Family Offices: What Lies Beneath?

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On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Rodolfo Paiz and Ramia discuss how a family office can help families with everything from philanthropy to next-generation engagement, and what Rodolfo’s iceberg model reveals about the impact of the pandemic on family offices.

Rodolfo Paiz grew up in a successful Guatemalan family business, and translated those experiences into a career in the family office space as a consultant and the CEO of Fidelius Family Office.

Episode Takeaways:

•  When it comes to starting a family office, the two most significant barriers are a lack of awareness around family offices in general, and the myth that the primary purpose of family offices is wealth management. Many family business leaders never think of starting a family office because they don’t see how it applies to them, especially when there are so many other matters to contend with.
• Family offices are a priceless asset to family businesses when it comes to family unity, education and back-office services — aspects that only become more relevant with time as family principles disperse geographically and the culture gap between generations widens.
• Rodolfo’s iceberg model separates the family office into six constituent parts. Wealth, financial and otherwise, is the only part of the iceberg that’s visible to outsiders, and is kept afloat by the other five layers below, which are family, education, governance, people and business.
• The pandemic has most affected family offices on the level of business and family, but in many cases, owning families were able to turn this pressure into positive outcomes by spending more time with each other while protecting or pivoting their businesses.