There are currently no accepted standards for what constitutes “integrated  family office services” for the complexities of wealth.  The choice to describe services as being integrated is largely at the discretion of the advisory firm or family office.

The UHNW Institute is engaged in an initiative to help define potential patterns of integration in a verifiable manner for use by firms/family offices and client families.  In its current state of development, these patterns may involve at least four options:

1. Single or siloed delivery of services in one or two domains by specialist service providers.

2. Combining a few areas or domains of service delivery, often primarily in the financial and wealth transfer areas. This may be termed integrated financial management.

3.Integration of services utilizing all four domains in the Wealth Creation and Stewardship cluster of the Ten Domains of Family Wealth, plus a limited number of services within the Cultivation of Family Capital cluster such as family dynamics, governance, and/or family education. This may be the realm of integrated wealth management.

4. The most complex pattern of integrated service delivery across the entire Ten Domains of Family Wealth, led with expertise by at least one integrated family wealth advisor or trusted team. This would be the level of integrated family wealth management.

Each firm must determine its best structure based on its skills, mission, talent, organizational structure, position in the industry, and business model. Standardizing patterns of integration is designed more for eliminating confusion for families coping with the marketplace and for family offices making strategic decisions about their service offerings.