What does the onboarding process look like when a family joins a multifamily office?
Onboarding usually starts with fit and discovery meetings. The office learns the family’s goals, people, entities, assets, liabilities, reporting needs, and decision rules. Compliance teams verify identities, ownership, and authority where required. After agreements are signed, the office coordinates account openings, asset transfers, reporting setup, and an initial service calendar.
1. Fit, scope, and family discovery
The first meetings should establish whether the office’s services match the family’s needs. We discuss who will be served, which entities and family members are included, decision makers, communication preferences, and the work the office will coordinate. A practical discovery process covers investments, operating businesses, real estate, cash, debt, insurance, philanthropy, estate structures, and existing advisers. The goal is a shared list of priorities and a clear definition of the office’s responsibilities. A family office may provide investment advice and coordinate other services, including tax and estate planning, depending on its structure and mandate. The SEC describes these functions in its family office guidance. [SEC, family office rule overview]
2. Documents, identity checks, and authority
Next comes documentation. Expect requests for government identification, tax identification numbers, entity formation records, trust documents, ownership information, and authority documents for people who can give instructions. Financial institutions covered by customer identification and customer due diligence rules must follow procedures to verify customer identity and, where applicable, beneficial ownership. The exact requirements depend on the institutions and services involved. These checks protect the family and the office, and they often involve coordination with banks, custodians, attorneys, and accountants. [FINRA, Customer Identification Program notice] [FinCEN, CDD Final Rule]
So, ask who's on the team. Look at who’s on the team and ask how big the team is. That should be the very first thing you do.
3. Agreements, implementation, and first review
Once scope and diligence are complete, the family signs engagement, advisory, custody, and other service agreements that apply to its arrangement. The office then opens or links accounts, transfers assets where authorized, gathers historical statements, and builds reporting. It records investment policy preferences, liquidity needs, risk limits, spending requirements, and approval rules. A published family office setup example from Beaufort places engagement after fact finding and due diligence, followed by legal coordination, entity work, and bank account opening. The first formal review should confirm that data is complete, responsibilities are understood, and the service calendar works for the family. Onboarding is complete when the family knows who does what, how decisions are made, and when progress will be reviewed. [Beaufort Private Client Services, typical family office setup]
Related guides
- Family Office Due Diligence: A Practical Guide for Multifamily Offices
- Access to Alternatives Through an MFO: A Practical Guide for Families
- Cross-Border Families and Multifamily Offices: A Practical Guide