Family Office Exchange to Offer the Definitive Workshop on Starting a Family Office

CHICAGO, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Office Exchange (FOX), a leading provider of research, education, and networking support to wealthy individuals, family office executives and wealth advisory firms, today announced that it will conduct a new educational workshop to help families efficiently establish a family office. Dubbed "Family Office 101: Creating a Family Office Blueprint™", the workshop will take place in Miami on February 22-23, 2012.

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"One of the most frequently asked questions we encounter is 'How do I go about setting up a family office?'" says Karen D. Neal, managing director of consulting for FOX. "Families setting up a family office want to do it right from the start. They want to know the necessary steps to take, the appropriate questions to ask, and they don't want to repeat the same mistakes others have made before them."

"FOX is in a unique position to offer this workshop because we can pull together, in two days, the best practices we have identified from 22 years of working with family offices," commented Ms. Neal. The workshop is based on the Family Office Blueprint™, which like an architectural blueprint, is a detailed sequence of steps used to customize a family office to a particular family situation.

Participants in "Family Office 101: Creating a Family Office Blueprint" will evaluate their decision to start a family office, explore ownership and structure options, and gain a clear picture of the financial services that could be offered by the office and requisite staffing needs. Experts will explore the complexity of asset ownership, covering investment guidelines and processes to put in place. Also included is a discussion of technology to support the family's reporting needs, office policies and procedures, and office budget and allocation of costs. Assessing the value of the office and developing the beginnings of governance that can evolve over time are the final critical elements of starting an office. Participants will hear from experts in each area, learn from current family office executives, and work in groups with their peers.

"By the end of the workshop," Ms. Neal says, "participants will have the tools to begin creating their own, custom roadmap for the next 18 to 24 months of their family office start-up."

"Family Office 101: Creating a Family Office Blueprint" is open only to wealth owners and family office executives. Membership in FOX is not required to participate.

Full Workshop Calendar for 2012 Announced

FOX also announced the full schedule of six educational workshops for 2012, four of which are new topics. Returning to the lineup is the very popular workshop about trusteeship called "Grantors, Trustees, and Beneficiaries: A New Look at Roles and Responsibilities." The full schedule includes:

• "Family Office 101: Creating a Family Office Blueprint™," February 22-23, Miami (new)
• "Grantors, Trustees, and Beneficiaries: A New Look at Roles and Responsibilities," March 27-28, Chicago
• "Developing a Business Strategy for Launching a Multi-Family Office," May 21-22, Chicago (new)
• "Strategy for the Family: Getting Started on a Long-Term Plan," June 6-7, Chicago (new)
• "Family Leadership Succession: Developing a Roadmap for Successful Leadership Transition," September 10-11, Chicago (new)
• "Grantors, Trustees, and Beneficiaries: A New Look at Roles and Responsibilities," November 28-29, New York

Known for addressing challenges unique to the family wealth market, FOX has developed a workshop format that brings together wealth owners and family office executives with subject matter experts to address pressing issues in a focused working environment. Participants develop a plan of action as they problem solve with peers who have a shared interest in the topic.

For more information, visit www.familyoffice.com/workshops.

About Family Office Exchange

Family Office Exchange (FOX) is a global membership organization dedicated to supporting ultra high net worth families and their advisors with research studies, consulting services, collaboration opportunities, and education on key topics such as managing wealth, family governance and best practices for running family offices. FOX currently serves 500 families and their advisors from headquarters in Chicago and London with offices in New York and Boston. For more information about FOX, call 312.327.1200 (Chicago office) or +44 20 7170 4235 (London office) or visit www.familyoffice.com.