Families often ask what the best technology platform for a family office is – making the assumption that there are just one or two types of technology solutions. However, most family offices require a combination of accounting, investment and reporting tools, as well as various supporting tools. The specific tools vary based on the types of investments, activities performed within the office and by service providers, and the needs and desires of the family and its staff.

While most indicators predict a healthy economy in the near future, the inevitable downturn lurks ominously on the horizon. In addition, tension with Russia and China, as well as the threat of renewed violence in the Middle East creates warranted anxiety among investors. Certainly the landscape of risks investors and family offices face continues to evolve and some risks may play out slowly over years or decades, but even those discussed daily in the media could play out in different ways.

Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was released at the end of 2017, family office and multi-family office professionals have been struggling to understand what all this means for their clients’ situations and circumstances.

The biggest asset of any family office is the staff that supports the family clients. Hear from two family office human resource executives about the elements and process to consider in building an effective team that delivers the best client experience for the family. The executives will discuss leadership and team building strategies and offer practical examples to build the best team to support the family. The basic tenets of building an effective family office team will include leadership, assessing talent, and building a team and culture.

Needs and goals of the family inform the attributes of any good family office. How the family office supports the family in that regard is a big question. Increasingly, certain families are considering transforming into a virtual family office, in part at least, as they think about the family client of the future. But what are the considerations that should be addressed as part of such a change? This session will explore the impact of such a transformation of a family office on oversight, cost, technology, team and advisor ecosystem, as well as insourcing vs.

Enterprise Risk Management offers a robust approach to managing risk for families, developing a cost effective, comprehensive plan taking into consideration the rapidly evolving nature of our clients’ needs. It takes a holistic approach to identifying, defining, quantifying, analyzing and providing solutions to all the identifiable exposures facing family offices. This session will review the 5 Steps of Risk Management, Loss Control, Loss Mitigation and Transfer of Risk.

The 2017 Tax Act presents planning opportunities around the choice of entity. Existing clients with pass through entities like S-Corporations and LLCs need to consider if maintaining this status is prudent given the changes in the tax law. In the past C-Corporations considered elections to become pass through entities to avoid two tiers of tax. What is best for a particular client situation will challenge past convention on choice of entity as optimization is dependent on facts and circumstances.