Below are the highlights of the webinar:
A family office can be either a simple investment structure that holds and protects wealth or a fully developed platform that includes employees and provides strategic, operational, and administrative support to the family.
A family office aims to preserve family unity, create operational efficiency and peace of mind, support succession planning, oversee investments while optimizing costs, and provide personalized concierge services.
Different types of family offices include:
Single Family Office (SFO): Fully dedicated structure with in-house team, typically viable for families with over $150 million in liquid assets.
Virtual Family Office (VFO): A leaner, more agile setup with outsourced services and minimal in-house staff, accessible starting around $25–50 million.
Family Service Office: Focused on non-investment matters like education, travel, healthcare, and conflict resolution. Sometimes separated from the investment arm.
Setting up a family office is worth considering after a significant liquidity event, when the next generation becomes actively involved, or when existing wealth management approaches become inefficient or overly complex.
Common triggers for establishing a family office include the desire for professional investment oversight, concerns about cost transparency and access to a wider range of asset classes, and the need for greater structure and control over family governance.
A trusted advisor plays a central role in aligning strategy, structure, service providers, and family needs, guiding the family through complex multidisciplinary decisions without bias, and ensuring the setup reflects their goals rather than the interests of any single firm.
In the GCC, younger wealth owners increasingly prefer outsourcing and flexibility over managing large teams internally. Older generations may value control and long-standing relationships with banks but could benefit from delegation and oversight.
Watch the full webinar for deeper insights into how a family office can be structured around your specific needs.