Whilst the concept of a family office has long existed in Europe and North America, in Asia it is still relatively new. The family office is part of the independent wealth movement and is one of the fastest growing segments of the Asian financial services industry today.

A family office helps you oversee everything, from investments in various banks, to privately held assets, real estate, trophy assets, insurance policies and risk management, succession planning, family governance, philanthropic activities, and so forth. This enables families to receive genuinely personalized advice on a holistic, 360-degree basis.

A family office which is dedicated solely to the needs of one family is called a Single Family Office (SFO) whereas a Multi Family Office (MFO) typically serves a number of families, and shares resources. Using an MFO can be a costeffective way to manage some or all of your family office needs.

Heritage Partners is an MFO. We can act as your outsourced family office, as an extension of your existing SFO, as well as undertake special projects and diagnostics on your behalf.

Why is the family office sector enjoying such rapid growth in Asia? Well, research has shown that High Net Worth families in the Asia Pacific region are among the least satisfied with their financial service providers*. Complex fee structures, a lack of transparency, and an un-met desire for holistic services by traditional financial service providers have paved the way for rapid growth in the independent wealth movement in the APAC region.

Whilst much of the financial services industry is typically transactional in nature, a relationship with Heritage Partners is noticeably different. Once again, research has shown how low levels of personal connection with a bank or brokerage wealth manager – along with an urgent need for personalization – have resulted in poor satisfaction ratings amongst wealthy families in the region, leading to families looking for a new way*.

Your family, along with your in-house private office, can enjoy a long-term relationship with an MFO advisor who is on hand to offer conflict-free advice to a smaller group of clients, independent of a traditional bank or product manufacturer with its ‘tied agent’ model. An MFO advisor is free to offer a more creative and expansive range of investment and wealth structuring ideas by sourcing from a variety of available wealth management solutions tailored to suit your family’s risk profile. This is also referred to as an ‘open architecture’ approach.

Asia’s patriarchs and matriarchs are advancing in age, leading to an unprecedented transfer of business and private wealth from one generation to the next. Here in Asia, around 35% of privately held wealth is expected to change hands by 2025, according to one Financial Times study. With many business families in Sri Lanka and across South Asia now in the 2nd or even 3rd generation, family offices are becoming an increasingly important tool to help manage such transitions, along with the challenges arising from the dispersion and fragmentation of wealth across the generations.

The challenges of running a business, raising a family, and simultaneously overseeing your personal wealth, properties, as well as lifestyle assets, can be daunting. Fortunately, help is at hand. Consolidating and centralizing the oversight of your wealth through your dedicated family office frees you up to spend the time on the things and people that matter most to you.