It used to be enough for an individual of high net worth to consult a lawyer, accountant or even a trusted friend or employee about how best to protect his family's wealth.
Not any more. In these days of increasingly complex tax laws, widening ranges of investment options, overseas ventures and divergent interests of family members who wish to have a greater say in the affairs that affect them, heads of families are having to turn to more sophisticated methods of wealth management.
The family office was an idea dreamed up by private banks that believed there was a gap in the market for protecting and expanding the jointly held assets of wealthy families.
Family-owned businesses are among their biggest targets because their finances are among the most complex.
According to a market researcher that specialises in wealth management, family offices are an effective way to manage the increasingly diverse range of specialists required to advise on a family's finances.
Michael Maslinski, director of the London-based market researcher Maslinski & Co said: 'The provision of advice has entered a vicious circle: increasing technical complexity across all professional disciplines is driving the trend to further specialisation; and the more the advisers specialise, the more complications they introduce and the narrower the field they can cover effectively.'