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family offices
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USC Commencement May 11, 2018
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At Stately Freeberg Manor June 4, 2022
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circa 1995
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High school graduation June 6, 2013

Family Office - Wikipedia definition

Developments.  Lately, because of the following six developments, I've necessarily become interested in Family Offices:
  1. Biz Buy/Sell.  I noticed them originally in 2008 while researching the business buy/sell space for several clients who wanted to sell their businesses.  As buyers of closely held businesses, Family Offices are key players in my clients' hopes for comfortable retirement.  
  2. Athletes & Celebrities.  After noticing the fate of most professional athletes via ESPN's documentary film 30 for 30:  Broke, I discovered that Family Offices make the difference between long-term success and failure.  At or near the start of their careers, shrewd professional athletes form Family Offices.
  3. Financial Institutions.  Researching the relationship between Personal Finance and financial institutions taught me that the solution to the problem of scattering, or diversifying, holdings across many financial institutions and other private equity interests is to form a Family Office that oversees them all.  Although it may try, no single financial institution can really be a total, one-stop-shop solution.  The very attempt is a recipe for jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none mediocrity.  The real solution is to form a Family Office.
  4. Natural Outcome.  I came to realize how, over the course of my whole career, by adopting a complete, multi-disciplinary, generalist, impartial, unbiased, quality-focused approach toward Economics, I have been preparing my clients to develop Family Offices of their own.  It's a natural outcome of my work.
  5. Millionaire Clients.  Some of my own clients have become millionaires and have struggled with the consequential stewardship problems and responsibilities that Family Offices solve.  Sooner or later, I have to wonder whether forming a Family Office in some shape or form is in their future.  I suspect it probably is.  The question is not if; the questions are when, how, and how much.
  6. The National Debt.  As I watched the national debt double during the Obama administration and studied the writings of Peter G. Peterson, I came to realize that the country's salvation depends on developing more ultra wealthy families who can afford the kinds of taxes necessary to pay down the national debt.

Findings.  Recognizing these developments, in June 2014 I researched the Family Office industry and made these findings:
  • Leaders.  Two prominent industry leaders:  Sara Hamilton of the Family Office Exchange, and Richard Wilson of Richard Wilson Capital, which is a holding company for several other businesses that focus on various aspects of the Family Office industry.  (Update, March 2017:  it turns out that when I originally composed this page, Dr. Kirby Rosplock was also in the process of publishing The Complete Family Office Handbook.)
  • Size.  Assets Under Management ("AUM") at fully developed Family Offices are usually on the order of hundreds of millions, and into the billions (US Dollars).
  • Process.  However, this wealth accumulates gradually over time, sometimes in a snowball-like fashion.  It's a gradual process that can catch families by surprise.  Sometimes the need to form a Family Office isn't recognized until some kind of misfortune or loss is suffered which, in hindsight, could have been prevented with better foresight, through the timely formation of a proper Family Office.  Mr. Wilson addresses this in his video "More Money, More Problems."  One of my hopes in publishing and sharing these findings freely and openly is to encourage better foresight and prevent unnecessary losses.
  • Beginnings.  Because of this gradual progression, the argument could be made that at every stage, we are all engaged in the process of developing our family offices.  I reckon we might as well admit it, and be deliberate about it.
  • Discretion.  Families needing to form Family Offices are, understandably and necessarily, discreet.  A common saying in the industry is, "A submerged whale does not get harpooned."  This discretion can become habitual, and may delay forming a Family Office when it's most needed.
  • Types.  There are Single-Family Offices that serve one family, and Multi-Family Offices that serve two or more.  The advantage of Multi-Family Offices is cost-sharing.
  • Virtual FOs.  Another way to share costs is to form a Virtual Family Office that gathers the talents of professionals like me who, while geographically diffuse, are united in vision and purpose.  An additional advantage of the Virtual Family Office is that selection of quality talent is not limited by geographic location.  What matters most is not "location, location, location", but competence, rapport, and trust.  Here is an informative three-minute video by Mr. Wilson about recent developments in Virtual Family Offices and the rising future need for them.
  • Philanthropy.  In the final analysis, Family Offices are where wealth ultimately accumulates and are, therefore, the most likely sources and leaders of charitable giving and philanthropy.

In view of all of these findings and more, I'm announcing my intention to get increasingly involved in the Family Office industry.  It just makes sense, and is a most natural consequence of all I've been doing since establishing my practice in 1996.

Forming a Family Office is a development process that happens over time.  Every Family Office is unique to the family it serves.  If you feel the need to begin the process or know of any families who, through their economic growing pains are showing signs of needing to begin the process of forming their Family Office, please contact or introduce me as appropriate.

Thanks very much for your attention, and I look foward to working with you and yours to develop and operate Family Offices that will help make the world a better place.  Please contact me.

Kind regards,




Kris Freeberg, Economist


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