The Next-Generation Family Office

Once upon a time, the phrase “family office” conjured images of a leather-bound desk, a fax machine, and a very serious man named Geoffrey monitoring dividend flows. But today? It looks more like a former founder, hoodie still in rotation, trading spreadsheets for strategy sessions and asking: “Can we build something more useful than a pie chart?”

The reality is, the old — or more traditional model doesn’t quite fit the new generation. The founders I work with — typically between 35 and 50 — aren’t retiring into spreadsheets and subcommittees. They’re builders. Still thinking in terms of leverage, advantage, and edge. And increasingly, they’re asking better questions of their wealth.

That shift is subtle, but it’s reshaping the entire landscape.

Structuring Around Founder Strengths

In most traditional wealth structures, the assumption is that after a business sale, the family will hand over capital to an investment committee, move into a passive allocation model, and focus on preservation. But the best wealth creators don’t stop being builders just because they’ve exited. Equally, most wealth management models are built around assets under management (AUM). Advisors don’t want founders or family members investing themselves— because it doesn’t fit their remuneration model.

Perhaps the client-relationship I enjoy most, is with a founder who exited a specialty food distribution business. When we first sat down, the instinct was to preserve capital. But as we spoke, it became clear that his edge — his network, his insight, his ability to shape outcomes — was still very much alive. The question became: how do we build around that, without creating another full-time job?

We co-designed a structure that committed a portion of capital to acquiring and scaling businesses in adjacent verticals. Not at arm’s length — but with frameworks that allowed him to contribute selectively and strategically. In one case, we acquired a cold storage asset and were able to secure tenants for the vacant space during due diligence, leveraging each of our relationships in food-service. By the time the property settled, rents were higher and the bank had revalued the asset as a result of this.

Beyond the relationships, he understood the unique operational and logistic challenges that smaller tenants would have. The more flexible nature of their businesses. And he recognised that the largest cold storage providers didn’t adequately serve the SME type tenant. So he did.

That kind of result doesn’t come from spreadsheets. It comes from structure, relationships and strategy that recognises what the founder is uniquely positioned to do — and creates room for it.

In another case, a hospitality founder wanted to stay involved in the industry post-exit — but not at the coalface. We built an advisory framework where he could lend his experience in sourcing and operations. Over time, we systematised this — plugging him into companies where his expertise measurably lifted performance. He also helped form a buying group for independent venues, increasing scale and driving down input costs. What began informally turned into institutional value.

And talent? That’s often overlooked. We worked with a founder who acquired a regional telco and brought in two former executives. One became COO. The other enabled infrastructure partnerships that changed the growth trajectory. It worked not because of industry expertise, but because of trust — and a few shared war stories over bad coffee.

Leveraging Networks

A recurring theme I’m hoping to highlight, is that across many business families there is enormous untapped value sitting in their networks.

A long-standing retail beauty founder had a dense network of product manufacturers and creators, eager to get into their stores. Traditionally, only the largest, most established brands were stocked, and their competitive advantage was volume. However, with the rise of e-commerce, this became challenged. Online retailers had more scale, but stores had great staff and client experience. What started as a margin discussion turned into a formal program. The business created a channel to give emerging brands distribution in exchange for equity or revenue-share. Their stores became more than sales outlets — they became launchpads. Margin grew. Deal flow improved. The ecosystem flourished.

With others, we’ve formalised networks into diligence protocols or informal advisory boards. In one instance, a founder will commit to calling 5–7 trusted peers before any material investment. That peer-led diligence often yielded sharper insights than any consultant could offer — and certainly faster than waiting for a deck. Or as advisors, we do the same with institutional contacts, or subject matter experts within our client base.

This kind of relational edge isn’t new. But it is often underused. Our role is to build structure around it, encourage it and ensure it’s leveraged.

Next-Gen Involvement and Succession

Succession used to mean waiting for someone to retire. That’s not how it works anymore.

I’m more regularly seeing families set up a “venture pool” for younger members. It isn’t necessarily large, but it gives them live experience: pitching ideas, debating allocations, and reporting outcomes. It’s not about getting everything right. It’s about starting early and building confidence. The same approach can be used for Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) but instead of pitching investments, it’s deciding on a charity to donate to and why. Who the donation will support, what impact it will make and how much of each dollar actually flows through to the end beneficiary.

In more established offices, we’re seeing inheritors take on real transformation. In one case, the son of a legacy industrial family brought in startup-grade software to modernise their reporting and CRM. This helped better forecast orders, client needs and identify consumer patterns that could be optimised for customer satisfaction and higher sales. It wasn’t just a symbolic change — it was operational, and improved outcomes.

These next-gen leaders are often more comfortable with collaboration, digitisation, and shared infrastructure. The friction that sometimes emerges is natural. But when managed well, it leads to real evolution.

Values and Alignment

Another quiet shift is how values can be embedded — not just talked about, but operationalised. One example is a family who had long supported underprivileged communities in accessing higher-education or healthcare. They did this, primarily by donating to associated charities. But that same desire didn’t show up in how investment capital was deployed. We helped them define a values framework — scoring a subset of investments by alignment. Then we applied it across their portfolio, not just in a “philanthropy” silo. Reporting improved. So did purpose. Additionally, those investments didn’t come at the cost of below target returns.

Younger families, in particular, are asking whether their capital is solving the types of problems they care about. They’re not looking for ESG filters — they want conviction. Equally, for donations, they want accountability.

Governance, Control and Digital Infrastructure

Technology has changed expectations. Many of the founders we support are used to real-time dashboards and flexible tooling. So when they get handed quarterly PDFs, their eyes glaze over.

We’ve spent significant time working with Australian platforms and accounting groups to help clients transition to live dashboards that consolidate everything from listed equities to escrowed shares and digital assets. In one case, a founder in his 30s wanted to better model liquidity under different earn-out schedules. We co-developed a dashboard that gave him the clarity to plan — and the control to act. He didn’t have full visibility over his cashflow, and the exercise allowed him to optimise cashflow.

Privacy is also coming up more often. We’re are increasingly seeing families partner with external experts to help them put protocols in place — covering data storage, communications, and social media exposure. One family introduced a digital safety onboarding program for all members, teens included. Not out of fear — but out of a shared understanding that even the best tech stack is only as strong as its weakest link. Data leaks, or compromised social media can pose new risks to operating businesses, financial security, or impact the reputation of the business or members.

And then there’s the rise of what I term the “micro family office.”

These are leaner structures — $10–30M in assets — but often built with the same intent and diligence as larger offices. With the right design, families can combine fractional advisors, shared infrastructure, and smart tools into something bespoke and sustainable. One group of tech founders started with a WhatsApp chat and now operate a shared back office with individual autonomy. Built slowly. On purpose.

A Final Thought

Every founder eventually asks the same question in some form: how do I make this wealth work for me, not the other way around?

There’s no single answer. But in my experience, the families who get it right don’t rush. They build thoughtfully. They stay close to their strengths. And they aren’t afraid to do it differently.

So let me leave you with a few questions:

• What do you know that others don’t?
• Which relationships, industries, or patterns do you instinctively understand better than most?
• If you had a blank canvas and patient capital, what would you build around those insights?

Your intellectual property, operating know-how, or relationships might not sit on a balance sheet — but they’re often the most valuable assets you own.

The question isn’t just how to preserve capital — it’s how to activate it.