Family Office

Ogier has a wealth of experience in working with different types of family office, local and international families and providers of family office services in order to meet the diverse needs of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families and to understand the challenges facing them. In particular, Ogier has identified the increasing need for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families to establish family offices with substance in our jurisdictions.

We can provide practical assistance in relation to the governance of family offices, in particular the role of family members, external consultants and investment advisors in the family office structure, succession issues and generational planning and the creation of soft or hard frameworks to support interaction and communication between the family office, family members and their key advisors.

We can also assist with the legal and regulatory issues involved in establishing new family offices and for existing family offices including financial services regulation, necessary licensing and staffing permissions, anti-money laundering reporting and obligations, and data protection, together with the relocation of family members, family offices and staff to our jurisdictions and related business set-up, property, immigration and employment matters.

We can provide training to family office administrators to assist with CPD requirements.

Our corporate administration business Ogier Global has a specialist Private Wealth Services team which establishes and governs structures.

What is a family office?

While by no means the sole definition, a useful one is provided by the Family Office Council, a membership group for single family offices, which defines a single family office as a private organisation that manages the investments for a single wealthy family. The assets are the family’s own wealth, often accumulated over many family generations.

In addition to investment management some family offices provide personal services such as managing household staff and making travel arrangements. Other services typically handled by the traditional family office include property management, day-to-day accounting and payroll activities, and management of legal and tax affairs. Family offices often provide family management services, which includes family governance, financial and investment education, philanthropy coordination, and succession planning.

In our experience, every single family office is different and reflects the needs and interests of the family that it serves. In each case the matters for which a family office will be responsible and the mechanism for governance of a family office should be considered carefully at the outset.

Learn more about establishing a family office in Guernsey and Jersey in our guides below to help you decide the perfect home for your structure.

Family offices in the Channel Islands. Which island works best for you?

Essential guide to setting up a family office in Guernsey

Essential guide to setting up a family office in Jersey

Learn more

Legal services

Employment

Staffing permissions
Employment contracts
Policies and procedures
Registration with appropriate authorities
Secondment and consultancy arrangements
Immigration including work permits and visas
Income tax, social security registration cards, insurances

Establishment and structuring

Trusts
Foundations
Companies
Limited partnerships
Family unit trusts
Alternative structures, including cell companies
Private trust companies
Holding structures for luxury assets

Governance

Family charters
Multi-generational families
Composition of boards by family members and professional advisors

Regulatory

Authorisation, licensing and registration of family office entities and advice on available exemptions from regulatory licensing requirements
Authorisation, licensing and registration of individuals where applicable
Financial services regulation (investment services, funds, trusts and corporate administration)
Business licences and staffing permissions including high value residency and licensed status applications
Anti-bribery and corruption/avoiding facilitation of tax evasion
Anti-money laundering (AML)
Data protection/GDPR
Policies and procedures
Family investment exemptions

Relocations and property

Relocations to our jurisdictions –family offices/high-net-worth individuals/employees
Business licences including high value residency and licensed status applications
Commercial investment acquisitions and sales
Commercial leases
Residential property
Settling into the new jurisdiction
Introductions to other advisors and contacts

Estate planning, wills and probate

Estate planning advice
Probate
Wills and codicils

Corporate administration and fiduciary services

Ogier Global family office services

Incorporation and establishment of family office structure in line with legal/regulatory advice
MLRO/CO Appointments
Data Protection Officer
Staff Handbook drafting
Annual Employee Declarations
Premises
Payroll services
Full governance services to the family office