创建家族办公室并保持其成功，首先要对家族的优先事项进行全面评估, 目标和能力. 无论你的家族是在考虑成立家族理财室，还是在评估一个已经存在的理财室, these 10 questions provide a framework to position your family to thrive.
1. How do you define success as a family and for the family office?
我们中的许多人会优先考虑将我们的价值观传递给我们的子孙后代，而不是财产. While some families have clearly defined and widely shared values, many have not sat down together with multiple generations to discuss goals, 理想与遗产. 在流动性事件发生之前，定义共同的价值观是至关重要的，因为它有助于在过渡期间指导决策.
非常成功的企业家和专业人士的共同特征通常包括自律, grit, 激情和不屈不挠的职业道德. 在年轻人准备好之前就把财富交给他们，可能会挑战这些基本特征. 建立适当的指导方针, 教育年轻一代, 记录家族财富积累过程中的辛勤工作和牺牲，将为几代人的成功创造一个框架.
一个将成功定义为与财富相关的家族可以相应地构建和聚焦其家族办公室. It enables the family to measure success with clear objectives and benchmarks. 例如, 如果慈善事业是一个重要的家庭目标, 家族办公室可以设定目标，制定流程，支持家族珍视的社区和机构.
2. What is your purpose for building or maintaining a family office?
After a family office has clarity on family values and a definition of success, a mission statement is a natural and important next step. The statement might simply formalize the objective to manage the family’s wealth, but it also could incorporate the importance of philanthropy, education and preservation of core family values.
Consider these three basic examples of mission statements with varying complexity and detail:
家族办公室的使命是……
管理家族成员的财富，并有效地保存和保护财富传给下一代.
…primarily to educate future generations and ensure our core values endure. 我们的家族办公室团队将与每位家族成员密切合作，以确保我们对社会事业和环境保护的重视纳入我们的投资组合和慈善工作中.
制定最佳结构和财富策略，以保护我们的财富免受税收的影响，并建立一个长期的投资组合，直接投资的重点是产生现金流的投资，这些投资与我们的核心行业专长相一致, both as a family and within our internal investment team.
3. What is your investment profile—including overall objectives, 资产的规模和配置, 税收的影响, 以及每个资金池的风险状况?
虽然这听起来很简单, the answer is often complicated and difficult to specify, 尤其是在这个家族花了数年时间投资，明确专注于经营业务之后.
Clarifying the overall allocation and investment objective for each capital pool, as well as the individual investments in each capital pool, requires an inventory of traditional investments, 替代的承诺, 直接投资, 房地产控股, 艺术作品, and all assets—and identifying the location and entity that hold each investment.
4. Are your family’s multigenerational objectives best suited for a single family office, 多家族办公室或虚拟家族办公室(拥有外包首席投资官或首席财务官职能的家族办公室)?
虽然资产规模和复杂性可能是是否建立自己的单一家族办公室的合理路标, join a multifamily office or hire an outsourced CIO, many other criteria factor into that decision. 考虑隐私保护, 控制, 自定义首选项, 预算, the family’s desired involvement in office functions, the complexity of the investment program and many others.
一位有经验帮助家庭做出这一关键决定的值得信赖的顾问可以确定最符合家庭目标和细微差别的结构.
5. 您的家族办公室有什么样的治理框架来促进决策和增强办公室功能?
通知, timely decisions enable a family office to achieve the family’s objectives, and supporting those objectives with organizational structures and processes is critical.
在规划关键治理支柱时，新的家族办公室会考虑家族的价值观和使命宣言，从而从中受益, 比如家庭章程, 家族办公室董事会, 投资委员会, 审计委员会, 环境, 社会和治理委员会, direct 投资委员会 and any other committees that align with the family’s goals.
已建立的家族办公室定期审查其治理结构和流程，有效地维持每个家族办公室为后代的成功. 这包括从对高级家庭目标的重新评估到对规模进行更具体的评估, terms and effectiveness of each committee.
6. What are the main challenges you face as a family today and in the future?
家族理财室面临着各种风险. 从一开始就了解这些风险，有助于家族办公室通过通常可以得到数字解决方案支持的结构和流程来管理和减轻风险.
Consider the following risks and associated questions:
- Investment risk: How do you measure potential downside volatility, liquidity and capital calls? How do you model different investment scenarios?
- Operational risk: Do you have a tested business continuity plan in place? 如果团队成员或服务提供商不再能够执行该功能，是否存在冗余以确保顺利的连续性或继任?
- 网络安全: How are your systems protected? Are they capable of supporting remote work? Are your employees trained in good cyber hygiene?
- Legal risk: What are the implications of your family office’s jurisdiction? How are service and staffing contracts drafted?
- Data management risk: Do you understand the benefits of storing data in the cloud? 采取了哪些控制措施来管理员工和第三方提供商对数据的访问?
- Audit risk: How prepared are you in the event of an audit?
7. 什么样的财富策略和规划工具能帮助你实现家族几代人的目标?
确保您信任的顾问协调一致，作为一个团队来提供最佳策略, 并且是最新的目标, 支出需求和慈善目标.
建议每季度召开一次会议。, especially at the inception of a single family office, the start of a relationship with a multifamily office, or the development of a virtual family office.
8. 哪些系统运行您的投资业绩报告、税务管理和会计功能?
家庭办公室s that make decisions using integrated, real-time data stay on top of their performance objectives. 技术 has advanced to where a customized, 全面的, 基于云的平台可以捕获, 显示, interpret and clone data in ways that enable office employees, 家族成员和顾问就战略商业决策和家族单位的功能进行咨询.
例如, RSM’s FamilySight® can fully integrate back-office functions such as tax compliance, portfolio management and financial aggregation to bring an enterprise-level view into focus.
9. How can technology help your family office sustain success?
Customizable automated systems for financial reporting, 分期付款, 文档存储, mobile device management and human resources are improving the timeliness of information, the thoroughness of reports and reducing risk. 考虑一下你的办公室有哪些功能需要改进，以及技术如何通过提高效率来创造价值.
When it comes to technology that enhances office functions, there is a continuum between benefits and value. Finding the right balance for your family office depends on your priorities and 预算. 定期评估这些因素，可以让你的家族办公室推动并保持朝着目标前进.
10. How do you manage data and store documents?
全面的文件存储和保留措施确保家族办公室能够安全地访问关键人员和家族财务记录. 更新的做法和政策有助于减轻对关键信息可能丢失的担忧，并有助于对敏感或紧急事项作出更快的反应, 比如网络事件, material health event or family business transaction.
Cloud technology can help secure and back up important documents and data. It also enables automated processes that save time.
