What are the three types of single family office?

Single family offices can be organised around three distinct archetypes: the pure asset management vehicle (focused on investment returns, with minimal family governance), the family governance vehicle (focused on unity and transmission, with the investment function secondary), and the operating platform (which manages both assets and active family business interests). Each archetype implies a different staffing model, governance structure, and cost base. Families that try to be all three simultaneously tend to be none of them well.

Which type of family office is right for my family?

The right type of family office depends on three things: the nature and complexity of the family's assets, the family's primary purpose (wealth growth, transmission, or governance), and the family's capacity to engage with the office's operations. Families with a single significant liquid portfolio need a different structure from families with multiple operating businesses, real assets, and complex beneficiary structures. Westwick helps families make this choice before designing the structure.

Knowledge Base · Updated in 2026

Single Family Office: three archetypes for efficient transmission

When deciding what a family office is for, families can (and must) choose between three archetypes. Each serves a different purpose; each has a different risk profile; and each dictates what the rest of the structure should look like.

Originally published in WealthBriefing / WealthBriefingAsia and featured in the GPFO newsletter.

Read on WealthBriefing: https://www.wealthbriefingasia.com/article.php/Single-Family-Office%3A-Three-Different-Types-For-Efficient-Asset-Transmission

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