A centimillionaire family office should put decision rights, investment oversight, and succession plans in writing. Separate family ownership from day-to-day management, use an investment committee for transparent review, and bring in independent advisers for outside perspective. Keep family members connected to decisions that affect shared wealth, while making clear who is accountable for each decision.
Set clear roles and decision rights
Start by documenting who owns family assets, who manages the office, and who can approve major decisions. Define which matters belong to the family, which are delegated to executives, and which require review by a board or committee. Record how conflicts are disclosed and handled, how decisions are documented, and how authority transfers if a principal becomes unavailable.
The structure should suit the family's stage and complexity. A first-generation family may need clear rules for business continuity and a plan for a surviving spouse. As the family grows, governance can explain how relatives participate and how they stay informed without placing everyone on every board.
Give investment decisions a regular process
An investment committee can provide a senior forum to review existing holdings and proposed investments. Set its mandate, membership, meeting schedule, and decision process in writing. The family should know whether the committee advises, approves, or has delegated authority, and how its recommendations reach the person or body with final authority.
Committee materials should make it possible to compare opportunities, risks, liquidity needs, and fit with the family's objectives. Keep a record of decisions and revisit the mandate when the family's circumstances or investment approach changes. This creates a more transparent process and helps keep investment choices from depending on informal conversations alone.
Add independent advice and inclusive family input
An advisory board can bring expertise that the family office team does not have. Members might advise on management, strategy, or difficult decisions, while remaining distinct from full-time executives. Be explicit about each member's role, compensation, confidentiality, and whether the board has any formal authority.
Family participation also matters. One event speaker described inclusive governance as giving family members a sense of agency in the business or shared wealth, without putting every grandchild on the board. Independent board members can offer perspective during difficult periods, while family members remain connected to decisions that affect them.
Plan for continuity across generations
Write down what happens if a founder dies or cannot lead. Identify who will run operating businesses, who can support a spouse or other family members, and how interim decisions will be made. Keep these documents current and make sure the people expected to carry them out know where they are and what they require.
A family's governance can also include shared values and expectations for younger generations. The practical test is whether family members and staff can explain who decides, who advises, and what happens when the usual decision-maker is unavailable.
From Family Office Club events
"we have a document so if I die there's governance and rules over who would run the company who would run the business help my wife navigate all of that so that's important even if you're early first gen yourself"
Sources
- Family Office Club event transcript
- Family Office Club event transcript
- Family Office Club event transcript
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