Exceptionally rich international families are creating increased demand for wealth management services offering financial planning solutions across borders, and across generations. But while accountancy firms have been focusing their attention on the new tax rules for non-domiciled individuals (see page 4), the providers of "family office" services say cross-border administration, consolidated investment reporting and philanthropy advice are most valued by clients.
Family offices were traditionally set up by wealthy families who wanted to employ their own full-time tax and investment advisers, to assist them in administering their business and personal finances, and in passing money on to subsequent generations. Forbes magazine recently described them as: "The ultimate status symbol... which could be counted on to score last-minute tickets to The Phantom of the Opera, as well as the nuts and bolts of wealth management." These days, though, private banks are both working with - and competing with - in-house family offices to provide more sophisticated services.
