WE Family Offices Featured in the Journal of Wealth Management

WE Family Offices was featured in the winter 2014 issue of the Journal of Wealth Management. Managing Partners Michael Zeuner, Mel Lagomasino and Santiago Ulloa authored an article, entitled “A Family Office By Any Other Name…” that clarifies and delineates the concept of a family office. The article provides wealthy families with critical information to help them decide between the range of wealth management solutions currently being presented as a “family office.” In recent years the term “family office” has been used as a marketing device by a range of different kinds of money management and financial service firms, making it more difficult for a family to choose which type of wealth management solution is right for them.

The article proposes a specific definition for a family office that is role-based, as opposed to services-based. Because the term “family office” has been co-opted by traditional financial service firms in their marketing and positioning efforts, a wealthy family seeking a true family office should not assume they will receive it from a traditional wealth management firm just because it calls itself a family office. Rather than a list of services-based definitions, the article proposes a definition of family office based on the role it plays for a wealthy family: a team of advisors that exclusively serves and represents solely the wealthy family’s interests and agenda. The article discusses the different kinds of family office solutions available to wealthy families, how they can tell the differences between them, and why a typical sales-focused financial services company is unlikely to be able to provide a family office solution that plays the independent, unconflicted role a family office should play.

About the Journal of Wealth Management

The Journal of Wealth Management is dedicated to help preserve and grow the assets of high-net worth investors and family offices. It addresses the investment concerns of wealthy families and seeks to provide information to profit on investment vehicles such as hedge funds and alternative investments.

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