Family Office

What is it?

Family offices are exclusive private wealth management advisory firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth individuals (HNWI). They offer a single total outsourced solution to managing the financial and investment side of an affluent individual or family, by employing administrative and professional staff who exclusively assist the family members of that particular family office.

There are two types of family offices, namely the Single Family Office (SFO) and Multi Family Office (MFO). Here at Xignam, we offer services for setting up Single Family Offices (SFOs). Typically, a single-family office conducts various activities to facilitate the day-to-day management of a family’s assets.

The SFO typically offers services for:

• Investment Management
• General Advisory Service (estate planing, legal service, tax service etc.)
• Family Professional Service (Philanthropy, Family governance/constitution planning etc.)
• Admin Service (Payroll, Accounts consolidation, Concierge service etc.)

What are the important considerations in setting up a family office?

• the structure of the family office vehicle;
• the utilization of tax incentives for certain investments;
• the tax exposure and implications in other relevant jurisdictions (e.g., the family’s home jurisdiction, jurisdictions where assets are located, jurisdictions where family members/trust beneficiaries are located);
• the nature of the underlying assets and investments held by each entity (e.g., whether there are any real estate, substantial listed stakes, operating businesses, etc.) and the family’s investment objective and strategy in respect of each investment;
• the current residence status of the relevant family members (and any anticipated changes in their status);
• whether any employment pass, permanent residence or citizenship status is required or desired to be obtained for any family member or employee of the family office;
• the family’s governance and succession plans;
• the family’s religion and whether there are any forced heirship concerns; and
• the family’s philanthropic philosophy and intentions.

Singapore tax exemption for the family fund managed by the Family Office

• Enhanced-Tier Fund Exemption Scheme (under Section 13X of the ITA) (13U)
• Resident Fund Exemption Scheme (under Section 13R of the ITA) (13O)
• Offshore Fund Exemption Scheme (under Section 13CA of the ITA)