How Billion Dollar Family Offices Serve Wealthy Families

At a Family Office Club Super Summit panel, Richard C. Wilson asks four multifamily office leaders and a family office CIO about their work with wealthy families.

Richard C. Wilson frames the panel for people seeking relationships with billion-dollar-plus multifamily offices. The guests describe how their firms serve families, how their teams spend time, and how prospective clients engage them. The discussion also covers what families can examine when choosing an adviser, how trust develops, and how family offices approach direct investments and diversification.

In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Panel moderator and event host), Jonathan Bergman (President of TAG Associates), Julie Nitel (Partner with We Family Offices), Pierre (Partner and family office practice leader), Paul (Co-founder of Twin Focus Capital), Candace (Chief investment officer of Al Investments and chairman of Salsano Group)

What they said

1. Julie on family office work. Julie says investment activity is the economic foundation for each family. She adds that tax treatment and wealth transfer documents can affect risk around the portfolio. (at 11:41)
2. Jonathan on client timing. Jonathan says one client joined after years of conversations, while another prospect sold a business and signed soon after for a nine figure account. He says need and urgency can shape when a family acts. (at 15:50)
3. Paul on reviewing work product. Paul says prospective clients should ask to see the memos and work product delivered to clients. He says clients often bring legacy investments, so an adviser cannot fairly claim those managers' track records as the adviser's own. (at 19:59)
4. Candace on co-investment relationships. Candace says her family office knew other billionaire families for years before co-investing with them. (at 23:36)
5. Candace on aligned interests. Candace says her family office co-invests with families it trusts and is happy for them to lead when interests align. (at 35:41)
6. Jonathan on private investment outlook. Jonathan says he wants his risk assets to move toward private investments, co-investments and direct deals. He describes this as his view of reducing exposure to financial market risk. (at 38:00)

In their words

"the types of families we work with, they've accumulated enough family wealth, enough family capital"

"I will never introduce a private direct investment to a client."

Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth

Julie describes a client whose spending rate put liquid assets on track to run out in about a decade. In her view, that made the family's spending pattern a risk to address alongside its investment portfolio.