The Family Office Organisation, based in Sark, Channel Islands has
just released the 3rd Edition of "The 3300 Global Family Office
Database 2008", with 1800 entries from the USA and 1240 from Europe
with full contact details. The majority of Family Offices listed will
have assets-under-management exceeding US$100m - US$100bn each. These
extensively researched reports provide valuable details of the
investment vehicles of the word´s richest families: names of Chief
Investment Officers, full postal addresses, email contacts and much
more.
A Family Office is a small, intimate, centralised office of the
"creme de la creme" in-house investment management team that manages
and administers Family Investments, Family Trusts, Legal & Complex Tax
Issues and the Family Foundation. The Family Office will also
administer Family Members´ domestic bill payments, arrangement of
travel / private yacht / private aircraft and the purchase of luxury
items like fine art and the acquisition of private residences etc. One
would expect to see at least three - five family members sitting on
the board of a single Family Office.
The goal of the world´s ultra-rich families in establishing a
Family Office is to ensure that their wealth is preserved for future
generations of that family. The annual cost to manage a Family Office
can exceed US$2m. However, assets - under-management would normally
exceed US$500m and well into the US$Billions.
Family Offices started to evolve in the late 1800s - early 1900s
on the sale of major family businesses during the industrial
revolution. Instead of dividing the proceeds to the family siblings at
that time, where the wealth would erode rapidly, early industrialists
like the Rockefeller and Carnegie Families - to name but a few - were
shrewd enough to think further ahead. European aristocratic families
had similar set-ups, called Estate Offices; many are still in
existence to this day. However at that time, as now, most European
families were predominately major land owners.
Family Offices do not invest in the kind of retail financial
products one finds on the High-Street. Like financial institutions
they invest in "High-Risk / High Return" investments and tend to
retain a mixed portfolio of investments, primarily in alternative
investments such as Hedge Funds, Private Equity, Bonds, Equities
Commodities (such as gold), Futures & Options and Currency Trading to
justify a higher rate of return. Real estate investments and
shareholdings will of course remain a key part of their portfolio.
Since 1989, The Family Office Organisation has researched the
world´s ultra-rich families in depth. Since 2005, this research has
been more keenly focused on Family Offices for the benefit of
financial institutions and fund managers across the globe. More
information can be found on the Family Office Organisation website
