Family offices are increasingly common among high-net-worth families and, therefore, members of the Spear’s network.
As such, major changes were made this year to the Family Office Services index and accompanying Advisers to Families indices, in order to ensure they both accurately reflected the complexities of the industry.
In the Family Office Services index below, the Spear’s research unit has identified leading advisers who work almost exclusively with family offices, providing services to them.
This could be investment advice, such as Darren Allaway of Goldman Sachs, or governance, strategy and ongoing support, such as Catherine Grum, of Catherine Grum Consultancy, or Annamaria Koerling, of Delfin Private Office.
Occasionally some of them might take on individual clients, but they do so to provide the same sort of service as they would to a family office, they do not provide the sort of wide-ranging support that a family office would itself.
Other advisers, including those who support multiple family offices, or family business advisers, have been moved from this index to the Advisers to Families index, also published today.
‘Once wealth reaches a certain level it becomes unwieldy and too time-consuming for the wealth holder to manage it all themselves, and it is more efficient to hire a small group of people on retainer to manage one’s personal affairs. Where the wealth is big enough, it spreads through a family and questions of shared assets, succession, collective funds and properties become contentious if they are not handled centrally and dispassionately.’
Content from our partners
Ian Douglas, Spear’s Head of Research
Jump to: Methodology
Jump to: Best family office service advisers for HNW individuals: the complete list
Jump to: Find out more
Spear’s family office service advisers: names to know
Charlotte Filsell – Top Recommended
Firm: Schroders Family Office Services
Charlotte Filsell is a top family office service provider, known for her focus on service and knowledge of charitable and philanthropic trends.
Her career has included spells at HSBC (twice) and UBS on the way to becoming head of family office services at Sandaire. In the wake of the company’s 2020 acquisition by Schroders, Filsell now leads the latter’s UK family office services team, supporting individuals, family offices, trusts, business owners and charities.
Read Charlotte Filsell’s full profile at Spears500.com
Sally Tennant – New Addition / Top Recommended
Firm: Acorn Capital Advisers
An experienced private banking and family office expert, Sally Tennant launched Acorn Capital Advisers in 2016, a firm that offers strategic investment, family office, and philanthropic advisory services to UHNW individuals, families, and trustees. Tennant is also involved in philanthropy as a trustee of the Royal Academy Trust and a patron of Tommy’s the Baby Charity, for which she received an OBE in 2018.
Read Sally Tennant’s full profile at Spears500.com
Annamaria Koerling – Top Recommended
Firm: Delfin Private Office
Annamaria Koerling founded Owl Private Office in 2017 after roles at Cazenove and C. Hoare & Co. The firm later underwent a ‘demerger’, leading to the creation of Delfin Private Office which offers family office services to global families and where Koerling is managing partner. She also writes a regular column for Spear’s magazine.
Read Annamaria Koerling’s full profile at Spears500.com
Methodology
In selecting and ranking the best family office service advisers for HNW individuals, the Spear’s Research Unit conducts extensive research of the market, including interviews with well-informed observers, industry insiders and of course the advisers themselves. These take place both face-to-face, and on video and telephone calls. Candidates for inclusion are asked to fill in a form to provide data and a description of their work and client base. In finalising its selections and rankings, the Spear’s Research Unit employs a proprietary methodology that includes a weighted scoring system. This takes into account factors including an adviser’s standing, reputation, client base, recommendations and testimonials, the firm they represent, their level of engagement with the process and certain industry-specific criteria.
Best family office service advisers for HNW individuals: the complete list
Find out more
To explore all the Spear’s indices, and to use our find-an-adviser tool to identify the private client adviser who is right for your specific requirements, go to the Spear’s 500 website.
To receive relevant research updates from Spear’s – and thereby give you and your firm the best chance of being included in future Spear’s indices – please register here. If you are an adviser featured in an index and would like to update your profile or provide additional information, please email research@spearswms.com. If you are not featured but would like to be, please fill out our form.
