The family office

Managing the family wealth

A family office can have many functions and may take various forms. The main aims are typically to centralise management, administration, governance and philanthropy.

Taking the long view, it will play a key role in succession planning and financial education across generations. Family offices deploy patient capital, often into private businesses, and deal with specific tax and reporting issues.

The single-family office

We support single family offices, that have their own professional staff, technology platforms and facilities, with a range of outsourced services.

The exact scope of our work can be precisely tailored to meet the family’s requirements and examples include:

1. For a family office that centralises the management of investments we provide tax advice; tax compliance; administer companies, partnerships and trusts; provide accounting support; and investment reporting.

2. For a family office that provides personal and concierge services we process domestic payrolls; provide accounting support and tax advice in connection with luxury assets; and process payments.

3. For a family office that supports family governance we create a compliance diary; ensure the reporting and filing obligations for all entities are tracked; correspond with Companies House, HMRC, Charity Commission, Trust Registration Service and Financial Conduct Authority.

4. For a family office that provides business, financial and investment education as part of the succession planning we work closely with younger generations providing support and mentoring, as well as acting as a repository of knowledge and information about the family’s business history.

5. For a family office that coordinates philanthropy we can help to register a family foundation; administer the charity’s meetings and implement policies to ensure the highest standards of governance; manage gift aid; and advise on the tax implications.

Multi-family offices and outsourced family office services

Many families do not need a dedicated family office and either work with a multi-family office, which supports several families using the same personnel and infrastructure, or they work directly with us as an outsourced provider.

Whether we are working alongside a multi-family office, or in an outsourced capacity, the services can be carefully tailored to suit the circumstances. By partnering in this way, we can provide specialist technical advice, without the overhead of creating, or expanding, an in-house team.

Collaboration and technology

We know that looking after a successful family is a team effort and we work closely with legal advisors, wealth managers, independent financial advisors, surveyors and property managers, as well as our clients’ in-house staff, their agents, managers and other intermediaries.

Although family offices sound like very traditional institutions, we understand the competitive landscape and the need to operate efficiently, make the best use of resources and take advantage of the most recent technologies. It is vital to the longevity and inter-generational attraction of the family office structure.

“Our forward looking and proactive approach sets us apart from other firms.”

Alex Parker

Partner at Lewis Golden