Family Office Establishment and Management
A Family Office as a Reliable Catamaran
Catamaran Family Office establishes, transforms and manages family offices for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families with complex wealth, international interests and long-term succession priorities.
We build an owner-side governance and operating infrastructure tailored to the family’s circumstances. This includes defining responsibilities and authority, integrating financial, legal, tax, corporate and operational workstreams, coordinating external advisers and overseeing the implementation of approved decisions across relevant jurisdictions.
Our role is not to replace the family, its governance bodies or appropriately qualified advisers. We create an environment in which information is consolidated and verified, responsibilities are clearly allocated, potential conflicts of interest are identified and managed, and significant decisions are made promptly and with a comprehensive understanding of the family’s affairs.
We can establish a family office from the ground up, transform an existing structure or undertake a focused mandate, from independent assessment and consolidated reporting to succession planning, major transactions and complex cross-border projects.
- We act on behalf of the principal, coordinating private banks, investment managers, solicitors, tax advisers, trustees, fiduciaries, corporate service providers and other specialists in accordance with an agreed mandate.
- Before operations begin, we establish delegated authorities, approval procedures, control points, escalation protocols and reporting standards. This reduces reliance on individual employees, advisers and providers while strengthening accountability and institutional continuity.
- The family receives a consolidated management view of assets, liabilities, cash flows, ownership structures, material risks, obligations and forthcoming decisions.
- The operating model is designed to remain effective through changes in personnel, advisers, service providers, jurisdictions and generations.
Areas of Support
Family Office Coordination
For families requiring a trusted centre for day-to-day oversight, execution and coordination with external providers.
The mandate may include maintaining a calendar of decisions and obligations, coordinating banks, advisers and contractors, tracking instructions and deadlines, organising document workflows and preparing regular reports for the principal and authorised family members.
Financial Control and Reporting
For families requiring consolidated reporting, liquidity oversight and disciplined financial administration.
The mandate may include maintaining a central register of assets, accounts and liabilities; consolidating cash flows; coordinating budgets and expenditure controls; establishing payment procedures and approval matrices; liaising with banks and compliance teams; and preparing management reports and variance analyses.
Strategy, Governance and Succession
For families that regard wealth as an intergenerational system requiring coordinated ownership, governance and continuity.
The mandate may include designing ownership and governance arrangements, establishing family governance bodies and decision-making protocols, coordinating estate and tax planning with qualified advisers, preparing the next generation, conducting scenario planning, developing a family constitution and overseeing the implementation of long-term decisions.
Independent Family Office Assessment
We undertake an owner-side review of the family’s existing governance and operating arrangements.
The assessment may consider the quality, consistency and timeliness of reporting, the allocation of authority and responsibility, operating costs and service-provider arrangements, actual or potential conflicts of interest, reliance on key employees, advisers and providers, information security and document governance, financial and operational control procedures, and preparedness for succession and generational transition.
The family receives a structured assessment of material vulnerabilities, a risk map and a prioritised transformation plan setting out recommended responsibilities, actions and timelines.
Family Office Establishment and Transformation
We establish family offices from the ground up and enhance existing arrangements to reflect changes in the family’s wealth, geographical footprint and governance requirements.
Project deliverables may include a target operating model, an organisational and governance structure, a clear allocation of functions and responsibilities, delegated-authority and approval matrices, payment and financial-control procedures, a management-reporting framework, procedures for appointing and overseeing service providers, information-security and document-management protocols, an implementation roadmap, and performance standards and periodic review criteria.
The objective is to create a practical, proportionate and resilient operating model without introducing unnecessary administrative complexity.
Family Governance and the Family Constitution
We help families establish practical governance principles covering roles, responsibilities, decision-making procedures, access to information, dispute-resolution mechanisms and the participation of future generations.
The governance framework may include a family council, specialist committees, reserved matters, voting procedures, approval thresholds, succession protocols and principles governing the relationship between the family, its operating businesses and the family office.
The purpose is not simply to document intentions. It is to establish a workable framework for managing the family’s relationship with its wealth, businesses and shared responsibilities over time.
Pre-Exit Readiness and Post-Liquidity Planning
We help prepare the principal, the relevant business or asset and the supporting family-office infrastructure for a sale, capital event or other significant liquidity event.
Before the transaction, we may coordinate ownership and governance readiness, source-of-wealth documentation, banking and compliance preparations, information flows and the work of legal and tax advisers.
Following completion, we help establish an operating framework for holding, allocating, investing and distributing capital in accordance with the family’s liquidity requirements, risk parameters, ownership objectives and succession priorities.
Legal, tax and regulated investment advice is provided by appropriately authorised and qualified professionals in the relevant jurisdictions.