Choosing Advisers for a Family Office
Richard C. Wilson introduces service providers in part five of his series on starting a family office.
Richard C. Wilson discusses people and firms that can support a virtual or single family office. He covers providers for asset protection, planning and direct investments.
In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Presenter of the family office series)
What they said
- Richard on property-specific insurance. Richard C. Wilson describes a motel owner who requested an air pollution rider for a property. The rider covered an incident excluded from the standard policy.
- Richard on accounting and planning. Richard C. Wilson distinguishes a CPA who reports how much a family owes from one who helps with proactive tax planning. He says asset reporting software providers may price based on complexity and wealth.
- Richard on strategic legal support. Richard C. Wilson says an attorney should help negotiate deal terms, including when equity vests and when it can be bought back. He names anti-dilution and drag-along rights as protections to consider when buying company shares.
- Richard on wealth advisers. Richard C. Wilson says families may need to upgrade their wealth adviser as their circumstances change. He says an adviser serving the broader public may not be accustomed to working with ultra-wealthy families.
- Richard on direct investment advice. Richard C. Wilson says public market advisers may not have expertise in real estate or operating businesses. He describes families making scattered direct investments without guidance or oversight.
In their words
"You only need to become ultra wealthy once if you have the proper defensive strategies in place."
"the strength of any organization is the team"
Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth
A property review can flag pools, hot tubs, trampolines, ziplines and backyard swings for an insurance agent to check against the coverage.
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Anu Aga: Focus on one main cause. Her family found its giving more satisfying and impactful once it chose primary education for the underprivileged in India.
- Binod K. Chaudhary: Never chase a deal out of desperation. Stay cool and look at every part of the deal. Have your advisers and your finance team review it critically. Your counsel should review it too.
- Larry Connor: Learn from every mistake. Larry's team owns its failures and makes no excuses. They learn, change quickly, and keep getting better.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
How many full-time professionals might a family office have?
Richard says a virtual office might use a part-time CIO or CFO, or one to three full-time professionals. A full-fledged single family office often has four to six full-time professionals, or more.
Can family office employees work inside a business?
Yes. Richard says some employees may sit within a holding company or an operating business, such as a manufacturing company.
Should a provider work only for one family?
Richard favors finding the best resource rather than the cheapest provider or one who works only for that family. He says providers serving multiple clients can learn and cross-pollinate between them.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.