When it comes to their single-family offices, self-made Asian super-rich women will regularly do their homework and will be very tough negotiators. They will bring the same mind set, talents and capabilities that have made their business endeavors so successful to the establishment and oversight of their single-family offices.
NextGen
Despite the preponderance of first-generation new money, there are quite a number of multigenerational families that have created incredible personal fortunes. In established families, the children or grandchildren of the wealth creators (depending on when the family fortunes were initially founded) are commonly not very happy or enthralled with the way their predecessors managed the family fortunes.
Thus, they are disinclined to see old, well-worn relationships with their parents’ or grandparents’ advisors as particularly worthwhile, unless those professionals are demonstrating that their services and products are exceptional. But often, the previous generation’s advisors will be discarded in favor of more sophisticated and responsive professionals. That’s also a motivation behind these families’ creation of single-family offices.
The increased mobility of the Asian super-rich, especially of younger generations, coupled with the fact that they are interacting with one another more and more, allows them to do a lot of sharing. Many of them “do lunch” together, often with the assistance of a facilitator and selected experts, informally, perhaps while attending events such as the World Economic Forum.
As a result, the next generation wealthy are again turning to the idea of a well-run family office as a way of maintaining the preferred levels of control, strategically outsourcing tasks and maximizing their relationships with external experts, just as super-rich women are.
Thus, talented wealth managers who are able to connect with these single-family offices can become extremely successful.
Conclusions
Given the opportunities, the competition is intense. More and more wealth managers and other professionals are trying to build highly profitable businesses by working with this cohort. And as single-family offices emerge, the level of competition is only going to increase.
As with all the super-rich the world over, one of the biggest problems is gaining access to the decision makers. The optimal way to connect with them is through referrals from other highly regarded professionals. If you are recognized as one of the best of the best for a particular expertise, product or service, it can contribute greatly to your gaining access and winning them over. This stature regularly goes to wealth managers who are recognized industry thought leaders.