A family office, a private office and a concierge are often mentioned in one breath. They do different work. A family that confuses them ends up with an investment team booking flights, or a travel desk asked about trusts.

This is a plain guide to who does what, written for families and for the bankers and lawyers who advise them.

The family office looks after the capital

A single family office works for one family. A multi-family office serves several. Deloitte counted an estimated 8,030 single family offices worldwide in 2024, up from about 6,130 in 2019, and expects more than 10,720 by 2030.

Deloitte also measured where their time goes:

Portfolio management: 30%
Direct investing: 22%
Administration and compliance: 19%
Supporting the family’s operating businesses: 15%
Training the next generation: 7%
Philanthropy: 7%

Nothing on that list is a boiler, a school run or a flight on Friday. In the UBS Global Family Office Report 2024, the main stated purpose of a family office was to support the transfer of wealth between generations.

What a family office costs

UBS surveyed 320 family offices with an average net worth of $2.6 billion. For offices managing $100 million to $250 million, the pure cost of running the office was 0.45% of assets a year. On $100 million that is $450,000 a year, before any investment fees.

That is why many families with substantial wealth never build one. They use a private bank, a law firm and an accountant for the capital, and something else for daily life.

The private office looks after the person

The term has no legal definition. In practice a private office is the small team around a principal that handles personal affairs: the diary, the houses, the staff, the travel, the family’s logistics. In a large family office it is a department. In most families it is one or two trusted people, or an outside firm.

The concierge gets things done

A concierge firm takes requests and carries them out: the aircraft, the table, the tutor, the plumber at night. A good one works like an outsourced private office. A poor one is a booking desk that changes its staff every year.

Who does what

Investments, portfolio, direct deals: family office
Tax, trusts, succession: family office with lawyers and accountants
Compliance and reporting: family office
Houses, maintenance, household staff: private office or concierge
Travel, aircraft, yachts, cars: private office or concierge
Schools, tutors, doctors, the family calendar: private office or concierge
The call at night when something breaks: concierge

How they work together

The arrangement that works is simple. The family office or the adviser stays in charge of the money. The private office or concierge takes the instructions for daily life, carries them out and reports back. Invoices go to whoever pays the bills. Nobody on the investment side spends a morning finding a housekeeper.

Five checks before you recommend a concierge to a client

Years in business. Relationships with suppliers take years to build.
A named person. Does the client deal with one person, or with whoever picks up?
Visibility. Can the client, or the family office, see the status of every request?
Capacity. How many families does the firm serve at once?
Terms. Can the client leave without a penalty if it does not work?

Where ELVIT sits

ELVIT is a private office and London concierge for a handful of families, founded in 2008 and based at 199 Knightsbridge. We do not manage investments and we do not give financial, tax or legal advice. We take on the aircraft, the yacht, the houses, the schools and the day to day.

On the five checks: eighteen years of work with ultra-high-net-worth clients. One named person owns every request. Every task is visible in a private tracker. Ten families at a time. Membership is 30-day rolling, with no exit fee.

Call +44 20 3355 7833 or write to info@elvit.co.uk.

Sources

This article is general information, not financial advice.

Family Office, Private Office, Concierge: Who Does What