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Family migration drives multi family heavyweights into strategic tie-up

By Nicholas Moody

The increasing number of wealthy families requiring multijurisdictional services has pushed two of the world’s largest commercial multi family offices (CMFO) to sign a strategic alliance following two years of discussions.

The agreement will see UK-based Stonehage Fleming provide international family office, trust, and investment services to clients of Glenmede in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) throughout its 11-office network.

Philadelphia-based Glenmede is to offer investment and corporate trust services to clients of Stonehage Fleming in the United States.

Both firms will remain independently managed and privately held.

The demand for multijurisdictional services is increasing as the number of wealthy families rise and family members spread across the world.

This increasing internationalisation is driven by many factors ranging from education and lifestyle opportunities to business expansion and acquisitions.

“There is a growing demand for multijurisdictional family wealth services. The US is a particular beneficiary of this trend given its attractive as a place to live and conduct business,” said Gordon Fowler, president and chief executive of Glenmede, in a video explaining the alliance.

In turn, setting up additional family office branches is increasingly common. More than a third (34%) of the 311 respondents to the Global Family Office Report 2018 have two or more family office branches.

Close to a quarter (23%) of survey participants reported an increase in the location, number of branches, or size (number of employees) of family offices over the past 12 months.

Stonehage Fleming and Glenmede will advise on close to $100 billion in assets. Stonehage Fleming advises on more than £45 billion ($55 billion) of assets for more than 250 substantial families of wealth. That includes an investment business with more than £9.9 billion under management for families and charities.

Glenmede has $40 billion of assets under management for high-net-worth individuals, families, family offices, endowment, foundation and institutional clients.

Glenmede has existed since 1956 after starting out as a family fund for the Pew family, who founded Sun Oil (now Sunoco). It has remained independent throughout that, although it now serves 2,000 customers.

Stonehage Fleming was formed in 2014 following the merger of family-owned multi family office Fleming Family & Partners, the family office run by relatives of banking pioneer Robert Fleming and James Bond creator Ian Fleming, and Stonehage, an international family office with its roots in South Africa.

Stonehage Fleming and Glenmede were ranked as the second and third largest independent multi family offices in the world respectively by CampdenFB earlier this year.
 

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