Ocorian, a provider of services to HNW individuals and family offices, financial institutions, asset managers and corporates, has just released a new study based on a study of 300 family offices.

Family offices around the world have become more professional – their governance, management and infrastructure have improved over the last five years – but they must prepare for future demands, such as passing over wealth and assets to a new generation, new global research from Ocorian shows.

Its international study surveying more than 300 family office professionals, carried out by independent research company PureProfile – collectively responsible for around $155 billion assets under management – found that 85 per cent of respondents believe that their family office's operations and structure have become more professional over the past five years.

According to the research, family offices have become more professional in a number of different ways – around half have developed a stronger succession plan and 48 per cent have strengthened the family constitution or charter, or introduced one for the first time. Almost half have also secured the support of more professional third parties and 45 per cent have strengthened the management team that runs the family office, the firm said.

But despite this increased professionalism, family offices still need to 'up their game.' The research reveals that they need to have the right governance in place to enable them to meet the needs and expectations of family members. For instance, the need to be heard was cited by 86 per cent of respondents.

This was followed by the desire to ensure that their investment portfolio is properly managed and aligned with the risk and return profile of the family. The third most important requirement was having a robust family succession plan in place, Ocorian said.

With global regulatory demands constantly changing and becoming increasingly complex, over a third of family office professionals surveyed said that meeting these demands was amongst their most difficult obstacles to overcome.

“It is extremely positive that so many family offices have taken significant steps in becoming more professional over the last five years, and it is certainly the biggest trend I’m seeing with my UK clients. I’d suggest this rapid and widespread professionalisation is a result of the explosion of growth in number of family offices; they simply have to professionalise as a way to stand out in an increasingly crowded market,” Michael Harman, commercial director – private client at Ocorian said.

The global study interviewed family offices in Bahrain, Bermuda, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US.