How a family office functions

1. Family offices are wealth management advisory firms that serve ultra-high net worth investors and provide a complete financial advice and solutions.

2. Family offices provide legal, insurance, investment, estate, business, tax, lifestyle and even philanthropy related advice to clients.

3. Family offices are either a single family office run by a family member or an appointed CFO who looks after one family’s wealth or multi-family offices run by professionals who serve more than one family.


4. It is important that the objective of the family office is defined clearly and resonates with the entire family for it to function smoothly.

5. Typically, the decisions of the family office are approved in a family council before execution and this process is followed to ensure trust and transparency.

(The content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.)