as the most comprehensive study of the family office world. It provides important perspective to families, family office management, and clients of family offices. A must–read."
Charles B. Grace Jr., Director, Threshold Group; founder, Ashbridge Investment Management; and grandson of the former president of Bethlehem Steel Company

"Anyone who wants to be in the family office space needs to read this book. It has countless bits of valuable advice. It will be required reading for everyone that joins my family office team."
Noah B. Rosenfarb, CPA, ABV, PFS , Managing Director, Freedom Wealth Advisors

"The Family Office Book is one of the few books covering the subject matter with a global scope. The real–life interviews with leading family offices from all over the world are amazing and a terrific testament to the superb network Richard has within this taciturn industry. The book is a treasure chest of insight and a one–of–a–kind resource for anybody who is regularly working together with family offices or high–net–worth individuals in general anywhere in the world."
Michael Hartmann, Esq., LLM, private banking lawyer

Introduction xi

PART ONE Family Office Fundamentals 1

CHAPTER 1 The Family Office Industry 3

What Is a Family Office? 3

The Family Office Universe 5

The History of Family Offices 6

State of the Family Office Industry 9

Who Uses a Single or Multi–Family Office? 10

Why Family Offices? 12

More Money, More Problems 13

Family Office Industry Conferences 13

Conclusion 14

CHAPTER 2 Family Office Services 15

Ultra–Affluent Clients Have Different Needs 15

Family Office Services 17

Additional Benefits and Life Management Services as a Competitive Advantage 17

Single versus Multi–Family Office Services 19

Differences in Global Family Office Service Offerings 20

Conclusion 21

CHAPTER 3 Family Office Operations 23

Outsourced Model 23

Family Office Team Members 25

Family Office Investment Committees 27

Board of Advisors 27

Family Office Governance 27

Individual Family Governance 28

From CPA to Family Office CEO 29

Family Office Service Providers 31

Developing a Well–Oiled Family Office Machine 32

Implementing Processes, Procedures, and Systems in Your Family Office 32

Conclusion 32

CHAPTER 4 The Ultra–Affluent s Guide to Selecting a Family Office 33

Starting a Single Family Office versus Joining a Multi–Family Office 33

Objective Family Office Selection Advice 34

What Do You Want? 34

Character Judgments 35

Seven Critical Family Office Questions to Ask 36

Family Office Veteran Quotes on How to Select a Family Office 37

Family Office One–Pager Evaluation Form 42

Conclusion 42

CHAPTER 5 Family Office Marketing 45

Your Client Avatar 46

Crystal Clear Edge 47

Brian Tracy Interview Excerpt on Capital Raising 48

Capital Raising Trifecta 49

Capital Raising Funnel 50

Storytelling 54

Persuasive Writing (Copywriting) 58

Brian Hughes Interview on Family Office Business Development 60

Conclusion 68

PART TWO Family Office Veteran Interviews 71

CHAPTER 6 Single Family Office Interviews 73

Family Office Interview with Michael Connor of Consolidated Investment Group 74

Family Office Interview with Elizabeth Hammack of CM Capital Corporation 88

Family Office Interview with Frank Casey 101

Family Office Interview with John Grzymala 116

Family Office Interview with Matthew Andrade, Director of Investment Analysis at Kinnear Financial 122

Family Office Interview with Angelo Robles, President of the Family Office Association 131

Conclusion 146

CHAPTER 7 Multi–Family Offices Interview Transcripts 147

Family Office Interview with Charles Grace of Threshold Group 147

Family Office Interview with Lukas Doerig of Marcuard Family Office 159

Family Office Interview with Jeff Colin, Founder of Baker Street Advisors 171

Family Office Interview with Thomas Melcher of Hawthorne Multi–Family Office 187

Family Office Interview with Greg Kushner, Founder of Lido Advisors 200

Family Office Interview with Bob Benson, Chief Investment Officer of Laird Norton Tyee 217

Conclusion 229

PART THREE Family Office Mechanics 231

CHAPTER 8 Family Office Investments 233

Traditional Investments 234

Alternative Investments 234

Venture Capital and Angel Investor Investments 235

Infrastructure Investments 236

Hard Asset Investments 236

Family Office Investment Process 237

Three Family Office Portfolio Construction Models 239

The Operating Business Sandbox Model 239

The Diversified Institutional Model 241

The Hybrid Model 241

Family Office Investment Committees 242

Investment Committee Examples 243

Strategic versus Tactical Asset Allocation 247

Institutional Consulting Firms and Family Office Investing 250

Family Office Interview with David Thomas, CEO of Equitas Capital Advisors, LLC 251

Conclusion 262

CHAPTER 9 Fund Manager Selection and Deal Flow 263

The Six–Step Fund Manager Selection Process 264

Managed Account Trends 266

Fund Manager Preferences 267

Global Fund Manager Due Diligence 267

Family Office Partnerships with Fund Managers 271

Managing Deal Flow Overload 272

Objective Character Analysis 273

The 6 Cs of Character Analysis 274

Family Office Interview with Evan Cooperman of Artemis Wealth Advisors 278

Conclusion 290

CHAPTER 10 The Future of the Family Office Industry 291

There Is No Family Office Industry 291

Shifting Investment Criteria 295

Family Office Job Growth 295

Family Office Training 295

New Global Hot Spots 296

Four Global Drivers of Family Office Industry Growth 297

Conclusion 299

Conclusion 301

Appendix: Family Office Newsletter 303

About the Author 305

Qualified Family Office Training 309

Index 311

RICHARD C. WILSON works with single and multi–family offices and the ultra–wealthy on a daily basis. Richard′s team at the G.T.C. Institute, LLC operates the 40,000 member Family Offices Group association, a newsletter called Family Office Monthly, and the Qualified Family Office Professional (QFOP) training program. Richard also has a team that is laser–focused on connecting family offices to best–of–breed fund managers. Richard is a global speaker on family offices having spoken at and chaired more than 50 industry conferences and summits in Zurich, Monaco, Singapore, Moscow, New York, Liechtenstein, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, and the Cayman Islands.