A single family office is a private company that works for one family. It runs the investments and usually much more: taxes, bill paying, property, insurance, private deals, philanthropy and how the family makes decisions together. It’s exempt from SEC registration as long as it serves only the family, and it’s built at very large scale: the 317 single family offices in UBS’s 2025 survey managed an average of $1.1 billion. A wealth manager serves many clients, manages their investments and builds planning around them. Fee-only wealth managers that publish prices charge a median 1% of assets a year. In between sits the multi-family office: a wealth manager that offers family-office services to several families, and is usually registered like any other adviser.
The short version
| Single family office | Multi-family office | Wealth manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it serves | One family | Several unrelated families | Many households |
| Who owns it | The family | Its owners, like any firm | Its owners, like any firm |
| SEC registration | Excluded if it meets the family office rule | Usually a registered investment adviser | Registered investment adviser |
| Services | Investments plus tax, bill pay, property, staff, governance, philanthropy | Investments plus many of those, shared across families | Investments with planning, tax and estate coordination |
| Cost to you | The office’s salaries and systems, paid by the family | A fee, often a percentage or retainer | A fee: a median 1% among fee-only firms |
| Scale | Very large fortunes | Large, but well below a single office | Any balance the firm accepts |
What makes a family office a family office
Legally, the term is narrow. Under the SEC’s rule, a single family office has to meet three conditions: it “has no clients other than family clients,” it’s wholly owned by family clients and “exclusively controlled” by family members, and it “does not hold itself out to the public as an investment adviser.” Meet all three and the office isn’t an investment adviser under federal law, so it files no Form ADV, and the Advisers Act’s duties don’t apply to it.
As a marketing term, “family office” is wider. A firm can call itself a family office or a multi-family office without meeting that rule, because it isn’t claiming the exemption: it’s a registered adviser describing its services. That’s fine, but read the services, not the name.
UBS Global Family Office Report 2025
Source: UBS press release, May 21, 2025
What a family office adds beyond a wealth manager
A wealth manager runs your portfolio and coordinates your CPA and estate attorney. Our guide to financial planner vs wealth manager covers that work. A family office goes further into the family’s daily affairs:
- Consolidated reporting across banks, custodians, private funds, real estate and operating businesses
- Bill paying and household administration, including staff payroll and property costs
- Direct and private investments, often run as a small in-house investment team
- Family governance: meetings, a family constitution, preparing the next generation
- Philanthropy: foundations, donor-advised funds and grant-making
Bill paying has a regulatory edge. An adviser with authority to move your money may have custody of it, which brings extra rules. A multi-family office’s brochure covers custody in Item 15.
What each costs
A single family office costs what it spends. The family pays salaries, rent, systems and outside providers, and those costs are largely fixed whether the portfolio is up or down. That’s why single offices sit at the top of the wealth scale. Surveys of family office costs exist, but we couldn’t check their figures against the full reports, so we don’t quote one here.
A multi-family office charges a fee, often a percentage of assets with breakpoints, or a fixed yearly retainer for the extra services. Few publish schedules on their websites; the brochure, Form ADV Part 2A, has to give the fee schedule in Item 5 and any minimum in Item 7.
A fee-only wealth manager charges a median 1% of assets (middle half 0.95% to 1%), usually lower on larger balances, or $4,500 a year for flat ongoing planning. Of 781 fee-only firms whose websites state a minimum, 50% say they have none. For dollar totals at higher balances, see our $5 million guide.
When a family office is the better choice
- The family’s affairs are a business in themselves: several homes, staff, operating companies, private deals and trusts across generations.
- You want a team that works only for you, with no other clients competing for its time.
- Scale makes the fixed cost small as a share of the assets.
A multi-family office is the usual middle step for families who want those services without building an office.
When a wealth manager is the better choice
- Your needs are investments, tax and estate planning, not household administration.
- The assets don’t justify a dedicated staff. A wealth manager spreads its cost across many clients.
- You want a registered fiduciary. A registered adviser owes you a fiduciary duty and files public disclosures you can read before you hire it.
See multi-generational family advisors, family wealth transfer specialists and ultra-high-net-worth advisors in the public graph. If the wealth is new, for example after a sale, founders before an exit and our guide to selling a business are a good start.
How to check which one you’re talking to
- Search the firm on the SEC’s adviser search. A multi-family office or wealth manager should be there. A firm that serves you, isn’t owned by your family and isn’t registered is a question to ask.
- Read Item 4 of the brochure. It has to describe the services the firm offers. Look for the family-office work you’re paying for: reporting, tax, bill pay, governance.
- Read Items 5, 7 and 15. Fees, minimums and custody.
- Check how it’s paid. A fee-only firm earns nothing from products. Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only shows where to look.
For the bank alternative at this level, see private banker vs fee-only advisor.