The Concierge Arms Race Inside the Family Office Boom

Credit COVID-19 for a new trend among family offices: Increasingly, they’re being called on to handle nearly every aspect of lifestyle planning. Competent financial management is now just a starting point.

Family offices are no longer merely financial stewards. Today’s ultra-high-net-worth families expect services such as luxury-travel planning, wellness and longevity coaching, and lifestyle management from the organizations that oversee their wealth.

Historically, it fell to a family office’s administrator or accountant to provide services beyond traditional wealth management.

“What is new about today’s mindset is a lot of family offices realize the accountant or admin isn’t necessarily the best person for this,” said Mark Tepsich, a family office design and governance strategist at UBS Family Office Solutions. “So they’ll go find somebody who has that background or experience.”

Industry experts also note a generational shift. During the pandemic, the geographic distribution of wealth changed. Before then, wealth was heavily concentrated in urban areas due to economic ties.

But quarantining encouraged families to work remotely and buy real estate in nontraditional locations. At the same time, younger family members have become more interested in unique experiences and personal well-being.

“The next generation is stepping into a leadership perspective role,” said Skye Young, managing director at Parere Advisory, a family office development firm. “And they’re like, ‘Hey, our family is looking for something different; can you help us build out that new offering?’”

The result is the emergence of the hybrid family office — a model that typically includes a few full-time employees who solve daily pain points for families, supplemented by partnerships with external subject-matter experts and specialized service providers.

“FOMO [fear of missing out] is real,” Young said. “Especially when you have new wealth, it’s a little bit about, what is my best friend doing? Or, what is my mentor doing? I think a bit of that has fed into the family office boom.”

Not more help, but the right help

As the number of wealthy families has grown, so has the number of family offices. That has commoditized wealth management services, making it harder for wealth managers to stand out.

Exclusive concierge services have stepped in, partnering with single- and multifamily offices to offer unique experiences at a relatively accessible price.

According to the 2024 UBS Global Family Office Report, 66% of family offices have 10 or fewer employees—generally not enough to manage the range of services expected, including lifestyle support.

“When they become a member, they retain us, so we don’t add any transactional charges,” said Stuart McNeill, founder of London-based Knightsbridge Circle. “A key selling point for us is access — we open seemingly closed doors to restaurants that are sold out, private members clubs, red-carpet events and experiences.”

Knightsbridge Circle also assigns no more than four families to each staff member, ensuring “exceptional, proactive service,” McNeill said.

“I had a prospect call a few years ago; and the gentleman, a billionaire from North America, said to me, ‘Look, I’ve got eight personal assistants, why do I need you?’” McNeill said. “My response was, you could have 800 personal assistants, but they’re not getting you into that place on a Saturday night. He said, ‘I like that, let’s go ahead.’”

For single-family offices, finding the right help may mean hiring a full-time director of lifestyle services. Offices typically source this person directly or work with a recruiter, said UBS’ Tepsich.

“Because, again, at a family office, you’re dealing with investment, finance, accounting folks,” he said. “It’s like, we need this, but what does this person look like? What kind of experience should they have?”

Even then, finding the right in-house hire can be a serious challenge

“There is a massive shortage of experienced, knowledgeable talent to fill all the demand for these roles,” said Parere’s Young. “And that’s across the spectrum — from capable administrative support that can greet external business associates, to coordinating a five-week-long family holiday, to accountants who can handle both investment and personal expenses.”

As a result, both single- and multi-family offices are increasingly contracting with third-party firms that offer fractional lifestyle resources.

“Say a family has a real estate development project that has been underway for two years, but they haven’t had strict oversight from a budget or timeline perspective,”Young said. “They might come in and say, ‘Do you have someone who could, for five to 10 hours a week, just be our centralized coordinator?’”

Healthy, wealthy — and wise

The ultimate family office perk may be one that’s hardest to quantify — long-term wellness. It may also be the most sought-after concierge service today.

Dr. Gregory Charlop, an anesthesiologist by training, has long worked on longevity with successful professionals. “I suffered my own case of burnout a number of years ago and kind of switched jobs,” he said.

For the past few years, Charlop has partnered with family offices as a fractional chief wellness officer. He, too, points to COVID as a turning point.

“We all realize now tomorrow is not guaranteed,” he said. “Who knows when the next pandemic will come or what life will bring us in the future. What people want now is they want to live a good life.”

For family offices, wellness services are typically layered on top of elite medical care. While concierge doctors focus on urgent health concerns, such as blood pressure or cholesterol, wellness programs take a broader view.

Charlop helps clients reassess their goals: Are they burned out? Are they enjoying life and relationships? Are they doing what makes them happy? He also helps find top physicians and health care plans in specific cities.

While some services might seem beyond the traditional scope of a family office, UBS’ Tepsich said there’s virtually no limit when it comes to concierge offerings. Still, he emphasized the need to maintain quality.

“Either you’re going to execute on it well or you’re not,” Tepsich said. “A lot of it comes down to having an open and honest conversation with the family about what you’re going to be good at and what you’re just trying to be good at.”