Multi-family offices and other wealth advisory firms are managing to grow solidly despite the weak economic environment, according to a new benchmarking study from Family Office Exchange.

Multi-family offices and other wealth advisory firms are managing to grow solidly despite the weak economic environment, according to a new benchmarking study from Family Office Exchange.

The FOX Multi-family Office and Wealth Advisor Benchmarking study found that the median firm grew revenues by 13 per cent from 2010 to 2011, and by 8 per cent in 2012.

As firms grow, however, they are grappling with operational challenges - particularly how to find talented client-facing staff.

“The continued reliance on exceptionally talented, yet hard-to-find, client-facing personnel makes improving productivity a paramount goal for most firms,” said David Lincoln, managing director of research at FOX.

Multi-family offices and RIAs are targeting significant growth, Conor Hourigan, of executive search firm David Barrett Partners, recently told this publication. These firms are looking for candidates who will accept some “skin in the game,” Hourigan said. “There is an increased interest from senior advisors in large firms to consider making such a move,” he said.

A diverse picture

Despite this relative optimism and buoyant growth overall, growth and pricing at individual firms within the sample differed widely, FOX said. With this said, in general, firms appear to be getting a handle on funding the delivery of expensive services to clients, with 86 per cent charging higher fees to more complex clients, the organization said.

The sample size was not made publicly available, but is detailed along with the other findings in the report. Participation was open to multi-family office members of FOX as well as qualified non-member multi-family offices.

The survey found that most wealth managers still charged asset-based fees, but that they were also exploring other options, particularly a basis points plus retainer model.