Choosing the Right Multi-Family Office: 5 Criteria for Families of Significant Wealth

High-net-worth families have a lot at stake when it comes to their finances. This makes selecting the right family office to manage, grow, and protect their wealth an important decision. 

There are several types of family offices. Two of the most common are a single-family office, which manages wealth and investments for one family, and a multi-family office, which serves a group of families. 

While single-family offices are typically structured for the most ultra-wealthy families, multi-family offices offer high-net-worth families access to institutional-quality expertise, a broad suite of integrated services, and a highly efficient model that combines personalization with the advantages of scale.

Wondering how to choose the right multi-family office? In this guide, we will cover five important criteria to consider:

• Scope of Services
• Expertise & Track Record
• Investment Approach
• Family Governance & Education
• Cultural Fit & Discretion

Deciding If a Multi-Family Office is Right for You

As families grow their wealth, their finances tend to become more complex, as can their family dynamics and long-term goals. If your high-net-worth family is seeking a combination of holistic support, customized approaches, and tailored expertise, then you should consider a multi-family office. 

The right multi-family office will ensure your family’s assets are well-invested and properly protected no matter how sophisticated your finances. These services typically include investment management, financial planning, tax advisory, philanthropic planning, and more.

Benefits of working with a multi-family office include:

• Lower costs compared to single-family offices
• A close-knit team of vetted specialists
• Access to strategies used by other high-net-worth families
• A broader range of services due to serving multiple families

Because each family’s needs are unique, it’s important to choose a multi-family office that shares your family’s vision and values, and offers services that align with your needs and goals. 

The 5 Criteria for Choosing the Right Multi-Family Office

1. Scope of Services
The types of services offered by a multi-family office can vary. You’ll want to make sure the multi-family office you select can provide the full range of services necessary to meet your family’s needs. For instance, if charitable giving is a priority for your family, philanthropic planning may be essential when evaluating your options.

Services commonly offered by multi-family offices include:

• Financial planning and investing
• Accounting and reporting
• Insurance analysis and management
• Family governance and education
• Tax advisory and regulatory compliance
• Estate and succession planning
• Philanthropic advisory
• Lifestyle/concierge services

2. Professional Experience & Expertise
Trust is a nonnegotiable when selecting a multi-family office. The firm you choose needs to have the depth of talent and experience necessary to help your family achieve its long-term goals, and ideally, the track record to prove it. Look for firms that have experience working with families with wealth comparable to yours. If you do not feel confident in the professionals managing your assets, you have created more problems than you’ve solved.

3. Investment Approach
To best protect your assets, your multi-family office should have True Fiduciary Standards. This means they are responsible for acting in your family’s best interests at all times and have no conflicts of interest. Beyond that, because each family’s financial goals are unique, investment approaches will vary. However, the financial planning strategies and investment portfolios your firm provides should align with your family’s short-term and long-term goals and the level of control you want to have over how and where investments are made.

4. Family Governance & Education
Two crucial but sometimes overlooked aspects of wealth management for high-net-worth families are family governance and education. Together, they help ensure that your family wealth is preserved across generations, and that your family members are educated about financial literacy and wealth management. Education also helps prepare the rising generation for wealth transfer and the responsibilities that come with it.

The right multi-family office will help establish these structures by guiding your family in creating a shared mission statement or set of values. Once these guiding principles have been established, a multi-family office can facilitate their implementation and support family decision-making along the way.

5. Cultural Fit & Discretion
Just as no two families are exactly alike, neither are multi-family offices, so finding the right fit is a top priority. What matters to your family should also matter to your firm. This includes being aligned in terms of values, privacy, structure, communication, and transparency.

Why the Right Choice Matters

Selecting a multi-family office is one of the most important decisions for preserving and growing your family’s wealth. The right choice will bring clarity, confidence, and continuity to your financial and personal goals.

At Cresset, we serve as your dedicated team, providing you with long-term financial planning and solutions to your lifestyle needs, from complex wealth planning to the more nuanced work of supporting your family’s overarching goals and values.

To determine if our multi-family office is right for you, request an introduction with one of our founders today. Together, we can explore how our tailored approach can meet your family’s unique needs, goals, and vision for the future.