A reference library on how capital is structured.

What Is a Family Office? Structure, Purpose and Cost A family office is a private organisation that centralises the management of a single family's capital, governance,… → What Does a Family Office Do? A family office coordinates every part of a wealthy family's financial life in one place: managing the investments, handling tax… → How Do You Start a Family Office? You start a family office by deciding what it is for, confirming the wealth justifies it (commonly around 100 million dollars or… → How Much Does It Cost to Run a Family Office? Running a dedicated single-family office typically costs between roughly 875,000 dollars and 6.6 million dollars a year, or about… → Do Family Offices Pay Tax? Yes, family offices pay tax. A family office is an organisation for managing a family's wealth, not a device for avoiding tax.… → How Many Family Offices Are There in the World? Estimates of the number of family offices worldwide range from about 8,000 to 20,000, depending on how the term is defined.… → Single Family Office vs Multi-Family Office A single family office serves one family exclusively; a multi-family office shares its infrastructure and expertise across… → Family Office vs Hedge Fund: What Is the Difference? A hedge fund pools money from many outside investors and charges them fees to manage it; a family office manages the wealth of a… → What Is the Best Structure to Hold Family Wealth? There is no single best structure to hold family wealth. Common-law families usually use a trust, civil-law families a… → Trust vs Foundation vs Holding Company: Which Should You Use? A trust is a common-law relationship where a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries. A foundation is a civil-law entity that owns… → What Is a Private Trust Company? A private trust company, or PTC, is a company that a family creates specifically to act as the trustee of its own trusts, instead… → How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Trust? Setting up a simple trust can cost from a few thousand dollars, while a sophisticated offshore asset-protection or dynasty trust… → Can a Trust Protect Your Assets From a Lawsuit? Yes, the right trust can protect your assets from a lawsuit, but only under strict conditions. It must be an irrevocable trust in… → Trust vs Will: What Is the Difference? A will is a document that says who gets your assets after you die, and it takes effect only on death, after a public court… → What Is Estate Planning? Estate planning is the process of arranging how your wealth will be managed and transferred, during your life and after your… → How Do You Protect Wealth in a Divorce? Wealth is protected from a divorce mainly through prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and through trusts and holding… → What Is Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI)? Private placement life insurance, or PPLI, is a life-insurance policy used as an investment wrapper: the family places assets… → Family Office and Private Wealth Statistics 2026 This is the reference page for private wealth statistics in 2026. Global personal wealth exceeds 500 trillion dollars, held by… → What Is Probate? (And How to Avoid It) Probate is the legal process by which a court validates a deceased person's will, settles their debts and taxes, and authorises… → What Is a Family Limited Partnership (FLP)? A family limited partnership (FLP) is a partnership in which family members hold interests: the older generation typically holds… → Family Office vs Private Bank: What Is the Difference? A private bank is a financial institution you hire to manage your wealth alongside its many other clients; a family office is a… →

What Is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)? A special purpose vehicle, or SPV, is a company or partnership created for a single, defined purpose, most often to hold one… → How Do Family Offices Invest Their Money? Family offices invest across public equities, bonds, private equity, private credit, real assets, hedge funds and cash, but their… → Hedge Fund vs Private Equity: What Is the Difference? A hedge fund is open-ended: it runs indefinitely, holds liquid assets, and lets investors put money in and take it out over time.… → What Is Private Equity? Private equity is investing in private companies, ones not listed on a stock exchange, with the aim of improving them and selling… → What Is a Hedge Fund? A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades liquid markets, stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives, with wide freedom to… → What Is Private Credit? Private credit is lending to companies by investors rather than banks. Instead of buying a company's shares, a private credit… → What Are Secondaries in Private Equity? Secondaries are the buying and selling of existing private equity fund stakes, rather than investing in a new fund. An investor… → What Is a Continuation Fund? A continuation fund is a new fund a private equity manager creates to buy one or more companies out of an older fund it runs, so… → What Is Co-Investment? Co-investment is investing directly in a specific deal alongside a fund manager, in addition to, or instead of, investing through… → What Is a Fund of Funds? A fund of funds is a fund that invests in other funds rather than directly in companies or securities. It gives investors instant… → What Is Carried Interest? (2 and 20 Explained) Carried interest, or carry, is the share of a fund's profits that its manager keeps, classically 20 percent. It sits on top of a… → Private Equity Statistics 2026 The global private equity industry manages roughly 4 trillion dollars in assets in 2026, part of about 15 trillion dollars in… → Venture Capital Statistics 2026 Global venture capital deployed about 440 billion dollars in 2025 and then a record 510 billion dollars in the first half of 2026… → Hedge Fund Statistics 2026 The global hedge fund industry manages roughly 4 to 4.5 trillion dollars in assets in 2026. It enters the year with strong… → Private Credit Statistics 2026 The global private credit market exceeded 1.7 trillion dollars in assets in 2024 and is forecast to reach roughly 2.8 trillion by… → What Is Venture Capital? Venture capital is investment in young, high-growth private companies, typically technology startups, in exchange for equity. VC… → What Is the Endowment Model? The endowment model, pioneered by Yale under David Swensen, is an investment approach that allocates heavily to alternative and… → Gold and Precious Metals for Family Offices Gold and precious metals serve a family office as a store of value and a hedge, wealth that sits outside the financial system and… → Crypto and Digital Assets for Family Offices For family offices, crypto and digital assets are a small, high-risk, high-volatility allocation, held by some as a hedge or a… → What Is an LP and a GP? (Limited and General Partners) In a private fund, the general partner (GP) is the firm that runs the fund, makes the investment decisions and bears legal… → What Is Venture Debt? Venture debt is lending to early-stage, venture-backed companies, usually alongside an equity round. It lets a startup raise cash… → What Is Distressed Debt? Distressed debt is the debt of companies in or near financial trouble, bought at a steep discount to face value. Investors buy it… → What Is Securities-Backed Lending (Lombard Loans)? Securities-backed lending, often called a Lombard loan, is borrowing money using your investment portfolio as collateral, without… → Real Estate Investing for Family Offices Real estate is one of the most common family office investments, valued for income, inflation protection and tangibility.… → Infrastructure Investing for Family Offices Infrastructure investing means owning the physical assets that underpin the economy, roads, ports, utilities, energy and… → Investing in Art and Collectibles (Passion Assets) Passion assets are collectibles the wealthy own for enjoyment as much as investment: art, classic cars, fine wine, watches and… → Farmland Investing for Family Offices Farmland is agricultural land held as an investment, valued for its combination of income (from crops or rent) and long-term… →

Holding Companies Explained A holding company is an entity whose purpose is to own equity in other companies and assets rather than to carry on an operating… → The $32,000 Black Screen: Is the Bloomberg Terminal Still Worth It in the Age of AI? The Bloomberg Terminal is a subscription financial system, priced near 32,000 dollars a seat per year, that fuses market data,… → The End of the Dollar Anchor A reserve is the money that must still be there, and still be spendable, after a bad decade for any single currency or country;… →

Which Country Is Best to Set Up a Trust? There is no single best country for a trust. For asset protection, the Cook Islands is the strongest and most tested… → Do Offshore Trusts Avoid Tax? No, offshore trusts do not avoid tax. A legitimate offshore trust is fully reported to the settlor's home tax authority and taxed… → What Is Citizenship by Investment? Citizenship by investment (CBI) is acquiring a country's citizenship, and passport, in exchange for a qualifying investment, such… → Best Countries for a Family Office (2026) There is no single best country for a family office. Singapore and the UAE (DIFC and ADGM) lead for internationally mobile… → Best Countries for Tax Residency (2026) For wealthy individuals in 2026, the leading tax-residency destinations are the UAE (zero personal income tax), Italy (a flat tax… → What Is Tax Residency? (And the 183-Day Rule) Tax residency is the country that has the right to tax you, usually on your worldwide income. It is decided by where you actually… → What Is Non-Dom Status? (And Why the UK Abolished It) Non-dom, or non-domiciled, status was a UK tax regime that let residents whose permanent home was abroad avoid UK tax on their… → What Is a Golden Visa? A golden visa is residency by investment: the right to live in a country in exchange for a qualifying investment, such as real… → Inheritance Tax by Country (2026) Inheritance and estate tax varies enormously by country. The US and UK tax at 40 percent, France reaches 60 percent for distant… → Onshore vs Offshore Company: What Is the Difference? An onshore company is incorporated in a major, high-tax jurisdiction where it operates; an offshore company is incorporated in a… →

Family Governance Explained Family governance is the set of rules, forums and agreements through which a family makes decisions about shared capital and… → Family Office Cybersecurity: The Complete Guide Family office cybersecurity is the practice of protecting a wealthy family's data, money and reputation from cyberattacks. Family… → What Is an Investment Policy Statement (IPS)? An investment policy statement, or IPS, is the written document that governs how a family's capital is invested. It sets out the… → What Is a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)? A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a charitable account: you contribute money or assets, get the tax deduction immediately, and… → What Is an OCIO (Outsourced Chief Investment Officer)? An OCIO, or outsourced chief investment officer, is an external firm that takes over the day-to-day management of an investor's… → What Is a Private Foundation? A private foundation is a charitable organisation, usually created and funded by a single family or individual, that makes grants… → How Do You Hire a Family Office CIO? A family office CIO (chief investment officer) leads the family's investment strategy and portfolio. Hiring one means finding… →

High-Net-Worth Individuals: Statistics 2026 In 2026, there are roughly 57 million US-dollar millionaires worldwide, holding close to half of all global personal wealth of… → What Is Impact Investing? Impact investing is investing with the intention of generating a measurable, positive social or environmental impact alongside a… →

What Are CRS and FATCA? CRS (the Common Reporting Standard) and FATCA are the two systems that make financial accounts automatically visible to tax… →

The Family Office Lexicon A family office lexicon is a working vocabulary for how sophisticated families structure, govern, invest and pass on capital.… → How the World Measures Wealth, and Why No Two Reports Agree Wealth is net command over resources, everything owned at market value less everything owed, but any honest figure must also… →