Interviewing a Family Office Services provider is a crucial step in finding the right partner to manage your family’s wealth and financial affairs. Asking the right family office services questions can help you assess their capabilities, experience, and alignment with your goals and values. Here are some important questions to consider asking during the interview:

1. Experience and Expertise

– How long has your firm been in operation, and what is your experience in providing family office services?

– Can you provide references from current or past clients who have similar financial situations or objectives? Don’t be surprised if some firms are hesitant, after all, discretion is the better part of valor.

2. Family Office Services Questions About Services Offered

– What specific services do you offer? Can you customize your services to meet our family unique needs and goals?

– Do you provide investment management, tax planning, estate planning, risk management, philanthropic advising, and other financial services?

– How do you stay current with changing financial laws and regulations?

– If the service is outsourced, how do you ensure collaboration between everyone?

– If you run bill payment services, how do you reconcile at the end of each month?

3. Clientele and Capacity

– How many families or clients do you currently serve, and what is your capacity for additional clients?

– Do you have experience working with families of a similar size and complexity to ours?

– Do you have an ideal client?

4. Family Office Services Questions About the Team

– Who will be our primary points of contact, and what is their background and expertise?

– Can you provide information about the qualifications and experience of your team members, including investment professionals, tax experts, and legal advisors?

5. Investment Approach

– What is your investment philosophy and approach? How do you assess risk and build investment portfolios?

– Are they a Fiduciary or are they affiliated with a broker/dealer?

– Will they create or follow your current Investment Policy Statement?

– How do you handle ethical or socially responsible investment preferences?

– How do you ensure that all of our investments are working together if there are accounts with other advisors?

– How often do you coordinate with our accounting firm to prepare for taxes?

6. Family Office Services Questions About Fees and Compensation

– How do you charge for your services? Is it a fee-based model, a percentage of assets under management, or another fee structure?

– Are there any hidden or additional fees we should be aware of?

– Can you show me a fee schedule?

– When and how will we discuss fee changes?

7. Reporting and Transparency

– How frequently will we receive reports on our financial holdings and performance?

– Can you provide an example of a typical financial statement or report you provide to clients?

– What technology do you use to provide family balance sheet reporting?

8. Conflict of Interest

– How do you manage potential conflicts of interest when providing financial advice or making investment decisions?

– Are you a fiduciary, legally bound to act in our best interests?

– What are the conflicts of interest I should be aware of?

9. Family Office Services Questions About Risk Management

– What measures do you have in place to protect our assets and minimize risks?

– How do you handle market downturns or unexpected financial events?

– How does the firm protect itself from internal threats?

– Do you do background checks on your employees regularly?

– Do you have policies and procedures for the various services and how often are they reviewed and updated?

10. Technology and security

– What technology platforms do you use for managing investments and client communication?

– What due diligence have you performed, and how often, on these third party platforms?

– How do you ensure the security and confidentiality of our financial information?

– Do I have access to all documentation quickly and easily via an online application?

– Can I see the application I would be logging into to get to my data?

11. Succession Planning

– What is your plan for ensuring continuity of services in case of key personnel changes or transitions within your firm?

– How do you handle turnover within the team that would be working with my family?

12. Philanthropy and Family Education

– Do you provide services related to philanthropic giving, and can you assist in setting up charitable foundations or trusts?

– Do you offer educational programs or workshops to help our family members become more financially literate?

13. References and Case Studies

– Can you share case studies or success stories of how you’ve helped other families achieve their financial goals?

– Can you share experiences you have had with families whose interests align with mine?

14. Family Office Services Questions About Your Exit Strategy

– What is the process for terminating the relationship if it becomes necessary?

– How will you return all data & documents about my family and in what time frame?

– Depending on the services we are engaged in, will you provide a smooth transition to the next provider?

Why ask this question when interviewing for Family Office Services?

Next Steps

Asking these questions will help you gain a thorough understanding of the Family Office Services provider’s capabilities, approach, and compatibility with your family’s financial objectives and values. Additionally, don’t hesitate to ask any additional questions that are specific to your family’s unique circumstances and priorities.

All 14 question topics are valid to some degree depending on the type of family office, though all should be able to answer each question, even if the answer is “we work with a third party and let me get you the answer to that question along with their due diligence questionnaire”. 

However, you might find that you being in control of your family’s data is a high priority and if the firm can’t answer that question, there’s no need to spend time asking the others. Likewise, if cybersecurity and technology are high priorities, not having good answers here will override however nice the answers are to team expertise and portfolio composition.

Bottom line – this is a big decision, and it’s not always easy to make a change. Don’t jump in before you are comfortable that they can give you what you need. Just because Jim thinks they are the bees’ knees, doesn’t automatically make them a fit for your family.

When you are comparing firms to work with, take a look at our Family Office Services – What Do These Terms Mean. It will help you navigate the terminology and ask deeper questions. Not every firm uses the same definitions!