Family Office Exchange is betting that RIAs and the ultra-affluent can't get enough of each other

We speak as marketers and not advisors. The FOX program seems disingenuous, at best, and of little benefit to family office stakeholders..

Some questions arise: – So solution sellers pay FOX to get access to FOX’s family office clients!? – Other than revenue for FOX, why would any family office stakeholder want to participate in a “pay to play” scheme? – Doesn’t FOX have an obligation to information share on the best solutions and firms, not just who pays them? – Wouldn’t FO stakeholders want to only spend time with the best solution providers — not just those who have paid?

Unfortunately, this article and the marketing schemes described are endemic to the HNW space and harmful to everyone’s reputations and of little value to family office decision makers.

On Linked In we had to start a FO stakeholder-only group because the other (so called) FO groups were merely “come-ons” dominated by sales people and sales pitches. FO stakeholders generally do not feel comfortable in social or online forums where they are treated mainly as “prey” or sales targets. Would you?

FO problem-solving is a very complex and risky endeavor. 70%+ of family offices fail. The FO market is a highly segmented (that’s a marketing term) market with differentiated serious and growing needs. Success requires a substantial — long-term — personal and firm comittment. Most firms will not make that comittment. Writing a check for $70k is not going to “move the needle.”

New sales ideas are a lot easier to sell to providers than the hard problem of serving the complex needs of real FO clients and beneficiaries.

Please, disagree.

Regards,
Elmer

elmer.rich@richandco.com