{"id":253605,"date":"2025-10-31T16:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/253605\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:54:12","slug":"how-smaller-fortunes-can-use-family-offices-to-build-lasting-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/253605\/","title":{"rendered":"How Smaller Fortunes Can Use Family Offices to Build Lasting Wealth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once reserved for billionaires and old-money estates, the family office<\/a> \u2014 a private structure for managing investments, estates, and succession \u2014 is undergoing a quiet revolution.<\/p>\n

What began as the domain of the Rockefellers and Rothschilds is now being reimagined for entrepreneurs, founders, and even upper-middle-class families seeking to professionalize their approach to managing and preserving wealth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The idea that one must have billions to justify a family office is rooted in outdated thinking,” Mar\u00eda Eugenia Mosquera, Head of Wealth Planning Key Clients & Family Office Services at Julius Baer, wrote in a blogpost on Friday.<\/p>\n

“Similarly, the belief that such structures are overly complex or only relevant to dynastic wealth overlooks just how adaptable the modern family office model has become,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Often, the real issue isn’t feasibility, it’s not knowing where to begin.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Many families are swapping traditional wealth managers for “virtual family offices” that blend tech, privacy, and personal values to secure their legacy.<\/p>\n

Gary Hershorn\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Smaller fortunes are getting in on the act<\/p>\n

A global survey by Julius Baer and PwC \u2014 covering 2,485 wealth management and family office experts across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America \u2014 found that 41% of ultra-high-net-worth respondents cited cost as the main barrier to setting up a single-family office, followed by management complexity and the belief that their wealth wasn’t substantial enough.<\/p>\n

But Mosquera said those concerns are often misplaced.<\/p>\n

With the rise of technology, regulation, and global mobility, new models have emerged that allow smaller fortunes to access the same level of professionalism as billionaires, she said.<\/p>\n

“Some families prefer to keep control of areas like philanthropy or governance, while others prioritize access to specialized expertise via external partners,” she wrote. “In reality, most family offices adopt a hybrid model, combining internal oversight with outsourced services such as legal, wealth planning, or investment advisory.”<\/p>\n

How smaller fortunes can start their own family office<\/p>\n

You don’t need dynastic wealth to take a family-office approach, according to Julius Baer.<\/p>\n

The same principles that once served Renaissance estates can be applied by today’s entrepreneurs, business sellers, and globally mobile families \u2014 at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n

1. Start small and evolve<\/p>\n

Mosquera advises families to view the process as “a phased, thoughtful evolution.”<\/p>\n

Those planning a business sale or expecting liquidity can begin by formalizing what they already do \u2014 setting clear governance, defining investment principles, and establishing communication routines.<\/p>\n

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A single trusted advisor or accountant can act as the nucleus before more roles are added.<\/p>\n

2. Use hybrid or virtual models to stay lean<\/p>\n

The Julius Baer report defines a Virtual Family Office (VFO) as “ideal for globally mobile families,” using “digital platforms and remote teams to deliver services flexibly across borders.”<\/p>\n

This model gives smaller fortunes the same strategic control, minus the heavy fixed costs of staff and office space.<\/p>\n

3. Outsource the complex \u2014 keep the core in-house<\/p>\n

As Mosquera puts it, “This depends on the family’s priorities, the complexity of their wealth, and how much operational infrastructure they want to oversee.”<\/p>\n

Families can outsource investment, tax, and legal matters while keeping philanthropy, governance, and education in-house \u2014 a structure that balances control with efficiency.<\/p>\n

4. Choose jurisdiction wisely<\/p>\n

Location influences “everything from stability and regulatory clarity to access to talent, privacy, and lifestyle,” Mosquero wrote.<\/p>\n

While Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai lead as global hubs, Mosquera notes that many families now operate virtually \u2014 coordinating data, advisors, and decision-making digitally across continents.<\/p>\n

5. Anchor everything in values<\/p>\n

“A thoughtfully designed family office often becomes the cornerstone for long-term wealth preservation and successful intergenerational transfer,” said Thomas Frauenlob, member of the Global Wealth Management Committee and Co-Head Region Western Markets & Switzerland at Julius Baer.<\/p>\n

“When anchored in these elements, it offers far greater value than generic, one-size-fits-all solutions,” Mosquera added.<\/p>\n

“There’s no universal blueprint,” Mosquera said. “Instead, the right approach is thoughtfully curated to reflect each family’s unique needs, preferences, and aspirations.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once reserved for billionaires and old-money estates, the family office \u2014 a private structure for managing investments, estates,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,17106,41262,18137,125349,72727,186,10834,5474,61686,149984,149987,184,185,22141,149985,6221,193,149986],"class_list":{"0":"post-253605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-control","12":"tag-cost","13":"tag-entrepreneur","14":"tag-family-office","15":"tag-family-offices","16":"tag-finance","17":"tag-governance","18":"tag-investment","19":"tag-julius-baer","20":"tag-mosquera","21":"tag-outsourced-service","22":"tag-personal-finance","23":"tag-personalfinance","24":"tag-philanthropy","25":"tag-small-fortune","26":"tag-switzerland","27":"tag-wealth","28":"tag-wealth-planning-key-clients"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}