Everything You Need to Know About Family Offices — From Costs to Leadership and Alternatives

The term family office has long carried an air of quiet exclusivity. Once reserved for dynastic families with fortunes built over generations, the model has evolved into something both more accessible and more flexible. Today, many successful entrepreneurs, executives, and first-generation wealth creators are asking the same questions: What is a family office? How much does it cost? Do I need one? And if not, what’s the alternative?

This guide brings clarity to those questions — and highlights where a modern Fractional Family Office President, such as the team led by Amy Parvaneh at Select Advisors Institute, can offer many of the same benefits without the traditional cost.

What Does a Family Office Do?

At its core, a family office is designed to centralize and simplify the financial and personal affairs of wealthy families. Beyond wealth management, it integrates tax planning, estate planning, family governance, philanthropic coordination, investment oversight, bill payment management, lifestyle support, and succession planning into one seamless structure.

The idea is simple: rather than a family juggling multiple advisors and firms, the family office acts as the hub — ensuring all professionals and priorities are aligned.

The Difference Between Family Office and Wealth Management

A common point of confusion is the difference between wealth management and a family office.

• A wealth manager or RIA typically focuses on investments: portfolio construction, asset allocation, and sometimes financial planning.

• A family office, in contrast, is much broader. It doesn’t replace investment managers — it oversees them. It coordinates the CPA, the estate attorney, the insurance specialist, the banker, and the philanthropic consultant, making sure each is working in harmony.

Where wealth management is about managing money, a family office is about managing the whole ecosystem of wealth.

Single Family Office vs. Multi Family Office

There are two primary models:

• Single Family Office (SFO): Built to serve one family exclusively. Staffed with a dedicated Family Office CEO, President, or Executive, and often including investment professionals, accountants, legal experts, and administrative staff.

• Multi Family Office (MFO): A shared resource serving multiple families, with costs distributed but with less personalization. Families often fit into a template, rather than building a completely bespoke operation.
  

The difference is scale. A single family office offers total control and privacy. A multi family office offers efficiency but sometimes less flexibility.

The Cost of Operating a Single Family Office

The question of how much it costs to start a single family office is one of the most common. The truth: it varies.

• Annual operating cost: Often exceeds $1 million, depending on staff size, technology, and office infrastructure.

• Staffing: A dedicated Family Office President, CEO, or Executive can command compensation ranging from $300,000 to over $1 million annually, depending on responsibilities.

• Other staff: Analysts, accountants, investment officers, and administrators add to the expense.

As a rule of thumb, families often look to establish a single family office once their investable assets exceed $100 million — though some start earlier.

How Much Should I Pay My Family Office President?

A Family Office President is effectively the COO of your family’s financial and personal life. Compensation varies widely:

• Lower end: $250,000–$400,000 for smaller, less complex families.

• Upper end: $750,000+ for large, multi-generational families with complex needs.

This role commands high compensation because it holds accountability for coordinating across all professional silos.

Do I Need a Single Family Office — or Something Else?

For many families in the $10 million to $100 million range, the cost of operating a single family office feels disproportionate. They want the integration, but not the payroll and infrastructure.

This is where fractional models have emerged.

At Select Advisors Institute, founder Amy Parvaneh serves as a Fractional Family Office President — offering families the leadership, oversight, and integration of a family office without the seven-figure overhead.

Instead of building a staff of five or ten, families retain their existing professionals — RIAs, CPAs, attorneys, insurance specialists — and Amy ensures they’re aligned, coordinated, and accountable. It’s the same value proposition, delivered in a lighter, more flexible form.

Examples of Family Office Support

A family office (whether single, multi, or fractional) might provide:

• Bill Payment Management: Ensuring household and entity-level bills are handled accurately and securely.

• Advisor Coordination: Aligning tax, legal, and investment strategies.

• Investment Oversight: Reviewing managers and reporting holistically.

• Philanthropy Management: Coordinating donations, foundations, or donor-advised funds.

• Family Governance: Facilitating conversations on values, responsibilities, and succession.

• Lifestyle Concierge: Coordinating travel, real estate purchases, or major asset acquisitions.

How to Start a Family Office

If you are considering how to start a single family office, the steps generally include:

1. Defining scope — investment-only vs. fully integrated services.

2. Hiring a Family Office President or CEO to lead.

3. Establishing entity structures and staffing.

4. Building reporting and oversight systems.

5. Ongoing review of effectiveness and cost.

For many families, the question is less how to start and more whether to start. That’s where guidance from Select Advisors Institute helps — identifying whether you need a single family office, a multi-family office, or a fractional approach.

The Future: Bespoke Solutions Without the Overhead

The family office world is evolving. What was once an option only for the wealthiest dynasties is now accessible through new models that combine flexibility with sophistication.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur with $25 million, a second-generation inheritor with $75 million, or a multi-generational family with $250 million, the key is asking: Do I want to be the one holding everything together, or do I want a dedicated executive to do it for me?

For many, the answer is not to build a seven-figure operation, but to engage a Fractional Family Office President like Amy Parvaneh — someone who integrates, orchestrates, and ensures no detail is left unmanaged.

Important Disclosure: Select Advisors Institute provides coordination and consulting services only. We do not provide investment advice, manage client assets, prepare tax returns, or provide legal services. All references to other professionals are illustrative. Clients should perform their own due diligence before engaging any third-party professional.