Episode 8 of 10
Questions for the First Meeting With a Multifamily Office
The first meeting should help your family decide whether a multifamily office can serve your needs. Bring a written agenda, ask direct questions, and listen for clear answers. You are evaluating the relationship, the service model, the people, and the way decisions are made.
How to Start the Conversation to Create Your Family Office
Start with your family’s priorities
Open by explaining what you want to improve. Your list may include consolidated reporting, bill payment, investment coordination, philanthropy, family education, private business support, or help with outside advisers. Rank the list. A multifamily office should be able to explain which services it provides directly and which services come from outside specialists.
Ask: “What families are a good fit for your model?” Then ask what situations are outside its scope. A clear answer helps you avoid a mismatch. You can compare the answer with the service descriptions in our firms directory and the practical guides in Learn. Ask how the firm would turn your priorities into defined responsibilities, decision rights, and reporting. The answer should show where the family retains control and where the office coordinates specialists.
Ask who will do the work
Find out who will lead your relationship, who prepares reports, and who makes recommendations. Ask how long the proposed team has worked together and what happens if a key person leaves. Request a simple organization chart and a description of each person’s role.
Ask whether the firm uses employees, affiliated companies, or independent providers for legal, tax, insurance, lending, and investment work. If the firm recommends an investment professional or broker, you can review registration and disciplinary information through FINRA BrokerCheck. FINRA describes BrokerCheck as a free tool for researching investment professionals and firms. FINRA BrokerCheck is a useful starting point, followed by questions about the specific people serving your family.
But if you write down the 30 questions that a sophisticated investor should always be asking you and that you would ask you if you were on their side of the table and write out the answers to all of them. It's going to make them feel much more comfortable investing with you.
Make fees and conflicts specific
Ask for every category of compensation in writing. This includes advisory fees, planning fees, custody charges, fund expenses, performance fees, transaction costs, referral payments, and fees charged by affiliates. Ask for examples using your expected account size and service mix.
Also ask: “When could your firm earn more because of a recommendation?” The SEC advises investors to ask professionals how they are compensated and what conflicts of interest may affect recommendations. You can review a registered adviser’s Form ADV for information about services, fees, ownership, and conflicts. SEC Form ADV information can help you prepare follow-up questions.
Do not accept “there are no conflicts” as a complete answer. Ask how conflicts are identified, disclosed, monitored, and resolved.
Understand investment decision rules
If investments are part of the engagement, ask how the firm turns your objectives, time horizon, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance into a written policy. Ask who approves allocations, how often portfolios are reviewed, and what triggers a change.
Ask how private investments are evaluated, valued, monitored, and reported. Ask what information you receive when an investment is hard to sell or cannot be priced daily. You should also understand custody. Ask where assets are held, who sends statements, and how you can verify positions independently.
Keep this discussion educational. You are learning how the process works, not asking the first meeting to produce a personal investment recommendation.
The relationship matters way more than the bullet points in your piece of paper. Anyone could print out a one pager that says you're going to provide someone a 28% IRR.
Test reporting, technology, and privacy
Request a sample monthly or quarterly report with sensitive information removed. Check whether it shows net performance, cash, private assets, liabilities, taxes paid, commitments, and outside accounts. Ask how quickly errors are corrected and who reviews the reports before delivery.
Ask how documents are exchanged, how access is controlled, and how the firm responds to a suspected cyber incident. Ask whether family members can have different permissions. If you need help gathering records, the site’s tools and data sections can help you organize the information before the meeting. Ask who documents recurring reporting processes, reviews outside providers, and keeps responsibilities current when staff or vendors change.
Clarify the first year
Ask for a plan covering the first 30, 60, and 90 days. It should identify data collection, account access, reporting setup, investment review, outside adviser coordination, and early decisions. Ask what the family must provide and what the office will deliver.
Ask how success will be measured after twelve months. Useful measures may include complete reporting, fewer duplicate accounts, documented responsibilities, faster cash decisions, or a completed family meeting calendar. Ask what happens if the relationship ends, including data delivery, account transfers, notice periods, and final fees. You can also compare this process with our guide on onboarding a family office when it is published.
Use the meeting to observe behavior
Notice whether the team answers in plain language, admits limits, and keeps the conversation focused on your family. Ask one question twice in different ways. Consistent answers matter. Invite a family member who will use the reporting or attend governance meetings. Different users often identify practical needs that the primary decision maker misses.
Before you leave, repeat the agreed next steps, owners, dates, and documents required. Send a short written summary afterward and ask the office to correct any misunderstanding.
Checklist
- Bring a ranked list of family priorities, current advisers, major accounts, liabilities, and decisions you expect to make in the next year.
- Ask for the proposed team, full fee schedule, conflicts disclosures, sample reporting, custody details, and a written first year plan.
- After the meeting, record what was promised, what remains unanswered, and which references or documents you still need to review.
Takeaway
Use the first meeting to test clarity. The right multifamily office can explain its scope, people, fees, conflicts, decision process, reporting, and first year plan in language your family understands.