The Family Offices actually exist because extremely wealthy families hire a group of experts who will take care of everything that concerns them financially, from investment management, to financial and estate planning, to tax, business transfers, and even concierge services.
Everything will be orchestrated by a manager of the Family Office who will be at their exclusive service. We’ll even take care of the private jet and yacht, no matter where they are.
According Forbes, there would be a hundred billionaires in Canada. So few people can thus have a need and the means to constitute a Family Office, this way of approaching wealth management nevertheless opens up avenues for the private management sector. Financial institutions are even announcing an offer of Family Office. But what is it really?
We copy the model
By acquiring a Family Office, very wealthy people basically create their own private management, explains Éric Bujold, Senior Executive Vice-President and Co-Head of Business and Private Management at National Bank. “At National Bank, we tend to have our private management offer include all the services included in a Family Office, he said. In short, we draw inspiration from them, from their philosophy of bringing everything together under one roof and being present at all times, and we are making this management offer available to an increasing number of families. and of various sizes. »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Éric Bujold, Senior Executive Vice-President and Co-Head of Enterprise and Private Wealth Management at National Bank
Business models like ours are certainly an important step towards the democratization of wealth management.
Éric Bujold, Senior Executive Vice-President and Co-Head of Enterprise and Private Wealth Management at National Bank
More personal fortunes
It should come as no surprise that financial institutions have their eye on the model of Family Offices. The wealth of many families increases from generation to generation, and the phenomenon will certainly not slow down. Over a horizon of 7 to 10 years, statistics show that 41% of entrepreneurs will sell their business, notes Suzanne Tremblay, General Manager, Desjardins Private Management. Families get richer, which makes wealth management more complex.
At Desjardins, we are inspired by the model of Multi-Family Offices which bring together several families.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Suzanne Tremblay, General Manager, Desjardins Private Management
The goal is first of all to support the family throughout the life of the business with financing and by preparing it for its sale or possible transfer. And then, we will ensure the sustainability of the heritage.
Suzanne Tremblay, General Manager, Desjardins Private Management
The services that will be added to this support will cover, among other things, taxation and the structure of the company. All the necessary resources are in place at Desjardins. “The model of Multi-Family Office thus offers a private management approach that is both entrepreneurial and family-oriented,” says Suzanne Tremblay.
Room also for the smallest players
Although a private management offer based on the model of Multi-Family Offices requires the contribution of a large number of resources, it is not unique to financial institutions. Some firms of independent wealth managers nevertheless interfere in this model. This is the case at De Champlain Financial Group.
The model of Multi-Family Office calls upon, among others, accountants, notaries, lawyers, tax specialists, coaches business, business transfer experts, and even private concierge services. “Beyond our internal resources, we will draw on resources outside our company to meet all these needs,” explains Sylvain de Champlain. the Family Office is a concept that we want to model, because it allows us to cast a wider net. »