If you are an existing Family Office ......

• Is there uncertainty and tension over next generation leadership for your family wealth?

• Who will coach the next generation and do you have a succession plan for your office professionals?

• Do you want to establish a family investment board with one or two select independent directors?

 

We offer pragmatic solutions to design priorities and strategies through our objective coaching and guidance.  You maintain control and enhance the independence of your office.

 

We advise single family offices with more than $100 million and individuals with more than $50 million in investable assets. We have special family owned business experience and experience in generational family mentoring, coaching and governance.  We have acted side by side with families as an advisor, an advocate, as a source of alternative investments and as a liaison for the family.  We develop an intimate relationship to understand their personal initiatives, investing philosophy and criteria for investing the family’s capital.

 

SeaSpire has counseled families who feel they are off course of their intended direction and are unbalanced with their time and energy.  We help achieve true harmony between their financial capital, social capital and human capital, all of which contribute to the happiness and wellbeing of successful families.

 

Examples of our services include:

• Coached a family’s next-generation to purchase & manage a new business

• Provided sourcing & due diligence process for family office investment portfolios

• Served as independent director of family investment board & advisory committees

• Provided creative insights to problem solving within a family & with their advisors

 

If you are planning to establish a Family Office ......

• Do you know how to avoid the most costly mistakes made when trying to design or integrate services, relationships and systems?

• Did you know that you may be able to keep trusted and competent service providers while establishing and controlling your independence?

 

The benefits of retaining SeaSpire Advisors as your advisor:

• Maintain Independent Ownership

• Lower Costs

• Control and Reduce Risk

• Enhance the Family Relationships

• Improve the Use of Time and Resources

 

A Family Office Case Study

 

An 18 year family office with employees and is located in a major US city.  The primary wealth creation was real estate.  Today the wealth is in stocks, bonds, cash, operating companies and real estate with 12 trusts and a family foundation.  The patriarch is married, over 70, and resides in another state than the family office.  The office does a lot of accounting, foundation management and real estate servicing.  The patriarch and his wife said they were spending more time managing the office issues and their wealth decisions that the wealth had become a time consuming burden and they were not able to dedicate time to their real passions in life of classical music, travel and time with grandkids.  There was additional stress over the patriarch’s recent health issues, succession planning for the office and if their systems of wealth management with their outside advisors was sufficient.  They retained us to do a complete review of their family office, advisors, risk management, investment allocation and overall systems and to give them advice that would allow them more time to pursue their passions and give them peace of mind the office was ready for a transition for when the patriarch no longer could manager or should die.  It was a comprehensive 8 month project with solutions that were implemented to meet their objectives and also improve their risk management and internal systems.

 

 

Another Family Office Case Study

 

A three generation family was being served by an office created by the patriarch when he monetized his operating company twelve years prior.  The patriarch created family trusts and other legal structures for estate planning.  He was good at running his company, but had little experience managing financial assets.  The portfolios were a mix of unrelated stocks which his outside advisors sold him, along with other alternative hedge funds and proprietary brokerage funds. The trusts had a trustee who was a long time attorney for the patriarch.  The patriarch made the decisions for the trusts, however, and the trustee executed with some collaboration of decision-making.  The family felt the money in the trusts was created by the patriarch and he should be able to direct as needed.  The returns on the portfolios were low and mixed until 2008 when there was a big drawdown with little recovery because of sales in the portfolio.  Additionally, the patriarch decided prior to 2008 to act as a mentor and investor to young companies in similar or related businesses like his before he sold.  This worked somewhat at first, but the invested companies were constrained by his control and his inability to spend time with the operations as he had new lifestyle obligations and family commitments.  The family convinced him that it was time for the 2G to become more involved with the family office and its decision making.  They hired us to help them create a transition structure and plan with the 2G and to analyze the investment portfolios, the advisors and make recommendations.  We helped them determine the intent of the wealth for the next generations, created a private trust company with committees and board oversight, identified what new resources they needed internally of professionals and external advisors, and did an overview of the invested small operating businesses with recommendations to consider retain or sell.  We remained on retainer for the family’s private trust company advisor and family office.  The transition established will continue to evolve, but is on the right path for success.