Family Office
Family Offices Spread International Wings With New Offices – Study
The growing international footprint of family offices is not a new phenomenon, of course, but this survey puts some hard numbers on the attitudes and strategies of family offices.
A study of more than 300 family office professionals finds that
more than three quarters (78 per cent) of them have opened more
offices in different countries in the past five years,
highlighting the increasingly international nature of this
industry.
The findings come from Ocorian, a specialist global
provider of services to high net worth individuals and family
offices, financial institutions, asset managers and
corporates.
The main reason for opening more offices – cited by 79 per cent
of respondents – is because family members are increasingly
moving abroad or living in different countries. However, 57 per
cent of respondents said more offices were needed as investment
portfolios have diversified or become more sophisticated, and 41
per cent have done so in response to risk posed by geopolitical
events.
Around 40 per cent of respondents said new locations were
opened to handle tax and regulatory issues, while 11 per cent
said they have already opened more offices in different
jurisdictions because of a skills shortage.
More than a third (36 per cent) of family office professionals surveyed said they have three physical offices, followed by around a quarter (27 per cent) who have more than five. Around 15 per cent have four, 14 per cent have two, 5 per cent have five and just 4 per cent have one physical office.
The international trend appears set to endure, the authors of the
study said.
When asked specifically whether they’ve seen an increase in
family members having different or multiple citizenships or
residing in different countries over the past five years, almost
9 in 10 (89 per cent) of respondents said they have done so. Of
these, 86 per cent predict that this trend will increase in the
next five years, with 9 per cent saying it would increase
dramatically.
See previous examples of research from the firm
here and
here.
