We serve a deliberately limited number of internationally mobile families, coordinating the structures, advisers and decisions behind their private wealth, so that it is preserved, governed and passed on as intended.
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Strength. Discretion. Continuity.
Established 2011
ABFO Advisors was founded in 2011 as the private office of a single family and has since opened to a small circle of families with similar needs.
Our partners bring backgrounds in accountancy, taxation, law, corporate finance and investment, with professional qualifications across the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Cyprus and Greece.
We act as the family’s chief operating office: the single point of coordination between the principals, their entities and their external advisers. We remain fully independent of banks, product providers and asset managers, and we limit the number of families we serve, so that each receives senior attention.
The tradition is an old one. The modern family office took shape in the late nineteenth century, when the great industrial families established private offices to oversee their fortunes and prepare the next generation. The principle has not changed: one trusted office that sees the whole picture and ensures every adviser works towards the same objective.
We do not manage money and we do not sell products. We bring order and oversight to complex family wealth.
In practice, that means a clear view of what the family owns and where, governance that works across generations, and structures that are tax-efficient, properly documented and able to withstand scrutiny from tax authorities, banks and counterparties.
Where a family needs investment management, banking, custody, trust or legal services, we identify, appoint and oversee the right independent, appropriately licensed providers, negotiate their terms and hold them accountable on the family’s behalf. Our long-standing network of fiduciaries, lawyers, tax specialists, private banks and investment managers across the major financial centres is one of the main things our families gain.
The result is a family that knows exactly where it stands, advisers who work to a single plan, and a legacy that is ready to be handed on.
Family charters, councils and decision-making frameworks that keep ownership and management aligned across generations.
Preparing the next generation and the structures around them, so that transitions happen by design rather than by necessity.
Holding and operating structures across multiple jurisdictions that are tax-efficient, properly documented and robust under review.
Selection, appointment and ongoing review of banks, managers and service providers, including fee benchmarking and renegotiation.
We help family holding and operating companies meet the economic substance, management-and-control and governance standards expected by tax authorities and financial institutions. This includes documenting the commercial rationale, designing governance frameworks, and appointing qualified, experienced directors and senior management.
We are not an investment manager. We define the family’s objectives, risk appetite and reporting standards, and then select, appoint and oversee independent, appropriately licensed managers and private banks to implement them. We review existing portfolios and conduct due diligence on proposed private investments.
Accounting, company secretarial work, statutory filings, banking administration and day-to-day coordination for family entities, handled under one roof. This gives the family consolidated reporting, consistent records and a clear audit trail across the group.
Family charters, ownership and governance structures, and coordination with trustees, protectors and estate lawyers, so that control and ownership pass to the next generation as intended.
Independent feasibility studies, business valuations, transfer pricing analyses and due diligence on transactions proposed to the family. As we have no product to sell, our analysis is objective.
One consolidated view across all banks, custodians and asset classes, from listed securities and cash to private equity, real estate, insurance wrappers, loans and direct holdings. Performance is measured against appropriate benchmarks, and costs are made fully transparent.
Budgeting and cost oversight across holding structures, private investments, custodians and service providers in multiple jurisdictions, including the benchmarking and renegotiation of fees.
Participation on the boards of family holding and operating companies where appropriate, and support to trustees and protectors, ensuring that decisions are taken, recorded and implemented where the company is managed.
Our partners hold professional qualifications in each of the jurisdictions where our families live, invest and hold their structures.
Stand-alone reports for families who want an independent view before entering into a full engagement.
A concise annual review of the family’s holdings, structures and key risks, for families beginning to formalise their affairs.
Request detailsAn in-depth review of existing holding structures, governance and documentation, with prioritised recommendations.
Request detailsA tailored assessment of succession readiness, covering ownership, control, governance and the next generation.
Request detailsA consolidated report for families with assets, entities and residences across several jurisdictions.
Request detailsThe families we serve value their privacy as much as their wealth. We protect both with the same care.
Our clients do not appear in our marketing. Their names, holdings and affairs are never disclosed, and that discretion is the reason many of them chose us.
Qualified prospective clients may be introduced to existing clients or to the professionals we work alongside, once mutual confidentiality has been agreed.
We accept a small number of new mandates each year. This allows every family to work directly with a partner rather than with a service team.
“We use wealth more as an opportunity for action than as a subject for boast.”Pericles, as recorded by Thucydides
Timeless wisdom
“Well-being is attained little by little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.”
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
“Make haste slowly.”
Our principles
“Wealth is created in one generation. It is preserved across three only by design.”
“Every adviser has a view. A family needs one plan.”
“Structure first, then substance, then investment.”
“Discretion is not a service we offer. It is the condition on which we work.”
“The best succession is the one that has been rehearsed.”
“Patience is a strategy, not a delay.”
A multi-family office is a private office that serves a small number of families, providing the oversight and coordination of a dedicated family office without the cost of building one. It sits at the centre of the family’s affairs and coordinates every adviser, entity and decision.
A bank’s advice is naturally connected to its own products and balance sheet. We are independent of every provider we work with, so our only obligation is to the family. This allows us to compare, select and replace providers on merit, and to negotiate their terms.
Through structure, governance and oversight: well-documented entities, clear decision-making, appropriate diversification across institutions and jurisdictions, regular consolidated reporting and early attention to succession. Most losses of family wealth stem from poor governance and unmanaged transitions, not from markets.
Governance and substance, corporate administration, succession planning, consolidated reporting, cost control, valuations and transfer pricing, and the selection and oversight of investment managers, banks and other providers. Where a mandate requires a licensed provider, we appoint and supervise one on the family’s behalf.
With a private, no-obligation conversation. If there is a fit, we agree a scope and a fee in writing before any work begins. A partner will respond personally to every enquiry.
Every enquiry is read by a partner and treated in strict confidence.
