Setting up a family office is never an easy undertaking and can present numerous challenges for anyone seeking to steward assets for future generations or meet the complex needs of extended family members. This Special Report provides a practical guide to the main factors to consider when setting up a family office and helps families and their advisers navigate a path through the wide range of family office models in use today.

In addition to a brief history of family offices and their evolution, the report covers how families can be encouraged to spend quality time thinking about their needs and aspirations – as well as their relationship to the family wealth – and explores how advisers can work alongside families most effectively. Written in an engaging, accessible style Setting Up a Family Office looks at who can benefit most from a family office and walks the reader through each key step in the process, including:

• how to hire;
• where to locate;
• what structure to use;
• how to ensure privacy and loyalty; and
• the evolution of the office and the family.  

This report makes essential reading for anyone considering setting up a family office including advisers working alongside families on these key issues.

Authors Barbara Hauser and Keith Drewery have decades of practical experience working with family offices, in all stages, and in many countries.