Auro Professional Cape Town
Trusted Family Wealth Office
When you have an idea, an experience that you know is divinely inspired, you feel the need to act upon it, and quickly!
Like all great journeys, this one too will start with a single step. I have been privileged to be exposed to a number of business models, service providers and exceptional people that assist to shape and mould an idea into an executable business model.
The term “family office” or “family wealth office” is not a new concept internationally, it has however been revealed to me as a value contributor to our clients.
The family wealth office is the one stop shop where the administrative, accounting, wealth, taxation and risk aspects of a family’s wealth and business affairs are managed collectively and holistically. This is achieved through interaction with existing service suppliers or the introduction of new service suppliers, but always coordinated with the family’s bigger wealth picture in mind.
But is this coordination necessary? Based upon my experience, it is a prerequisite! Consider the following pitfalls that are regularly encountered:
- Accounting records are haphazard and unclear
- Minutes of meetings are not kept or do not express the decisions that are taken and implemented
- Wills are not signed correctly and are not accessible when needed or are contradictory to the testators wishes
- Insufficient (or sometimes excessive) insurance cover for critical events
- Non-compliance with Companies Act, Trust Property Control Act, Income Tax Act and other legislation
- Inefficient tax planning and misalignment between the different elements of tax. Here the low levels of planning surrounding balance sheet tax is especially prevalent.
- Poor communication between family members and no common goal alignment
- Insufficient or lack of succession planning
A family’s wealth is just like a business, and needs to be managed as such. That being said, many businesses only perform as well as they are managed, this is where the opportunity and value contribution lies!
Our family wealth office specialises in the effective management and holistic coordination of family wealth. We work in conjunction with your existing service providers or manage the various elements of the family office internally based upon the specific circumstances of the client.
Our services are grouped under Accounting, Tax and Solutions. These elements have a very close interaction and we monitor that the various elements under management or oversight do not become disjointed.
Earlier in my career, my one employer used the phrase “Trusted Business Advisor”. I wish to reword this to “Trusted Family Advisor”, this encompasses the family and business aspects of the family’s wealth and I hope we at Auro can be of service to you in this regard. Areas of service are depicted in the graphic below, the holistic co-ordination between the various elements of the family’s wealth, is where the value proposition is.
In order to build our relationship, you are welcome to engage us on only certain aspects of our holistic offering. Let us prove our value in this and you can entrust us with more elements of your family’s wealth management and administration as we progress.
Every journey starts with a single step, I look forward to walking with our clients to conquer what lies ahead.
Contact Auro Professional today to receive more information about family wealth office service, accounting and income tax services in Cape Town.