Case study: From business exit to Family Investment Office

Key takeaways

• A business exit can create new challenges around investing, structuring and managing substantial wealth.
• Without a clear framework, decisions about investments, structures and advisers can become fragmented.
• Early planning can help establish an effective framework for managing wealth over the long term.
• A coordinated investment strategy can bring clarity across multiple providers and mandates.
• Consolidated reporting can improve oversight of risk, liquidity and future cashflows.
• Family governance helps support continuity, decision-making and intergenerational wealth planning.

The situation

A founder in their early 50s sold a high-growth business after two decades of building it, creating substantial liquidity alongside future earn-out proceeds.

For the first time, they were faced not only with investing capital, but with structuring governing and overseeing wealth at scale.

Early conversations with private banks and wealth managers were often product-led and fragmented. While individual solutions were proposed, there was no coherent framework for how the client’s total wealth, both current and future, should be structured and governed as a whole.

The client was also uncomfortable concentrating assets with a single provider but lacked a clear framework to oversee multiple relationships.

The challenge

The core issue was not simply how to invest the proceeds, but how to create structure and oversight across the entire balance sheet.

This included:

• Integrating current liquidity and future earn-outs into a single long-term plan
• Defining the role of multiple providers and how they should operate together
• Achieving clear visibility across risk, liquidity and exposures
• Establishing a framework that could endure beyond a single decision-maker

Despite access to high-quality advisers, decisions risked being made in isolation, without a clear view of how each decision affected the client's overall wealth strategy.

In effect, the client had transitioned from running a business to overseeing something closer to an investment office, but without the infrastructure or governance to support it.

The Private Investment Office approach

The Private Investment Office worked with the client to establish a coordinated, independent framework - designed around the client and their family, rather than the products or priorities of any single provider.

Wealth structuring

Planning began ahead of the liquidity event, focusing on long-term objectives including lifestyle needs, control, protection and succession.

Working alongside tax and legal advisers, a range of structures were assessed, including Family Investment Companies, trusts and Limited Partnerships, to determine how each could support the client’s objectives over time.

This resulted in a flexible framework combining immediate needs with long-term planning:

• A trust to support intergenerational wealth and formalise succession planning
• An offshore bond to provide tax deferral and additional estate planning benefits
• Clear segmentation of wealth across liquidity, long-term capital and legacy assets

The focus was not only efficiency, but on creating a framework that aligned to the family’s priorities and capable of evolving as circumstances change.

Investment strategy and implementation

The client was supported through a dedicated Outsourced Chief Investment Office (OCIO) framework, delivering a single, coordinated strategy across the entire balance sheet.

Rather than managing assets in isolation, a unified approach was developed — tailored to each pool of capital, reflecting differing objectives, time horizons and tax considerations.

Implementation followed a disciplined process:

• Establishing an overall asset allocation framework
• Defining the role of each provider and mandate within that framework

In practice, this meant clearly structuring relationships across:

• Core custody and liquid market exposure
• Specialist private markets and alternatives
• Jurisdiction-specific requirements where relevant

A curated panel of third-party managers was introduced to provide specialist capabilities, each fulfilling a defined role within the broader strategy. This was complemented by selective use of internal high-conviction ideas and passive exposures to enhance alignment and cost efficiency.

The result was not a collection of separate portfolios, but a coherent investment framework operating as a single system.

Reporting and oversight

A core component of the service was delivering clear, consolidated oversight across the client’s entire wealth, designed around how the client wanted to view their assets.

This included:

• Fully integrated reporting across all banks, managers, structures and jurisdictions
• Consolidation of all asset types, from liquid portfolios to private equity and alternatives
• Forward-looking scenario analysis incorporating future earn-outs and cashflows

Beyond reporting, administrative complexity was significantly reduced through:

• Centralised documentation and record-keeping
• Active monitoring of private asset positions and cashflows
• Integration of alternatives into the overall strategy, rather than treating them separately

This provided a complete, forward-looking view of the client’s financial position enabling clearer oversight and more informed, strategic decision-making across the whole balance sheet.

Family governance

To support decision-making as complexity increased, a governance framework was introduced to ensure continuity and shared responsibility over time.

This included:

• A structured forum for family discussions
• Clear processes around decision-making and oversight
• Accessible reporting and education for the next generation

This ensured the framework could evolve alongside the family and endure across generations.

The outcome

What began as a series of disconnected decisions evolved into a co-ordinated investment office framework around their wealth, supported by clear governance, consolidated oversight and long-term strategy.

• Wealth is now managed within a coordinated, institutional-quality framework
• Multiple providers operate within a single, unified strategy
• Future liquidity, including earn-outs, is fully integrated into planning
• The client has complete visibility and control across their financial affairs
• A governance structure supports long-term continuity across generations
• Decision making is now supported by a clear framework, rather than driven by individual providers or isolated opportunities

Glossary

Business exit planning: The process of preparing for the sale or transfer of a business, including tax planning, wealth structuring, investment strategy and succession considerations before a liquidity event occurs.

Family governance: A framework that helps families make informed decisions about wealth, responsibilities and succession. This may include family meetings, investment committees, education programmes and agreed decision-making processes.

Family Investment Company (FIC): A corporate structure commonly used in the UK to hold and manage family wealth. FICs can provide flexibility for investment management, succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer.

Family Office: An organisation established to oversee the financial affairs of wealthy individuals or families. Services can include investment management, reporting, governance, philanthropy, tax coordination and succession planning.

Intergenerational wealth planning: The process of preserving and transferring wealth across generations while balancing family objectives, tax efficiency and long-term capital preservation.

Liquidity event: An event that converts an illiquid asset into cash, such as the sale of a business, company flotation (IPO), acquisition or major share disposal.

Multi-Asset Portfolio: An investment portfolio that combines different asset classes such as equities, bonds, cash, private equity, property and alternatives to achieve specified investment objectives.

OCIO (Outsourced Chief Investment Office): A service that provides strategic investment oversight on behalf of an individual, family or institution. An OCIO typically oversees asset allocation, manager selection, portfolio construction and ongoing governance.

Offshore bond: An investment wrapper often used in wealth planning that can offer tax deferral benefits and flexibility in succession and estate planning, depending on personal circumstances and jurisdiction.

Private equity: Investments in privately owned businesses that are not listed on public stock exchanges. Private equity may offer long-term growth potential but typically involves lower liquidity and higher risk.

Private Investment Office (PIO): A dedicated advisory model designed to coordinate wealth structuring, investment strategy, governance, reporting and specialist advice for entrepreneurs, families and complex wealth situations.

Succession planning: The process of preparing for the transfer of assets, control and decision-making responsibility to future generations or designated beneficiaries.

Trust: A legal arrangement whereby assets are held by trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries. Trusts are widely used in estate planning, asset protection and intergenerational wealth transfer strategies.

Wealth structuring: The organisation of assets, ownership arrangements and legal entities to help achieve investment, tax, governance and succession objectives.