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Nine in 10 global family offices collaborate or share services with other family offices in some way, according to survey results released Tuesday by Ocorian, a provider of trust, administration and fiduciary services.
This collaboration is a bid to save on costs and to be more environmentally friendly and receive better service, Ocorian said.
“The number of single-family offices has grown significantly and is expected to continue rising,” Ocorian’s managing director, Nina Auchoybur, said in a statement. “Families increasingly recognize the need for more formalised structures and the importance of attracting the right talent.”
Many family offices are exploring collaborative co-operatives to share services and resources, Auchoybur said, effectively enabling them to operate like a private bank at a fraction of the cost.
For the study, PureProfile, an independent research company, in July interviewed 200 family members, full-time family office employees and specialist intermediaries working for family offices of ultra-high-net-worth family businesses.
The value of wealth managed or owned by the families totaled some $68 billion. Respondents were based in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Jersey, the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Mauritius, Bermuda, Cayman and the British Virgin Islands.
Rising Trend
Fraternization between family offices takes a variety of forms. Seventy-one percent of respondents reported that they share employees.
Sixty-nine percent share the ownership or use of expensive items, such as a yacht or private jet. More than half share third-party services and offices.
Eight in 10 survey participants said they do so because it is better for the environment to share services or costly items.
It also brings direct benefits. Sixty-eight percent said it saves money, and 60% said it enables them to receive better services.
Thirty-seven percent cited better value through collaboration, and 34% said it is more convenient.
Ocorian noted that the growing trend of sharing and collaborating among family offices could also be the result of the high number of entities questioned that are experiencing strong growth. Half of respondents reported that they are in a significant growth phase, opening more offices or employing more specialists.
Eleven percent said they are undergoing a transfer to the next generation, and a further 7% are new family offices.
Only 30% of respondents reported that their family office is in a stable period with little change in terms of growth, and just 3% said they are contracting and closing offices or reducing employee headcount.
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