GenSpring Family Offices will boost the profile of its Family Business Center unit this year, according to Maria Elena Lagomasino, the firm's chief executive officer.

To date, GenSpring has not aggressively marketed the Family Business Center, which was established three years ago and fully launched one year ago as a division that specializes in working on a wide range of issues affecting a family business, separate from the family office.

In fact, the center is not even mentioned on the firm’s web site.

But this year GenSpring will take the wraps off, Lagomasino said.

“We’re getting ready for the next step,” she said. “This is something people want and we can do it well and do it right. A lot of people who work with family businesses want to do transactions and be involved in selling the business. We’re not doing that. We want to help these families think about their wealth in a multi-generational way.”

Demand for the service has been strong, and the Orlando-based unit will be staffing up this year, according to Steve Salley, the GenSpring senior partner who co-heads the Family Business Center.

But trying to figure out exactly what to charge has been challenging, Salley said.

“It’s a huge commitment of time, both for the families and GenSpring,” he explained, “and unlike investible assets, you can’t charge on the value of the business.”

To date, GenSpring has negotiated a fee with Family Business Center clients on a retainer basis.

And while the fee, which can be in the range of “a mid-level executive salary,” is reviewed at the end of the year, Salley said.

However, “getting it right immediately” has been difficult, he said.

“The work requires incredible talent and people in lots of different fields of expertise, which is not inexpensive to deliver,” he said. “And the work has to be something the family and the business see as a value-added. The families need to appreciate what we do, and GenSpring needs to be fairly compensated.”

At least half a dozen consulting groups with expertise including, legal, tax, estate, accounting, fiduciary, governance and conflict resolution are pulled together in a “holistic whole,” Salley said.

In addition, the center “has a huge element of generational training and preparation,” he added.

Until recently, the unit “has not been a profit center,” according to Lagomasino.

“We need to understand what the business is,” he said.

While GenSpring executives expect demand to be strong, the unit’s growth will also be selective, Salley added.

“As each family comes on, we have to start with four months of in-depth analysis,” he said. “We can’t take on 60 families. Our limit is on growth, not demand. We have to honor the uniqueness of each family. If we get to the point where we’re mass producers, we’re not doing our job.”