32 Parking Plaza
Suite 506
Ardmore, PA 19003

Family Office: Strategic Review

An established international family office sought a strategic review of its investment operations to understand the gaps between the current state and industry best practices across each function.

INDUSTRY
Family Offices
AUM
<$5 billion
IMPLEMENTATION TIME
4 months to complete a strategic review and vendor selection
Services
Strategic Review
Vendor Selection & Implementation

Challenge

The CIO and COO of an established international family office sought a strategic review of its investment operations to understand the gaps between the current state and industry best practices across each function.

Solution

The CIO and COO hired UPC to review all operational functions including:

  1. 1. Accounting
  2. 2. Audit
  3. 3. Cash management
  4. 4. Investment execution
  5. 5. Reporting
  6. 6. Research management
  7. 7. Risk management
  8. 8. Tax

 

During the discovery phase, UPC reviewed available documentation and led discovery sessions with the team.  The goal was to understand the current processes, technology, and vendors used for each of the functions listed above.  These sessions were conducted both virtually and in person.

 

At the start of each session, follow-up questions were addressed based on the content covered previously. Additionally, UPC took time to educate the family office on best practices and any gaps identified in prior sessions, ensuring that all recommendations were vetted with the team in advance.

 

UPC also held bi-weekly check-in meetings with the CIO and COO to review the project plan, discuss findings, and review draft versions of the strategic review report.

 

The recommended actions included the need for additional technology within the investment office. As a result, UPC led a vendor selection process for the family office, which involved creating an evaluation matrix, coordinating and facilitating demos, providing off-list references, and drafting a final recommendation.

Results

As a final deliverable, UPC presented the family office with the following documents 4 months after hire:

  • Portfolio management system vendor recommendation
  • Research management system vendor recommendation
  • Strategic review final report which included a prioritized list of recommended actions, proposed organizational chart, estimated implementation costs, project timeline, and meeting notes.
  • Board presentation which summarized UPC’s recommended actions, implementation timeline, and cost as well as next steps.

 

The actions recommended by UPC to the family office would drive efficiency gains, improve data integrity, and enable more robust and timely reporting.

 

Following the successful completion of the strategic review, the family office engaged UPC to lead the implementation of all recommended actions.

Family Office: Multi-Entity Reporting

Looking to optimize your investment operations?