The story of multi family offices

History of multi-family offices

The family office concept stems back to the 6th century, where a “major-domo” was appointed to manage the affairs and wealth of the royal family; these services were later extended further to the upper nobility. In 1838, the family of J.P. Morgan founded the House of Morgan to manage the family’s assets and as a result developed the modern concept and understanding of family offices.

With the increase in number of wealthy families and development of the financial markets, the need for experience and expertise in wealth management grew. As a result, owners of single-family offices decided to offer their services to other families, resulting in the creation of multi-family offices.

Family office services

Family offices provide a range of services to help families manage their wealth and financial affairs. This often includes wealth advisory support, structuring, estate planning, legal and tax, philanthropy and family governance services. Family offices often assist in the management of wealth across multiple generations and guide the families on inter-generational wealth transfers.

Luxembourg – an important centre for international family offices

In 2012 Luxembourg became the first European jurisdiction to implement a specific legal regime for multi-family office activity. Luxembourg stands at the forefront of this specific niche market by offering a legal and regulatory framework for multi-family offices. Only authorised professionals are eligible to manage such offices, and are subject to the supervision of the Luxembourg financial services regulator, the CSSF. This framework not only gives clarity regarding the activities and professional services carried out by family offices, but also provides an attractive and competitive edge through Luxembourg’s position as a major European financial services hub.

The benefits of multi-family offices

By acting as a central focus for each family’s activities, a family office helps support the family’s wealth planning needs, and serves as the co-ordinating point for information and advice on all family financial and planning needs. At the heart of the family office is a trusted relationship with each family, built upon independence and objectivity, and which provides privacy and better meets the family’s needs through an in-depth and holistic view of all the family’s affairs. The family office provides a dedicated team of professionals who focus on the long term family goals, and also co-ordinate the wider family needs through being the central contact point with all of the family’s professional service providers. Family offices also help reduce costs compared with a single family office.

Why Verona MFO?

Many firms describing themselves as “multi-family offices” focus on investment management solutions, and not on the wider holistic family needs. Such firms may have some knowledge of family matters, but generally lack the in-depth expertise that focuses on the full family life cycle, with its frequently-complex inter-generational issues and plans.

At Verona Multi Family Office, we are different. We pride ourselves in our independence, and we do not offer investment management services. From the outset, our focus is on our client and their families, and on finding the best long-term solutions to meet their rational and emotional wealth planning needs.  We understand the important drivers for families, and how to take them into account in developing and helping implement long term plans.

We build trust and involve our clients through every step, providing present and future generations with the information and tools needed to make decisions in successfully planning, preserving, and growing their wealth while managing the associated risks across multiple jurisdictions and generations.

We work closely with our expert colleagues elsewhere in Verona, and our carefully selected world-class partners to provide the very best tailored solutions for our clients.

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