The staggering expense of a single-family office may run counter to the goal of wealth preservation
By Whit Batchelor, Executive Vice President and Client Advisor, Whittier Trust
There’s a startling finding in the recently released 2026 Global Family Office Report by J.P. Morgan: Ultra-high-net-worth families are paying an average of $6.6 million annually to have a family office managing their assets (over $1 billion).
The data came from a survey of 333 single-family offices across 30 countries with an average net worth of $1.6 billion. In documenting the administrative structures behind the world’s largest family offices, researchers also learned the following:
• 80% of family offices outsource some aspect of their portfolio management.
• One-third of offices with $1B+ outsource more than half of their portfolios.
• The most commonly outsourced functions are legal (52%), trading (45%), and cybersecurity (38%).
• Between 25 and 28% of total operating costs are attributed to external services.
It’s clear from these findings that many single-family offices lack some of the capabilities they need in-house. It’s costing some families a fortune to build and maintain their office infrastructure, and yet it doesn’t even cover every aspect of their family’s affairs.
The Alternative
A family recently came to Whittier Trust looking for a new solution. With a $2 billion net worth, they were paying $2 million a year to operate their own independent family office—staff, benefits, rent, insurance, equipment, and more. This setup served them reasonably well, but they were concerned about several areas where their team lacked the necessary technology or processes and weren’t executing at the level they needed. The family wanted to know if they could outsource those functions to Whittier while maintaining their family office.
After evaluating the options, Whittier could not only address those concerns but could manage the entire family office function as part of a multi-family office structure—for a fraction of the current cost. In their case, having Whittier handle everything would save them 50% or more annually.
This is not to suggest a one-size-fits-all approach. Certainly, there are scenarios where keeping a single-family office may make more sense for a UHNW family, but it will be an expensive proposition. In situations where net worth exceeds $2 billion and complexity is significant, there may be operational and tax advantages to maintaining the family office in-house.
Key Considerations of the Multi-Family Office
Multi-family offices are a burgeoning sector, and countless financial firms are rebranding themselves to capitalize on the trend. Whittier Trust’s roots as a single-family office give it an institutional foundation that now spans nine decades of managing the complexities of ultra-high-net-worth estates. In 1989, the firm expanded to serve multiple families, building efficiencies along the way. Today, it serves families across multiple generations, many of whom have been clients for decades.
In contrast, many multi-family offices operating today may not have the infrastructure to accommodate the long-term needs of complex wealth, including trust and estate administration, investment management, tax coordination, real estate oversight, consolidated reporting, and philanthropy.
A key differentiator for firms with deep family office roots is an organically developed service culture. Families can pick up the phone, talk directly to their own advisor, and get immediate help. That level of accessibility isn’t universal in the industry—at some firms, advisors are harder to reach, and client relationships are managed with an eye toward scale rather than service.
A well-structured multi-family office is flexible and scalable, designed to accommodate estates of all sizes and stages. Families with $50 million to $1 billion who have some internal coordination but lack infrastructure can easily plug into an institutional platform. This is also a good solution for attorneys and CPAs advising families who may have outgrown their current structure.
Planning for Transition
Many families eventually realize they don’t need a full in-house team—a capable multi-family office can provide everything they want at a lower cost. Some choose to bring in an outside team while still maintaining their independent family office, both for extra help and to evaluate fit. In these scenarios, the outside advisors work alongside existing ones, not in place of them.
Another benefit of the multi-family office is the flexibility and continuity for growing families as they move through generations. Succession is often a driver of the decision to transition—a fact confirmed by the J.P. Morgan report, which states that 86% of family offices lack a succession plan for key decision-makers.
Getting to know the next generation is essential to this continuity. Every family member can have their own advisor who understands their personal goals and coordinates their priorities within the family structure, ensuring a seamless handoff across generations.
No two families are the same, but with an array of specialized services available at a fraction of the cost of a single-family solution, the multi-family office model can be the smartest choice—without sacrificing service or personalized care.
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Whit Batchelor serves as Executive Vice President, Client Advisor, and San Diego Regional Manager at Whittier Trust, where he expertly navigates the complex financial landscapes of high-net-worth individuals and families.