Family Office Establishment and Management
A Family Office as a Reliable Catamaran
Catamaran Family Office establishes, transforms and manages family offices for HNW and UHNW principals and families with complex wealth structures, international interests and long-term succession priorities.
We build an owner-side governance and operating infrastructure. This includes defining functions and authority, integrating financial, legal, tax, corporate and operational workstreams, coordinating external advisers and overseeing the implementation of approved decisions across jurisdictions.
Our role is not to replace the family, its governance bodies or appropriately qualified advisers. We create an environment in which information is consolidated and verified, responsibilities are clearly assigned, potential conflicts of interest are identified and managed, and critical decisions are made promptly on the basis of a comprehensive view of the family’s wealth.
We can establish a family office from the ground up, transform an existing structure or undertake a focused mandate—from independent assessment and consolidated reporting to succession planning, major transactions and complex cross-border projects.
- We act on behalf of the principal, coordinating private banks, investment managers, legal counsel, tax advisers, fiduciaries, corporate service providers and other specialists in accordance with an approved mandate.
- Before operations begin, we establish decision-making authority, approval procedures, control points, escalation protocols and reporting standards. This reduces dependence on individual employees, advisers and providers while improving accountability and institutional continuity.
- The family receives a consolidated management view of assets, liabilities, cash flows, ownership structures, material risks, obligations and upcoming decisions.
- The operating model is designed to remain effective through changes in personnel, advisers, service providers, jurisdictions and family generations.
Areas of Support
Coordination Office
For families requiring a trusted centre for day-to-day oversight, execution and coordination with external providers.
The mandate may include maintaining a calendar of decisions and obligations, coordinating banks, advisers and contractors, tracking instructions and deadlines, organising document workflows and preparing regular reports for the principal and authorised family members.
Financial Control Office
For families requiring consolidated reporting, liquidity oversight and disciplined financial execution.
The mandate may include maintaining a central register of assets, accounts and liabilities; consolidating cash flows; coordinating budgeting and expenditure controls; establishing payment procedures and approval matrices; liaising with banks and compliance teams; and preparing management reports and variance analysis.
Strategic and Succession Office
For families that view wealth as an intergenerational system requiring coordinated ownership, governance and continuity.
The mandate may include designing ownership and governance architecture, establishing family governance bodies and decision-making protocols, coordinating estate and tax planning with qualified advisers, supporting next-generation preparation, conducting scenario planning, developing a family constitution and overseeing the implementation of long-term decisions.
Independent Family Office Assessment
We conduct an owner-side review of the family’s existing governance and operating framework.
The assessment may cover reporting quality, allocation of authority, operating costs, potential conflicts of interest, reliance on key employees and providers, information security, control procedures and preparedness for generational transition.
The family receives a structured assessment of material vulnerabilities, a risk map and a prioritised transformation plan with recommended responsibilities and timelines.
Family Office Establishment and Transformation
We establish family offices from the ground up and enhance existing structures to reflect the family’s evolving wealth, geographic footprint and governance requirements.
Project deliverables may include a target operating model; an organisational and governance structure; allocation of functions and responsibilities; an authority and approval matrix; payment and financial-control procedures; a management-reporting architecture; a framework for appointing and overseeing providers; information and document-management protocols; an implementation roadmap; and performance and review criteria.
The objective is to create a practical, proportionate and resilient operating model rather than unnecessary administrative complexity.
Family Governance and Family Constitution
We help families establish practical governance principles covering roles, competencies, decision-making procedures, access to information, conflict-resolution mechanisms and the participation of future generations.
The governance framework may include a family council, specialist committees, reserved matters, voting procedures, approval thresholds, succession protocols and principles governing the relationship between the family, operating businesses and the family office.
The purpose is not merely to document intentions. It is to create a workable framework for managing the family’s relationship with its wealth, enterprises and shared responsibilities over time.
Pre-Exit Readiness and Post-Liquidity Planning
We help prepare the principal, the relevant asset and the supporting family-office infrastructure for a business sale, capital event or other major liquidity event.
Before the transaction, we may coordinate ownership and governance readiness, source-of-wealth documentation, banking and compliance preparation, information flows and the work of legal and tax advisers.
Following the transaction, we help establish an operating framework for holding, allocating, investing and distributing capital in line with the family’s liquidity needs, risk parameters, ownership objectives and succession priorities.
Legal, tax and regulated investment advice is provided by appropriately licensed professionals in the relevant jurisdictions.