Family Office: The Traditional (and Expensive) Model
Modern Wealth Deserves More Than Tradition
A traditional family office is a private entity that manages the financial and personal affairs of a single family. The core purpose of a family office is to manage the family’s wealth and preserve it for future generations. This can include a wide range of services such as investment management, tax planning, estate planning, philanthropic management, family governance, and even lifestyle management, like arranging travel or managing properties.
Family offices are highly customized to the specific needs of the family they serve. They often employ a dedicated team of professionals, including financial advisors, tax experts, legal advisors, and estate planners, who work exclusively for the family. This high level of personalization ensures that the family’s unique financial goals are met and that their wealth is managed with their specific values and preferences in mind.
However, the customization and exclusivity of a family office come at a significant cost. The overhead expenses associated with maintaining a full-time staff, securing office space, and investing in necessary infrastructure are substantial. According to research, establishing a traditional family office can require a minimum of $100 million to $250 million in investable assets to make it cost-effective. As such, traditional family office wealth management is generally reserved for the wealthiest families, where the cost of operation can be justified by the scale of the assets under management.
Virtual Family Office for the Modern Millionaire
What is a virtual Family Office?
The Virtual Family Office (VFO) is an evolution of the traditional model, leveraging the digital world we live in today to provide similar services to a wide range of clients, but without the need for physical office space or a dedicated, in-house, expensive team.
A VFO is a team of specialists across tax planning, wealth management, legal services, business advisory, and risk management that work in conjunction with their client’s advisor and/or accountants. This model allows for the same level of personalized service found in a traditional family office or multi-family office but with greater flexibility and at a significantly reduced cost. This makes the VFO a great option for your clients that are high-net-worth, but can’t justify the cost of a multi-family office or family office– typically $250,000 or more in income or $1M or more in net worth.
The flexibility of VFO is one of its standout features. For instance, a business owner that experiences a liquidity event, such as the sale of a business, can temporarily engage a business advisory specialist to handle the complexities of the transaction, and then disengage when that event has passed…all with their trusted advisor and/or accountant quarterbacking the relationship.
Redefining Wealth Management
The VFO Difference
Typical advisors focus narrowly on investments. But wealth is bigger than a portfolio. It’s your business, your taxes, your legal structures, your legacy.
The Virtual Family Office brings these pieces together. By surrounding you with a coordinated network of specialists, led by Amana Advisors, we deliver the sophistication of a traditional family office — without the $100M+ threshold or the overhead of hiring a full-time staff.
Fragmented Advice Costs You Money
Successful families and business owners often work with multiple professionals — a CPA, an attorney, an insurance agent, an advisor. But when these professionals operate in silos, opportunities are missed, strategies conflict, and wealth leaks away.
The VFO eliminates these gaps. We serve as your single point of clarity, orchestrating every aspect of your financial world so it moves in harmony with your long-term vision.
Designed for Complexity
The Virtual Family Office is built for families and business leaders who:
- Manage significant assets and complex financial structures.
- Own one or more businesses requiring succession or exit planning.
- Value discretion and a coordinated team approach.
- Seek more than investment advice — they want comprehensive wealth stewardship.
Why Consider a Virtual Family Office?
What Sets Us Apart
The Virtual Family Office is more than advice — it is clarity, access, and alignment at a level that most advisors cannot deliver.
If your financial life has outgrown traditional advice, it’s time to experience the confidence of true coordination.
While traditional family offices offer unparalleled personalization and control, their high costs make them suitable only for the wealthiest families. Virtual Family Offices provide a flexible, cost-effective alternative that leverages today’s digital world to deliver comprehensive services remotely, making them accessible to a broader range of clients. Ready to see how a VFO can help your family generate more revenue and improve financial security?
