The stock market is dynamic in nature. The financial environment is vulnerable to changes because of new economic activities and business opportunities. If these uncertainties are not addressed they can adversely impact a business. In such a scenario managing family wealth and enhancing it warrants the services of a professional.

Families usually outsource their entire financial management to a Family Office. Although the terms ‘Wealth Manager’ and ‘Family office’ are used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. Wealth managers only take care of the wealth and asset management of their clients while family offices manage a number of services. While wealth managers aim to generate a certain return over inflation over a rolling period (e.g. 1/3/5 years), family offices invest for long-term (over generations).

A professionally managed family office provides comprehensive financial solutions to affluent individuals and families. One of the main functions of a family office is managing the investments of their clients.

The fundamentals of family office investments include:

• Defining objectives and building models on the basis of long-term strategy
• Establishing a tracking system to monitor the performance against the strategy
• Implementing corrective action as and when required.
• Adopt a defined level of conservatism by hedging exposures through swaps, derivatives, and futures
• Cash flow forecasting should be used at corporate and consolidated levels in order to predict any shortfalls and plan to leverage.

A professional family office offers a number of services to its clients.

Some of the family office solutions to safeguard it against fluctuations in the stock market are:

Management of investment portfolio:

Family offices understand the financial objectives of their clients and plan their investment portfolio based on that.

Tracking and maintaining records:

Family offices track and maintain records of investments, assets and their performance.

 

 

Managing wealth transfers:

Family offices also plan the transfer of wealth within the family from parents to children.

Budgeting:

Family offices enable their clients to plan their budget based on their budgeting objectives.

Estate Planning:

If a family has a number of investments in the real estate sector, the family office offers advice regarding the best time for sales.

Succession planning:

Family offices help in the smooth transition of the wealth and estate in a family ensuring that there are no disputes.

Insurance:

Family offices help their clients choose the best insurance options that meet their financial goals.

Business management:

Family offices provide guide their clients regarding business management such as buyouts or business development.

Tax planning:

Family offices enable their clients in planning their investments so as to minimize their tax liabilities. They also ensure that their clients comply with the tax regulations.

Philanthropy:

Family offices help their clients guiding clients through charities and donations.

Risk assessment:

Any type of investment has a risk factor associated with it. Family offices estimate the risk involved with the investment strategy.

Besides these, family offices help their clients deal with public relations firms, lawyers, banks and other such entities.

One family office manager in Georgia, Atlanta is Greg Silberman. He has vast experience of managing family offices over the years. He offers customized family office solutions to his clients based on their financial objectives and the trends in the stock market.