Family office
A family office is a private firm set up to manage the wealth of a single wealthy family, or in some cases a small group of families, handling everything from investment management to estate planning, tax strategy, and sometimes even personal matters like real estate and philanthropy. It functions like a dedicated investment firm, except its only client is the family that owns it.
Family offices exist because very wealthy families often have needs that don't fit neatly into what a traditional wealth manager or private bank offers. A single family office serves one family exclusively and can be built around whatever that family's specific businesses, tax situation, or investment philosophy require. A multi-family office offers similar services to several wealthy families at once, giving each family access to resources similar to a large institutional investor's, without the cost of running an entire operation on its own.
Family offices have become a significant force in markets, particularly in , , and direct investments in private companies, where their patient capital and lack of outside investors let them take positions with a longer time horizon than a typical fund. Because family offices are privately held and face lighter disclosure requirements than public investment firms, their exact size and activity are harder to track than a or 's, even though collectively they manage trillions of dollars in wealth.