Multi-Family Office

All around the world, ultra-wealthy families, are seeking the optimal way to professionally manage their assets. They do so aiming to not only preserve and grow their fortunes, but also to smoothen the transition to the next generation.

The term “Family Office” is directly linked with the above. It constitutes a central structure that is established by a family and covers everything related to the planning and execution of the management of its wealth. A Family Office -due to its complex structure- has high establishment and operating costs, that make it financially affordable only to ultra-high net worth families.

Thus a need arose for the establishment of Multi-Family Offices (MFOs). These are independent structures, specialized in offering Family Office services to multiple families, not necessarily related to each other. MFOs create economies of scale, allowing for cost-sharing while maintaining chinese walls among their clients and safeguarding the confidential and extremely sensitive nature of this service.

Iolcus, being an external portfolio manager with a successful past and in-depth knowledge of the investment process, operates a Multi-Family Office and has the role of the external Chief Investment Officer. It is the trusted advisor of each family, acting as an “extension” of the family’s vision and investment philosophy as they evolve over time.

Among the duties and goals of a successful Multi-Family Office are:

• The design of the Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation
• The selection, evaluation and monitoring of external portfolio managers and custodians
• The establishment of flexible structures in order for members of the same family, with different risk profiles, to be able to separate their financial assets and get tailor-made portfolio management
• The consolidation of portfolios into a unified view. When assets are in different custodians or countries, a consolidated view allows for better monitoring of the total investment risk
• The provision to its clients of the preferential rates that the MFO has agreed with its third-party providers (portfolio managers, custodians, tax and legal advisors)
• The minimization of all possible conflicts of interest with its third–party providers, allowing for true independence in making choices and decisions
• The guidance in the planning and establishment of complex legal structures
• The continuous oversight of all tax issues, aiming to optimize the total portfolio’s tax obligations
• The preparation of seamless successions to the next generations by contributing to their financial literacy