The label is not the service
Providers use "family office" to describe a wide range of arrangements: an investment advisor who coordinates with your CPA, a team of 50 specialists serving 200 families, and everything in between. Before comparing models, list the specific responsibilities you want covered and compare how different proposals address that list.
That said, understanding what the terms conventionally mean helps you evaluate a proposal more clearly.
What a single-family office is
A single-family office (SFO) employs a dedicated team — typically a chief investment officer, a CFO, estate counsel, tax professionals, and supporting staff — that works exclusively for one family. The family hires, supervises, and pays that team directly.
The practical consequence: operating a genuine dedicated family office usually requires assets well above $100M to justify the overhead. A realistic estimate for staff compensation alone — a CIO, CFO, and one or two supporting professionals — typically runs $500,000 to several million dollars annually before overhead, benefits, office costs, and professional liability coverage.1 Most families in the $5M–$30M range are not the right fit for this model, and most providers who serve this range are not offering it.
What the SFO gives you: complete control over who does what, how the team is structured, and what gets prioritized. And genuine privacy — no other families share any of your information with the same team.
What a multi-family office is
A multi-family office (MFO) provides similar coordination to a dedicated team, but shares its infrastructure and professionals across several families. Families gain access to specialists — estate planning counsel, tax strategy, concierge banking coordination — that would be prohibitive to employ individually.
MFO fees typically include an asset-based management fee plus project or retainer charges for services outside investment management. The model varies considerably: some MFOs serve 10 families at the top of a partner's book; others serve hundreds. The number of families each lead professional actually oversees is one of the most important questions to ask.2
A genuine MFO for a family with $10M in investable assets will still cost more than a traditional registered investment advisor — the breadth of services and dedicated relationship structure carry a price — but substantially less than staffing a full team independently.
The arrangement that fits most $5M–$30M families
Most families in this asset range work with a coordinated investment advisor who handles investment management and financial planning, and either directly coordinates with — or refers to — existing CPAs, estate attorneys, and other specialists. Advisors sometimes call this a "virtual family office" or "ensemble" model.
This is often the right answer, not a compromise. The overhead of a dedicated team is not justified at this level, and a well-run coordinated arrangement can address the same decisions a larger team handles: investment oversight, tax awareness, estate coordination, insurance review, and generational planning.
The question worth asking is not "single or multi?" It is: for a family with my specific assets and complexity, who actually does this work — and what does a realistic week of that relationship look like?
Factors that push toward a more intensive model
Complexity drives the need for coordination more than asset level alone. A family with $15M in a single brokerage account and straightforward circumstances may need less structure than a family with $8M spread across a business interest, two trusts, international accounts, and a pending real estate transaction. Ask yourself:
- How many legal entities, trusts, or jurisdictions are involved? Each adds coordination overhead a provider needs to be able to handle.
- Do you have an active business or expect a liquidity event? Business sale, equity payout, or inheritance introduces time-sensitive tax and legal decisions that benefit from tight advisor coordination.
- How specialized is your tax situation? Multi-state income, foreign assets, or concentrated equity positions may require tax strategy beyond what a generalist handles well.
- How much management do you want to take on? A dedicated team gives you control — and responsibility. A coordinated arrangement delegates more operational decisions.
Questions to ask any provider
Whether the proposal uses a single-family, multi-family, or coordinated-advisor label, these questions get to the substance:
- How many families does my primary contact directly serve?
- For each service on your list, who does the work — your own staff, my existing professionals, or a referral to a third party?
- What does your fee illustration look like for assets at my level, including any project fees or minimums?
- What happens to my relationship if the partner or lead professional I work with leaves?
- Can you walk me through a realistic month for a family in a situation similar to mine?
Bring these questions, in writing, to every conversation. Compare written answers — not sales materials — across the same list.
Sources & further reading
Source pages reviewed September 2026. Ranges cited are illustrative; actual costs depend on individual arrangements and locations.