Family Office Fundamentals: Human Capital Matters

“If your family is considering forming a family office ,or, has had one for many generations ,this book offers superb questions about the “Why’s” of an office and then ,in correct priority, the steps to answer the “How’s”. Rightly it centers deeply on the “Why’s” of the office’s highest priority, the successful growing of a families’ Qualitative Capitals: spiritual, social , intellectual and human, with their growths supported by its Quantitative capital ,its financial capital. We all know, although all too often have forgotten, the word wealth, in its original and forever meaning, Is well-being. If a family sees its wealth as financial capital and fails to see it as the well-being of its members then assuredly the universal cultural proverb shirt sleeves to short sleeves in three generations will be its fate. Mark and his co-authors have offered to you, if you are considering an office, or, have one, the antidote to the proverb and the path for an office to be part of its avoidance and more importantly why and how it can serve and help sustain your families flourishing/well-being for generations to come.
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"Mark has provided the family office community the single-best comprehensive resource to answer questions regarding building “best practices” to achieve their goals.  Who governs and controls, what services are offered, what goals and principles are priorities? This is the ultimate guide for practitioners and family members.

Mark has created a necessary roadmap for families who are trying to build their legacy and a detailed guide for executives advising the wealthiest families in the world.  A major contribution to our eco-system.

We are grateful to Mark for this achievement -- our family benefited from Mark’s precise guidance on the best path to sustain family legacy and build family wealth.  We now have added many of Mark’s chapters to our family meeting agenda… it is so difficult to find impartial and expert advice and Mark is the best in the business."

"Mark Somers leads a business which is in the rare position of being able to demonstrate genuine understanding of single family offices (SFO) by numerous successful hires. Some of these are senior people who have been in place for many years, to the ongoing satisfaction of former candidate and employee alike. This, his second book, continues a thorough and profound examination of how SFOs should be organised and how they should provide advice. I am not aware of any other UK-based head-hunter who has dared to write such books, nor who would have the domain expertise to do so. This book is founded on the surest of roots for such a work, namely deep intellectual capital. I commend it to those who wish to learn about SFOs, whether to set up, review or work with them."

“Family Office Fundamentals comprehensively tackles the wide range of evolutionary issues facing family offices, from the challenges of delegating authority to outsiders and the next generation to risk management and portfolio construction in direct investing.  This constructive and practical book shines a necessary light on tender spots and blind spots in the family office.”

"Setting up a family office is a substantial and complex undertaking.  Before they set out, [Principals] want to understand what this involves, what a family office can do, the challenges they face, and the advantages and disadvantages of such an entity. [...] Wouldn’t it be great if someone had already done much of the work and consulted many of the thought leaders in the family office world?    It would be helpful if someone had considered the problems that they might face and also the potential solutions.  This is exactly what Mark and his team have done.  Taking a considered and analytical assessment has produced some fascinating insights into how to set up your own family office.  The various contributors have done an excellent job identifying and articulating all the challenges and issues that may arise.  It is a great read, and I recommend it to anyone on this journey.”