family activities like annual retreats, travel planning, parties and other concierge services; security management that involves providing introductions to experts in personal, home and travel security and arranging for appropriate insurance to cover kidnap and ransom risks.

The ultra-affluent client is increasingly aware of the need to choose his or her multi-client family office whose goals are aligned with theirs.

Characteristics of a good multi-client family office

A good multi-client family office has these characteristics:

Objective financial advice
The family office must be free of conflicts of interest. As most private bankers are paid to gather assets under management, they may not have the time or inclination to seek the best financial advice from all providers. But the team in a good family office is not only free to do so, but also works to choose well among the products and services from all suppliers in the marketplace.

Creative solutions to financial problems

The family office team must be knowledgeable about a broad array of sophisticated strategies. This means that the team must consist of skilled professionals with experience across many technical disciplines, including tax, legal, investment, and risk management issues.

Consistent delivery of complex services

The family office must have the ability to deliver a high quality of service in a consistent manner to a growing number of clients. This requires the team to solve unique, complex issues for the client and have a sophisticated back office system that can keep track of financial details.

Long-term view of relationship building

The family office must operate from a revenue model that rewards and motivates long-term relationship building. Otherwise, the clients will be subjected to the perennial problem of being treated as a sales target which is neglected after each product purchase.



Yap Ming Hui is the managing director of Whitman Independent Advisors Sdn Bhd, the first multi-client family office in Malaysia