SFO MFO BFO UFOs? GTFOh!

Anyone attend the FO seminars 5 years ago? Anyone know what a FO was 10 years ago?
Well with the tidal surge in Asian wealth comes the upswell in Asian wealth management. And since the private banks have transformed themselves into product pushers, the void in service has been taken up by the Family Offices or FO's. And in the mish mash of every player from banks to brokerage houses saying they offer family office services, it's a crap shoot out there.

What does this have to do with us trustees? Well like it or not, FO's will play a part, perhaps an instrumental part, in driving where the money will be parked. They will influence whether a family (usually a UHNW family) uses a trust. They will help select advisors and trustees. How much to put in the trust. And where the trustees should invest with the money the family has put into the trust. In other words, they will be either your best friend or worst enemy.

You better warm up to the idea or get left behind. Richard Straus, Asia-Pacific head of global family office and institutions at Citigroup's private-banking unit said Richard Straus, Asia-Pacific head of global family office and institutions at Citigroup's private-banking unit said within the next seven to ten years, it is very likely that the number of family office will increase to 1,500, triple the present number. The reason for this is the growing number of millionaires in the region. [http://www.banking-business-review.com/news/family-offices-in-asia-to-triple-says-citigroup-241011]

Our renaisaance man: Eli Lenyoun is a board member of the Society of Family Offices, largely a Singapore based resource centre: http://sfoasia.org/index.html. I direct you to the list of service providers: http://sfoasia.org/Resources-directory.html [looks like a "pay to stay" advertising arrangement] but there 35 regional trust companies on that list. [Take a look at the so-called "Wealth Structuring Solutions companies. I remember a time when they were called insurance brokers]