What is a family office?
A family office is an entity that supports the financial and nonfinancial needs of a specific family or group of families. It typically offers services in at least eight or nine categories including integrated tax planning, investment strategy and implementations, risk management, lifestyle management, recordkeeping and sophisticated reporting, family continuity, and philanthropic planning.
Are there different types of family offices?
Yes—there are two main types of family offices:
- Single-Family Office (SFO)—set up to serve the needs of an individual family. Research by the Family Office Exchange (FOX) indicates that in most cases, it makes financial sense for a family to start and staff their own family office only if they have liquid wealth in excess of $100 million.
- Multifamily Office (MFO)—which serves the needs of more than one family, combining resources and sharing costs for efficiency.
How does Harris myCFO differ from other wealth management firms?
While there is no shortage of wealth management firms, each offering a varied menu of specialized skill and expertise, what sets Harris myCFO apart is the degree to which we commit ourselves exclusively to your best interests, and then marshal our full capabilities toward that end. We view wealth management in terms of building a close, caring relationship rather than just delivering products and services. By working collaboratively—tax planners talking to investment advisors, philanthropic consultants conferring with family educators—we can provide you with the best possible ideas.
At what point does it make sense to use a family office?
Wealthy families create a family office for many reasons. Sometimes a liquidity event such as the sale of a family-owned business triggers the need to manage complex intergenerational issues. Other goals include:
- Having one centralized source of information for all the family’s financial matters
- Pooling purchasing power across a family group
- Having a dedicated team of professionals who address family goals in a confidential manner
- Ensuring continuity from generation to generation on issues of family heritage, family trusts, family values and family philanthropy
- Having access to professional advisors who can educate family members about the responsibilities of wealth
What are the benefits of having a family office?
A family office offers business owners and multigenerational families a broad array of services coupled with the highest levels of personalized attention and strategic advice.
This comprehensive approach will also integrate specialized services for a family well beyond what is offered by traditional wealth management firms. For example, a family office may set up complex legal structures such as family investment partnerships to hold assets and create tax-advantaged transfers of wealth to future generations.
A family office will approach your financial situation as a single, integrated whole. It will look across all financial disciplines to optimize core areas of spending and wealth distribution. And it will establish a clear, single-minded strategic vision across all advisors, both within and outside the family office.
What are the benefits of using a multifamily office?
-
Cost savings: A single-family office must compete in the marketplace against large firms to attract and retain the top talent, which can be expensive and time-consuming. A multifamily office can spread this cost among several clients.
-
Family dynamics: A multifamily office may help you avoid sensitive issues of family dynamics that can arise when one family member heads the family office. It can also provide much-needed objectivity and a respected third-party viewpoint in these instances.
-
Continuity: The team structure of a multifamily office can provide continuity if a particular manager or advisor leaves the family office.
-
Leading-edge technology: Multifamily offices spend considerable resources each year on leading-edge software, business continuity protection and data security. They also may be able to offer more sophisticated reporting and security solutions.
-
Bench strength: A multifamily office may also increase your bench strength of available talent. The fact that these firms serve many families increases the likelihood that there will be a number of experts to draw upon for highly specialized issues that your family may face.
|
Will I lose control by outsourcing our family office services?
You may find that outsourcing your family office gives you even greater control. Rather than having to spend time overseeing the family office, Harris myCFO gives you more time to focus on other priorities in your life. Multifamily offices are also likely to have detailed security processes in place—regulatory audits, financial audits, procedural audits, managerial risk assessments and more—to protect your interests and provide you with complete oversight of your accounts. And as your needs change, you have more flexibility to quickly add, eliminate or modify services than you would as the sole client of a single-family office.
What about the advisors I have now; how do they fit into the picture?
Unlike other firms, Harris myCFO can integrate your current advisors—along with leading third-party professionals and our own internal specialists—and work together as one unified team. This approach gives you the opportunity to choose best-of-class providers for every aspect of your wealth management strategy.
Who are some of your clients? What are some of the challenges they face?
Many of America’s wealthiest families rely on Harris myCFO for their wealth management success. They come to us for a number of reasons. Often, they have experienced or are anticipating a significant liquidity event, such as:
- Entrepreneurial success
- Sale of a business
- Inheritance
- Exercising of stock options
Some clients already have a family office and turn to Harris myCFO to enhance certain functions or add new capabilities. Others are thinking about establishing their own family office and realize that hiring and managing a single-family office can be a long, expensive and complicated process. Either way, wealthy individuals and families realize they have to diversify their investments, plan even better for tax purposes and manage increasingly complex intergenerational financial issues. Harris myCFO offers them an efficient approach.
How is Harris myCFO compensated?
Our experienced advisors provide objective, unbiased advice and support through a fee-only service. We are not compensated for selling products, nor do we accept referral fees. Our compensation is solely fee-based and transparent, strengthening our ability to serve as advocates for our clients with total objectivity. Additionally, our fees are clearly detailed in each service agreement.
Harris myCFO has a completely transparent fee structure based on aligning our interests with yours and building a long-term relationship. There are no hidden costs, and our performance is judged solely on our ability to deliver results.
Does Harris myCFO have the resources to support my family for the long term?
Harris myCFO is part of BMO Financial Group, one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America, with more than $348.1 billion in assets under management and over 37,000 employees worldwide1. Our position within the BMO family affords our clients the best of both worlds: the personal and nimble approach of a boutique wealth management firm backed by the extensive global resources and capabilities of a major financial institution.
What services are provided by Harris myCFO?
The depth and breadth of services at Harris myCFO sets us apart from other firms. We offer in-house expertise in all key areas of wealth management, including: Tax Planning and Compliance; Investment Advisory Services; Estate and Trust Services; Risk Management and Insurance; Philanthropy; and Expense Management and Financial Reporting. Our Investment Advisory Services include investment analysis, asset allocation, manager selection, asset placement, plan monitoring and resource provider management.
We also partner with many specialists within BMO Financial Group, and invite other top-tier third-party providers to complement our in-house expertise.
1 As of 4/30/2009
