The first step
The Diagnostic of the family.
A structured assessment of how ready the family of a capital owner is to operate as a family office. We look at capital, jurisdictions, the legal construction, governance, the family, and external risks within one frame, and return to the owner a map of where they stand and which open questions to work on next.
It is the first product in the UMFO catalogue. It works as a stand-alone engagement or as the entry point into ongoing family-office support.
What the family receives
A package of documents that stays with the family whether or not we continue together.
Framing note
One page that can be shown to a spouse, an adult son, and a lawyer, and all three will see the same picture. Often, for the first time in years of accumulating assets.
Diagnostic report
A full document of 15 to 20 pages. It stays with the family as the starting point for all later work with the capital.
First version of the investment policy
An anchor document (IPS v0.1) on which subsequent decisions about the assets will rest for years.
Stress protocol
A short document on what happens to the assets and the management in a sharp disruption — illness, an exit, a regulatory crisis. One page the family keeps in a safe.
How it is built
Meetings with the family. Five to seven sessions. Interviews with the owner, the spouse, the adult children, the CFO of the business, and the key external advisers. A joint family session and a final presentation.
UMFO team. A partner and an analyst. A lawyer and a tax adviser are brought in at specific points during the documentary audit.
Fees. Discussed during the introductory conversation. They depend on the shape of the capital and on how many members of the family will be part of the work.
What comes next
If, after the Diagnostic, we together see the sense in continuing, we move into ongoing family-office support. The work runs at your pace.
Introductory conversation