When it comes to running a smooth ship, family offices many times end up frustrated by a natural inertia that commonly occurs over the years. The multiplicity of asset classes, and the proliferation of entities over time, creates stress for family office professionals and the systems they operate with. Systems end up cobbled together from widely available well known non-investment software solutions to the point of confusion and inefficiencies.
The need for change is often not readily clear. Many offices trudge along managing the complications until they are forced by events, such as death, divorce, the departure of key trusted personnel, etc. Arguably, trying to cope with change on top of those occurrences suggests that it’s better to bite the bullet and upgrade operations during quieter times; that is before one of these unforeseen, but inevitable, events occurs.
Change can result in either purchasing software or outsourcing to a multi-family office (MFO). The choice between software and an MFO involves balancing the costs and effort of one against the flexibility and ease of the other.
Too often, family offices procrastinate or otherwise avoid coming around to making a decision, and just end up persisting under current solutions. This is the worst of all worlds.
Why do family offices continue along with outmoded and stressed operations? Fear of change perhaps. Slowly boiling frog syndrome, maybe. Completely understandable when one is aware of the statistics about failed implementations and budget overspend. Those are certainly real and they are valid concerns. However, there are often very specific reasons implementations are unsuccessful. It’s important to get straight answers and know what pitfalls to avoid before even considering taking steps.
Write me and let’s look at your options together.
Ashley Whittaker, President Global Sales, a.whittaker@fundcount.com
