Year-End Checklist to Prepare Family Offices and High-Net-Worth Clients for 2024

Dec 18, 2019

Family Office Software• Family Office Trends

A List of Relevant Topics to Help Family Offices and Private Wealth Advisors Plan for Emerging Trends in the New Year

Throughout the past year, family offices and high-net-worth families grew and evolved. A generational shift in leadership is fully underway, technology has become even more sophisticated and family offices and financial institutions have scaled into new and innovative service lines.

As we reflect on the past twelve months and strategize for the new year, it’s worth opening up the conversation around the changes and trends that have unfolded in family office leadership, technology and operations.

Not sure where to start the conversation? Here’s a list of topics to help you think through what’s relevant to your firm and your end-clients.

Next Gen

Has your family office reviewed its succession plan?

  • Who will assume decision-making power inside of the family when the current principal steps down?
  • Has the family office staff documented their day-to-day responsibilities and processes in the event they move on or retire from the family office?
  • Has the next generation of family members been adequately engaged and educated by the family office?

Investment Strategy

Is the family’s investment strategy clearly aligned with their values and mission?

  • Has the current investment strategy been discussed and evaluated with the next generation of decision-makers to ensure future alignment?
  • Has the family discussed an impact investing or ESG investing strategy?

Family Office Technology

What is your family office’s technology state of play?

  • How many systems do you currently rely on?
  • Is your technology stack integrated and efficient?
  • Do you find yourself supplementing internal and client-facing reports with Excel-based reporting?
  • Have you recently evaluated the marketplace to understand what technologies are available?

What is your firm’s long-term technology strategy?

  • What operational problems are you trying to solve with technology (e.g. streamlining data aggregation, reducing manual processes, automating reconciliation and reporting tasks, establishing secure data hosting, etc.)?
  • If you’re considering advanced technology like Robotics Process Automation (RPA) or Blockchain, do you have the right technology base to support it?

Is your firm willing to adopt and invest in new technology?

  • Have you met with an industry consultant to evaluate the best way to configure your technology ecosystem?
  • Have you weighed the costs and time investment required to implement a new technology solution?
  • Do you have resources available to participate in and oversee a technology transition?

[Is your family office considering a new fintech solution? Read SELECTING THE BEST TECHNOLOGY FOR YOUR FAMILY OFFICE or HOW TO CONDUCT A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY OFFICE SOFTWARE PROOF OF CONCEPT to help you evaluate technology providers and their solutions.]

Consolidated and Digital Reporting

Are your family members receiving the right financial reporting in the right way?

  • How well do your clients understand their personal finances as well as the broader financial universe?
  • Is their current reporting helping them define and reach their goals?
  • Do your current reporting processes and systems allow you to tailor the reporting experience to each individual client?
  • Have you introduced digital reporting tools or laid out a plan to do so?

Outsourced Family Office Services

Do you offer an extended array of services beyond traditional reporting requests?

  • Bill payment and expense management
  • Travel and entertainment planning
  • Health and elder care planning
  • Family education
  • Philanthropy and sustainable investment strategies

Have you considered offloading resource-intensive processes to a third-party service provide?

  • Bill payment including invoice collection, document storage, bill approvals, payment generation and expense reporting.
  • Partnership accounting activities including capital activity processing, book and tax allocation management, tax reporting and 704(c) tracking.
  • Comprehensive data aggregation and client reporting that consolidates, tracks and reports across asset types, accounts, managers, custodians and currencies.

Download an interactive version of this checklist to help your family office plan their 2024 strategy.

 

Originally published Dec 18, 2019, updated Dec 8, 2023

Chelsea Spoor

 
Chelsea Francis
Head of Strategy – SEI Family Office Services

Chelsea Francis is the Head of Strategy for SEI Family Office Services, where she helps steer the division's business strategy, innovation, and future growth. With more than 10 years of experience connecting with family offices and financial institutions serving ultra-high-net-worth families, Chelsea is also responsible for developing and leading the holistic marketing strategy for SEI’s wealthtech and outsourced service solutions for the family office market. In this capacity, she oversees comprehensive demand generation, digital innovation, sales enablement, and inbound marketing programs with a core focus on producing educational family office content. Prior to joining SEI, she spent time in state government, radio promotions and corporate cause marketing.

Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and enjoys spoiling her dogs, spending time with her family, writing short stories and playing soccer.

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Chelsea Francis

Chelsea Francis

Head of Strategy
SEI Family Office Services