Family offices were built to endure, not to expand without limit. Their strength has always come from clarity: knowing how capital is structured, why decisions were made and who carries responsibility forward. For decades that clarity emerged naturally. Teams stayed small. Structures stayed understandable. Decisions remained close to memory. Today wealth is scaling faster than that inherited model can absorb, and complexity is accelerating beyond the reach of informal understanding. The real risk is not volatility. It is losing sight of the structure that holds everything together.
In recent years, family disputes have been listed as the top threat to maintaining wealth. According to the study of multi-family office Stonehage Fleming from 2018, they were risky for nearly 70% of their clients. Now, family infighting is not even among the top five concerns, according to the newest research.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind SpaceX and Tesla, captivates the world with his audacious goals and relentless innovation. A new biography by Walter Isaacson offers unprecedented insight into Musk's personal and professional life.
In a world teeming with investment options, the Arabian Peninsula, stands far above the rest regarding oil: the Middle East. With countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait holding some of the world's largest oil reserves, the potential for wealth generation here is extremely large.
In recent years, Hong Kong has emerged as a leading hub for single-family offices (SFOs), attracting high-net-worth individuals and private families from around the world. To further strengthen its position as an international wealth management center, the Hong Kong government has introduced a number of tax incentives to encourage the establishment and operation of family offices in Hong Kong.
Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) can no longer ignore the technological shift in wealth management — digital onboarding — in an era where digital transformation is redefining industries. It is a pivotal shift in financial services and business operations that combines efficiency, security, and personalization.
Building a successful business is a difficult task. But an even more difficult task is successfully passing it on to heirs. We can immediately cite the example of one of the world's best-known yet oldest car companies - Ford.
Why are billionaires and people with a lot of money running to Monaco? Why do rich people from all over the world come to this tiny Mediterranean country?
Hong Kong is emerging as a philanthropic powerhouse in Asia, thanks to its cultural diversity, strong business sector, and history of social responsibility. It's set to become a regional hub for philanthropic efforts, attracting those who want to make a social impact.
As wealth management strategies evolve, the integration of ESG factors is becoming increasingly important. Biodiversity, an important ESG element, is central to a sustainable future. Wealth managers can now integrate biodiversity into their investment strategies. This article explores the link between asset management, ESG, and biodiversity.
Though not among the top concerns, maintaining wealth is still a priority within the family business. Many wealth transfers fail because of breakdowns in trust and communication between family members. The best remedy seems to be open and frank conversations. How do you speak to your heirs about transferring health?
There is a simple assumption that philanthropy is generally sensible, inherently good, and deserves applause. But what if it does not generate a favorable impact or outcome? Good intentions do not mean philanthropy is done well.
We start with a disturbing fact: private households globally stand to lose €6.6 trillion in net financial assets in 2022, equivalent to a 2.7 percent decline in wealth. But there's something even more worrying: this loss is the biggest since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to the Allianz Global Wealth Report.
Open Banking API has emerged as a disruptive force with implications for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs). Open Banking API is not just another trend in fintech for a demographic that is obsessed with optimizing financial strategies and achieving superior asset management. Instead, the advent of Open Banking API represents a seismic shift that may have potential to redefine how wealth is managed, diversified, and grown.
Within the late great generational wealth transfer, more than 18'000 ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families were passing on assets to Gen X and millennial inheritors in the US, as the New York Times noticed recently. Thus, wealthy families have been turning to Family Offices. Still, the Family Office is not the last stage of wealth management development.
The "Great Wealth Transfer" phenomenon refers to the intergenerational transfer of family wealth from one generation to the next. This wealth shift is poised to reshape the economic and social fabric of the U.S. nation, with implications for the labor market, the economy, and the financial industry itself.
Women's wealth is a topic that has gained increasing attention in recent years, with women now amassing greater wealth than before. Despite gains, a wealth gap still exists, as families headed by women have lower wealth. Still, according to a report by BCG, women currently control 40% of the world's wealth, and this figure is expected to grow significantly in the years ahead.
We think you might like
Family offices were built to endure, not to expand without limit. Their strength has always come from clarity: knowing how capital is structured, why decisions were made and who carries responsibility forward. For decades that clarity emerged naturally. Teams stayed small. Structures stayed understandable. Decisions remained close to memory. Today wealth is scaling faster than that inherited model can absorb, and complexity is accelerating beyond the reach of informal understanding. The real risk is not volatility. It is losing sight of the structure that holds everything together.
Most family offices believe they are preparing the next generation. The evidence suggests they are doing something considerably more modest: including heirs in governance without equipping them to participate in it. The distinction matters because presence and preparation are not the same thing, and the gap between them is where succession risk accumulates.
Family offices take measuring investment performance seriously. From benchmarks to fee tracking, the infrastructure for investment measurement is continuous, detailed, and increasingly automated. Apply that same question to governance — how effective is your board, your family council, your oversight function? — and the answer is different. The structures may exist, but the measurement often does not.
In case you missed it
The defining question in Swiss wealth management is not whether artificial intelligence will replace the advisor. The more important issue is whether the information environment is coherent enough for productivity gains to hold in practice. AI has attracted attention because it promises speed, efficiency and automation. The real test is whether information across banks, entities, asset classes and documents can be brought into a form that is visible, current and usable in day-to-day work.
