It is vital that a family office is equipped to deliver the family’s vision, and that the objectives of the family and their family office are aligned.

Deloitte supports:

• Design and build of family offices
• Strategy formation and review
• Alignment of interests between asset owners and the family office
• Governance and operational structure
• Design enterprise compliance programs
• Regulatory consultation
• Design and build of IT infrastructure

Preserving the family’s assets and reputation are a key responsibility of the family and family office and nowhere more so than in the area of tax. Recent developments in global tax initiatives and other trends have fundamentally changed the landscape in which families and their family offices must operate.

Deloitte supports:

• Asset and jurisdiction mapping
• Tax strategy
• FATCA/CRS and Tax compliance and structuring
• Audit readiness
• Resolution of disputes with global tax authorities
• Economic substance assessments and reporting
• Estate tax planning
• Succession planning
• Shareholder wealth planning

An effective family office will implement an investment strategy that balances the desire for long-term wealth preservation, the income needs of the family and the objectives of the current generation.

Deloitte supports:

• Private investment fund structuring
• Asset Tracing
• Capital markets transactions (including acquisition and divestiture)
• Financial statement audits and performance audits
• Agreed upon procedures assurance engagements
• Financial statement preparation (US GAAP/IFRS) and bookkeeping services
• Valuation of business and assets including ‘lifestyle’ assets (e.g. art)
• Data analytics and modelling
• Dispute resolution, litigation support and expert witness services
• Merger, acquisition and divestiture advisory and due diligence
• Digital Assets risk, compliance and investigation services
• Liquidation appointment and wind down assistance

Family offices face a myriad of risks, including fraud, operational challenges, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity threats. Deloitte offers a full suite of services to address these critical areas and help safeguard family offices against potential vulnerabilities.

Deloitte supports:

Cyber risk

• Security event monitoring, analytics, cyber threat management and incident response
• Crisis management and recovery programs
• Managed extended detection and response
• Cloud security
• Data and privacy compliance
• Operational digital resilience and penetration testing
• Identity and access management
• Fraud risk
• Fraud investigations and forensic accounting
• Fraud protection and agreed upon procedures
• Implementing and advising on control measures to separate roles and responsibilities
• Regular audits to identify and rectify control weaknesses
• Operational risk
• Operational modernization
• Technology integration and transformation to improve data management and operational workflows
• Risk management frameworks and risk assessments
• Policy development
• Enterprise risk management design
• Enterprise risk assessments

AI can help family offices streamline their operations and enhance decision making through automated portfolio research and analysis, investment due diligence, risk assessment, document processing, and personalised reporting capabilities.

Deloitte supports:

• AI training and awareness
• Identifying high-value use cases
• AI and data readiness
• Trustworthy AI (including AI policy and governance)
• Piloting and evaluating AI
• AI systems implementation (alongside our technology partners)

Attracting and retaining effective talent remains a significant success factor of any family office. Establishing formal practices will ensure the family has the right talent to meet changing employee and business needs.

Deloitte supports:

• Attracting and identifying talent
• Design of performance management programs and reward structures
• Family office executive transition lab and other succession planning
• Brand and reputational risk management
• Immigration support including visas and citizenship applications
• Remuneration and compensation analysis

As with a family’s investments, it is important to have a strategic approach to philanthropic endeavours in order to maximize value and impact.

Deloitte supports:

• Developing a philanthropic vision
• Design the philanthropic structure to meet the family’s requirements
• Ongoing tax advice to maximize value
• Foundation audit or other assurance engagements