Family office insights this week:

• All you need to know about family office conferences

• New family office jobs in NY, Atlanta and Grand Rapids

• Cannabis is booming, so why isn’t anyone getting rich?

• Forget quality time with your kids, it’s garbage time you want

• A terrifying and exhilarating book on AI

Family Office Conferences

The good, the bad and the ugly side of family office events.

The boom in family offices has come with the inevitable surge in family office conferences.

Some conferences are restricted to family offices (my favorites), others are open to deal sponsors and service providers.

As the majority of family offices are relatively new, understanding best practices and benchmarks is a priortiy. Conferences can play a vital role in knowledge exchange between peers and help family offices connect.

But with the explosion in conference options comes the reality that some deliver more value than others, and some may be more focused on their own revenues than value for attendees.

Today’s newsletter looks at family office conferences, how they work and how they sometimes don’t.

Types of events

The Milken Global Conference, Aspen Ideas Festival and the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos are high up on the list for many larger family offices. 

While not specifically family office events, the sheer money and power on display attract the world’s leading family offices.

Then there are family office-focused conferences hosted by independent entities, often replicated across popular cities with the theme adjusted to fit that regional interest and maturity in the family office space. Prestel and Partner and their nine annual events around the world are notable here.

Publishers often organize family office events to support their titles. They often focus on specific themes like technology or investment trends. For example, Clearview Publishing host various summits and forums for WealthBriefing or Family Wealth Report titles.

Family office networks such as the SFO Alliance and Campden Wealth run excellent events. They carefully vet event attendees so the conferences are optimized for the family offices rather than sponsors or service providers. A select group of service providers and sponsors may attend, although usually with strict guidelines around selling and bahavior.

These networks frequently host smaller gatherings, but also arrange large annual conferences for their members, to bring them together and exchange knowledge, and sometimes introduce service providers. 

The size of these larger conferences can have advantages for attendees, as SFO Alliance co-founder Keith Johnston explains:

“Large events win because here you can create smaller, high-conviction intimate gatherings via breakout sessions and private dinners. At our conference where there are 500 attendees we can create a high quality room for 20 SFOs to talk about Investing in Critical Minerals. You can't do that level of detail unless you can choose from a much larger group.” 

Private banks and the Big Four often host more intimate events for local family offices. These tend to be dinners, receptions, sporting events and combine networking, education and entertainment.

These institutions have figured out that the hard-sell seldom works. The focus is generally on building relationships and sharing knowledge, i.e. leading with value.

The Good

Done right, family office conferences can offer exceptional value. 

They ensure a good mix of attendees, from family office professionals and principals, wealth owners and the most relevant commercial partners and service providers in the appropriate number.

They balance insightful talks with discussion forums that promote peer-to-peer exchange, with smaller sessions for focused themes and time for informal networking. 

And they include the next generation of wealth owners, not just as attendees but through direct involvement in either panel discussions or hosting forum sessions.

Dinners and lunches hosted around the main conference create another opportunity for attendees to connect and engage more informally.

The Bad 

With so many conferences and forums aimed at family offices, it’s hard to know which are worthwhile and which aren’t. 

Some event organizers host up to three conferences a month to capitalize on the burgeoning interest from family offices.

This dilutes the value for both family offices and the service providers attending.

The eagerness to tap into family office capital means conference organizers can disproportionately bloat the attendee list with fund representatives and those seeking investment, rather than family office members.

Trying to pack as many attendees into one space doesn’t make sense. 

“If you do everything in one big room, cabaret style, it won’t work because the SFOs interests are idiosyncratic,” says SFO Alliance’s Keith Johnstone. “You will have too many topics where the SFOs will think 'that topic isn't relevant to me' and will leave.”

The Ugly 

With the vast capital controlled by family offices, it’s no surprise shady characters attempt to ingratiate themselves into their events.

Earlier this year, a panelist was removed at the last moment from a conference in Singapore, after the discovery they had completely faked their family office credentials entirely.

There was also the supposed Dubai prince who attended a family office conference and promised to set up a $500 million family office in Hong Kong - then embarrassingly turned out to be a former pop singer from the Philippines. (More on this on X tomorrow!)

But perhaps most notorious is the story of family office con man Anthony Ritossa as exposed in Vanity Fair a few years ago, a warning that the secretiveness of the family office industry can add to the risk.

Attendance fees

Most of the larger family office conferences are held at lavish venues in major cities, so it’s no surprise the cost of attending can be quite high. 

Some events can cost upwards of $4,000 to join others are included in annual membership fees costing tens of thousands. But the price is often worth paying.

By contrast, the free events can end up costing family offices valuable time and energy.

Remember, if you're not paying for the product, then you are the product!

Five excellent annual family office conferences

1. SFO Week, London by the SFO Alliance

2. Institutional Investor Family Office Wealth Conference, CA

3. GPFO European Conference, London

4. WMI Global-Asia Family Office Summit, Singapore

5. Campden Wealth European Family Office Forum, Europe, Global Owners and Family Office Congress, UAE, Family Office Forum, US

The major family office networks such as the SFO Alliance, GPFO and Campden Wealth also offer a range of targeted and local events both in person and online.

Find your fit

For family offices looking to expand their network, engage with other family offices and connect with service providers, attending conferences can form an invaluable part of their annual calendar. 

But they can also be a total waste of time, so best do the research and ensure the purpose of the considered event aligns with your objectives and expectations.

Better yet, get firsthand feedback from previous attendees where possible.

And if you do attend, make the most out of it. Engage with panelists, speak at the forums and ask questions wherever possible.

𝕏 highlights

The many roles of a family office (this is a work in progress, so feedback is welcome).

Off-the-shelf family office software.

And the beauty of garbage time.

 💼 where to work

Three new family office job opportunities this week…

Family Office Strategist, Managing Director - Bank Of America (New York / Service Provider)

Family Office Operations Manager - Balentine (Atlanta / Multi-Family Office)

Vice President - Private Single Family Office (Grand Rapids / Single Family Office)

📚 what to read

Last week I shared a highly technical book about digital transformations. This week it’s a higher-level look at AI. The Coming Wave by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman outlines the incredible risks and opportunities of the AI revolution. It’s exciting, it’s terrifying. Immense wealth will be generated, but the risks are almost unfathomable.

📻 what to listen to

Cannabis Is Booming, So Why Isn’t Anyone Getting Rich? Not too long ago, I was inundated with offers around the cannabis industry. Those offers have dropped as the returns have not materialized. An interesting episode of Freakonomics explores the economics of cannabis.

📺 what to watch

Last Friday’s newsletter was on private credit and family offices. One reader sent me this interesting overview.

And finally… 

Last month we launched a Careers newsletter and a Deals newsletter. The response has been incredible. Look out for the next editions later in November. In the meantime, it has been great to see some connections made and meetings lined up.

Family Office Buzz will be back on Monday (here’s the last edition if you missed it) with more of the best content on family offices and beyond.

Until next week, see you on 𝕏 or LinkedIn

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