The New Era of The Family Office
The Legacy Forum’s Radical New
Family Office Model
The Great Wealth Transfer is here. It’s a seismic event that has begun to radically redefine the landscape of Wealth Management and Family Offices. An estimated 124 trillion dollars will transfer from Baby Boomers to the next generations. The world of capital deployment, business finance, and philanthropic giving is being transformed.
In a world seldom captured by extreme language, words like “bombshell” and “disruptive paradigm” are being used to describe what’s now here. The Legacy Forum’s™ new Family People Office (FPO) model is all of those and more.
A massive tectonic shift in the world of wealth transfer and management has begun!
The Modern Era of The Family Office Began in 1882
In 1882, the modern era of the single-family office was created by J.D. Rockefeller. Soon to follow were families like the Carnegies and Vanderbilts. They established three essential elements of family offices: legal, accounting and investment management.
In the 1970's, Private Banks created commercial Multi-Family Offices (MFOs).
In the 1990's, virtual family offices (VFOs) and outsourced family offices (OFOs), began to serve the needs of the various levels of wealth.
In 2025, The Legacy Forum ushered in a new era for the Family Office with the launch of a proprietary and innovative model. The traditional Family - FINANCIAL - Office (FFO) was established to serve the financial interests of families, The new model, the Family - PEOPLE - Office (FPO), redefines the focus by treating family members themselves as the primary assets.
The new model, the Family - PEOPLE - Office (FPO) completes and defines the concept of Total Wealth Management or the Total Family Office (TFO).
The Purpose of the Total Family Office is to Manage, Grow and Protect Family Wealth, both Financial and Human.
There is a Problem to Solve
"From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations"
70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation. A further 90% will lose it by the 3rd generation and only 5% will endure to the 4th generation.
No Culture or Generation is Exempt
Italy, “From stalls to stars to stalls”.
Spain, "He who doesn’t have it, does it, and who has it, misuses it”.
Holland, "From clogs to clogs in three generations".
Germany, "The first generation creates the wealth; the second maintains it; the third studies the history of art and the fourth degenerates.
Japan, "The third generation ruins the house".
China, "Wealth does not last three generations
“Wealth can be a curse and, in most cases it is, if you drill down on it, wealth is a curse in terms of marriage, children, and things of that nature"
David Green, the multi-billionaire founder of Hobby Lobby
'The Great Wealth Transfer' Has Begun
The Legacy Forum believes that the very success and survival of a Family Office is totally and intricately dependent on the life, health, strength, faith, values and virtues of their families.
The most recent work of Family Offices has been focused on finding answers to respond to The Great Wealth Transfer. They sought to find new and innovative answers to improve governance, succession planning, intergenerational communication, more comprehensive financial education for family members, using words like “holistic” and clarifying Family Mission. These are all positive attempts. These are all important issues which The Legacy Forum with our knowledge and relationship with family members can partner on and make great and positive moves forward.
The problem is the well-defined fiduciary constraints that Family Offices and Wealth Managers have, and they know they must stay in their professional lane. The reality, Family Offices can only do half the work that UHNW individuals and families need for essential survival and to thrive. They simply they cannot solve the problem alone.
"We spent decades accumulating financial capital, only to realize belatedly that we had neglected investing in our family capital. The sustainability of the former is ultimately determined by the latter". (Wealth Manager Unidentified)
When The Legacy Forum's Family Office (FPO) and The Family Office (FFO) co-operate, Total Wealth Management can be achieved. What is true is that the lifespan of the Family Office ultimately mirrors the life and success of the family. We can change that together.
For wealth to endure, a thorough assessment and strategic leveraging of Human Capital must be given as much weight as Financial Capital. Wealth Managers and Family Offices (FFO) must broaden their view of what true and Total Wealth means. It views the client as equal to their wealth. Remember, “Family” comes before “Office”.
"What is true is this. As goes the family, so goes the Family Office." - Mark R Demos, Co-Founder The Legacy Forum
At The Legacy Forum, we believe that if Human Capital is not seen as co-equal or of greater value than the management of Financial Wealth, the entire system — you and your family — are at significant risk and your future becomes fundamentally unstable. The Family Office's mission must be driven by the mission to serve and enable the family to not only thrive but with the mission to build lives that will endure for generations.
Financial Portfolio > Human Capital Portfolio =
High Risk of Erosion due to Human Capital Disintegration and Fracturing
Human Capital Portfolio > Financial Portfolio =
Potential for Total Wealth Management, Thriving Families and Enduring Legacy
The Foundation of Enduring Legacy
Faith - Values - Virtues
The Legacy Forum believes in how priceless the assets of faith/beliefs, values and virtues are to individual and family Legacy. Time and time again we have seen how wealth without faith/beliefs, values and virtues will become, at best unmoored, or at worst, destructive. However, when wealth meets wisdom, its impact will echo into future generations.
The good news is that our Legacy Forums, The Legacy Quest, and all of our work use proven, ancient wisdom and modern science-based approaches for understanding and assessing your Human Capital — and charting a course that will to strength, stability and success. We will assess and strategically help you build your Human Capital Portfolio and constantly monitor the wellbeing of your family, walking alongside you each step of the way.
The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. — Billy Graham"
