Maximizing the efficiency of family offices relies upon a clearly defined purpose and set of objectives. Accurately assessing the skills, knowledge and experience of personnel is a key part of this process and can lead to family offices looking to outsource some functions to external parties.
Specialist investment firms, such as Quilter Cheviot, are increasingly seen as able to perform certain functions more efficiently and effectively. Of course, no two family offices are the same but a recurring theme from our experience is that families regularly favour focusing on private equity and real estate investments and are increasingly inclined to outsource the more traditional asset allocation parts within their portfolio to a third party
Although we may only be tasked with running one part of the overall portfolio, we strive to take a holistic approach which takes into account all investments. An individual Investment Manager is appointed to create a specifically tailored portfolio following a flexible approach. If the family office desires a large amount of input, then they can take a more active role in shaping the mandate. On the other hand, if they would prefer to save time for other interests, a light-touch approach is also welcomed. Ultimately the amount of input is determined by the client, who remains free to make their own decisions.
A core strength of ours lies in the expertise and experience of our investment and research teams. An investment manager has on average 16 years industry experience and our 22-person strong research team contains industry and sector specialists that combined record more than 37,000 research hours per year. Furthermore, the network connections of the team are invaluable, with access to fund managers, Chief Investment Officers (CIOs) and Chief Executives (CEOs) of businesses around the globe.