Families and individuals having great wealth face increased complexities and day-to-day responsibilities for managing assets and potentially complicated financial affairs. In most cases, there is a vital need for professional management of finances to achieve a wealthy individual’s desired objectives.
Many wealthy individuals do not have the time to manage their broad range of resources. They are busy with business, philanthropic, and family commitments. Even individuals who successfully manage their financial affairs may have concerns about continuity of management in the event of their illness or death. It’s not unusual that others in the family don’t possess the specific skills to take over the spectrum of management responsibilities effectively. These are situations where a Family Office can prove to be an invaluable resource.
Tailoring Innovative Strategies & Service for Your Family
Each family’s circumstances and priorities are unique, so our family office advisors apply state-of-the-art business processes and concepts to tailor innovative strategies for managing each family’s particular resources, helping our clients meet both their overall needs and the family’s financial goals.
The Family Office must develop appropriate risk management processes to help steward the office through changing conditions as a long-term venture. These procedures need to encompass both operational level and strategic risk.
Family Office risks involve and can include:
- Personnel changes
- Changing market conditions
- Changing family priorities
- Changing investment strategy
A vital Private Family Office adapts to these changes and maintains an overall focus on stewardship.
Many Family Offices invest in real estate and private equity or make direct investments in operating companies. We have worked with Family Offices in these investment areas for years and understand the risks and the upside to each of these investment choices. Cendrowski Corporate Advisors provides a full range of services to support investments in these alternative structures.
Since we serve Family Offices, private equity funds, and real estate investors, we provide a single source of insight into trends and risks across industries and investment vehicles.
How Can CCA Advisors Improve Your Family Office’s Operations?
Conducting an Operational Review
The Operational Review is an assessment of family office operations to identify process strengths and opportunities for improvement. Internal controls are the foundation for trust and value.
The output is a detailed roadmap of recommendations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
Additionally, the family office receives verification that internal controls are in place and functioning.
Improving Operations and Communication
The extensive value created by the family office may go unrecognized without timely and effective communication. The electronic age has raised the bar for the speed and amount of information expected by family members, especially among subsequent generations.
Refining Governance Structures
Family office governance structures are essential to meet the long-term objectives of family continuity plans.
Creating a governance framework requires consensus on the allocation and use of resources, even though family members may have different expectations. Also, expectations shift as family members may expand geographically or in subsequent generations.
The governance plan is based on policies and procedures and reflects the family values upon which the family office operations are based.
Governance Overview
Governance Components
- Constitution and/or Misson Statement: A family constitution and/or mission statement can articulate the family's core values and help maintain focus on long term goals
- Board/Advisory Council: The responsible governing body can benefit from the strategic use of outside expertise and experience to broaden insights
- Succession Training: Involvement, training, structure, and guidance of future generations is critical for success, to instill a sense of stewardship rather than entitlement
- Governance Process: An efficient governance process supports efficient decision making and conflict resolution among family members and other parties
Governance Implementation
- Oversight and Structure
- Board roles and responsibilities
- Director and officer roles and responsibilities
- Board committees
- Family and business governance framework and structures
- Board Composition and Recruitment
- Board member independence
- Expertise and experience
- Board composition
- Recruitment channels and selection process
- Process and Operations
- Board policies, procedures and processes
- Board agenda, minutes, reporting, recordkeeping
- Communication with management and family members
- Board and committee performance evaluations
- Training and Development
- New director orientation
- Competency development
- Ongoing board training
- Board succession and continuity
CCA Advisors Family Office Advisory Services in Action
We were engaged by a family office to perform a client satisfaction assessment, and to identify the root causes of satisfaction issues. The family office had been receiving general complaints from their clients, the family members, and especially the younger generations, that the office did not provide them with significant value.
CCA Advisors Family Office Advisory Services in Action
We conducted confidential interviews with the staff and selected family members and identified common themes. Based on the information gathered from the interviews, and after consultation with the family office management, we developed a program to improve the speed and detail of financial reporting, increase assurance of confidentiality of information by category and by person, and to improve proactive communication with the family members.
Implementing Substantive Changes to the Close and Reporting Process
We supported the redesign initiative through the implementation of new procedures and systems. This project reduced the financial close and reporting process from over 40 days to under 5 days, which greatly helped improve the relationship between the family office and their clients.
Explore our managed services & expertise in:
Our Approach to Family Office Advisory
All of our client relationships start with a foundation of trust. Our Family Office advisors work with your family to determine what’s most important to you. With 35+ years working with high net worth families, we’re well-versed in implementing new plans, improving existing strategies, and supporting the Family Office structure.
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