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Marketing To Family Offices And Explaining The Ways They Differ From Institutions

Updated: Mar 18

Marketing to family offices often presents a complicated and nuanced challenge, primarily due to the diverse and personalized nature of these entities. Unlike large institutional investors, family offices typically require a more bespoke approach, reflecting the unique preferences and operational styles of the ultra-high-net-worth individuals or families they serve.


Marketing to Family Office
Variation in Family Offices

Family offices are private wealth management advisory firms designed to serve ultra-high-net-worth investors. They typically offer a comprehensive suite of services, including budgeting, financial planning, asset management, insurance, philanthropy, wealth transfer, and tax services. It's crucial to recognize that no two family offices are alike. These entities vary greatly, not only in the scope of services they provide but also in their operational approaches:

  • Single Family Offices: Serve one ultra-high-net-worth family, often providing highly personalized services tailored to the specific preferences and needs of that family.

  • Multi-Family Offices: Serve multiple families and are more akin to traditional wealth management firms in terms of size, style, and business practices but still offer a personal touch.

This diversity necessitates extensive preliminary research to understand each office’s structure, priorities, and decision-making processes.


Initial Factfinding

Creating a strong personal relationship is often the most effective strategy when engaging with family offices. Initial meetings should be leveraged to gather insights about their business development, staffing structure, priorities, operational efficacy, sales process, and key decision-makers. Questions to consider include:

  • Will a simple handshake with your current contact lead to a deal, or are approvals needed from a CIO, supervisors, or even family patriarchs/matriarchs?

  • How private is the family office, and how does this affect their communication and decision-making processes?

Understanding the values and financial goals of the family office is critical. Many prioritize liquidity due to needs for expansion, capital preservation, or family mission support, preferring more liquid investments that can be easily accessed when needed.

Making a Deal

With a thorough understanding obtained from your initial research, you can begin more tailored product marketing discussions. Focus on addressing their specific priorities rather than just presenting your products. Consider how you can enhance or diversify their current portfolio and use your insights to offer customized solutions. This could involve specialized deals or adjustments that cater directly to their needs, ensuring you engage with the correct decision-makers to maximize impact.

How Institutions are Different

In contrast to family offices, institutions are typically larger, more structured, and bureaucratic. This organizational complexity often results in a more analytical and strategic approach to investment discussions, which are usually straightforward and focus strictly on the specifics of what is needed and what can be offered. Institutions often have a manager for each area, making it crucial to understand how you can complement their existing strategies.


In summary, while a more personalized and flexible approach is required when dealing with family offices, institutions demand a professional and structured engagement. Recognizing and adapting to these differences is key to effectively marketing and building relationships with both types of entities.

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