INDIAN FAMILY OFFICES: FROM LEGACY TO LEADERSHIP

Family Offices in India: From Legacy to Leadership – Broadwings' Perspective

In India’s evolving wealth landscape, few structures represent foresight and financial maturity as distinctly as the Family Office. While still an emerging concept for many, Family Offices are fast becoming central to the governance, preservation, and growth of large family wealth.

At Broadwings Family Office, we have had the privilege of guiding some of India’s most influential families through this transition—transforming capital into continuity, and wealth into legacy.

🧭 Reimagining Wealth Stewardship

Two decades ago, the term Family Office was rare in Indian boardrooms. Today, it is quietly reshaping how wealthy families operate—privately held, strategically driven, and entirely focused on long-term wealth preservation.

A Family Office, in its essence, is a bespoke institutional framework—one that allows families to maintain control while delegating execution to a professional team that understands their ethos, ambitions, and risk appetite.

🕰 A Legacy Model with Modern Relevance

The Family Office model has historical roots dating back to the 15th century. The Medici family, pioneers of structured wealth governance, integrated art, finance, and innovation to shape not just their fortune—but the future.

In the 19th century, J.P. Morgan institutionalised the concept in modern finance—combining private advisory with influence, foresight, and social capital.

Today, Indian families are charting their own version of this narrative, blending tradition with a more global, digitised worldview.

💼 What Does a Family Office Do?

At its core, a Family Office is a private, full-service advisory firm focused solely on managing the affairs of one or multiple high-net-worth families. These include:

• Investment Management – public markets, alternatives, private equity, real estate
• Succession & Estate Planning – trusts, wills, and intergenerational wealth transfer
• Philanthropy & Impact – structured giving, cause alignment, governance
• Consolidated Reporting – performance dashboards, multi-asset aggregation
• Family Governance – family constitutions, charters, and conflict resolution
• Global Mobility & Structuring – citizenship, tax jurisdictions, and cross-border compliance

🔍 Types of Family Offices

Broadly, Family Offices in India adopt one of two structures:

• Single Family Office (SFO): Built around one family, this model is tailored, private, and resource-intensive.
• Multi-Family Office (MFO): Shared infrastructure across multiple families, offering flexibility and economies of scale.

Both structures can be deeply customised, with Broadwings providing advisory and infrastructure to support either journey.

💰 How Much Does It Cost?

A Family Office typically costs between 0.30% to 0.50% of AUM annually, depending on its structure, geography, and sophistication. For a family with ₹800 crore (approx. USD 100 million) or more in investable assets, this translates to ₹2.5–4 crore per year.

Cost, however, is not the only consideration. Efficiency, control, and legacy continuity often outweigh pure expenses—especially when the alternative is fragmented decision-making or generational disconnects.

📈 When Is the Right Time?

Some of the common triggers for families to formalise a Family Office include:

• A liquidity event such as an IPO, M&A transaction, or sale of a business
• A significant inheritance or asset transfer to the next generation
• An increased need for privacy, governance, or family education
• Complex cross-border wealth, or exposure to new asset classes
• A desire to move from reactive investing to institutional-grade planning

At Broadwings, we help families assess readiness—through frameworks that consider asset scale, complexity, and strategic intent.

📊 Trends Reshaping Family Offices in India

1. Family Offices as Integrated Hubs: No longer just about investments, today’s Family Offices are multidisciplinary—handling legal, compliance, HR, philanthropy, even brand reputation.
2. Next-Gen Leadership & Digital Transformation: India’s rising generation is driving digitisation, ESG orientation, and cross-border diversification—requiring smarter tools, real-time reporting, and agile strategies.
3. Private Markets & Venture Investing: Startups and alternatives are increasingly attractive. In 2023 alone, Indian Family Offices invested over USD 850 million in FinTech, as they seek higher alpha beyond traditional equity and debt.
4. Globalisation of Wealth: Second and third generations are adopting a global lens—exploring investment migration, international philanthropy, and offshore structures.
5. Sustainability & Purpose: With ESG metrics gaining ground, more families are reimagining what “impact” means—not just in returns, but in societal value creation.

🧬 A Vehicle for Generational Continuity

While not mandated by regulation yet in India, Family Offices are fast becoming the preferred model for families seeking enduring control, customised solutions, and institutional rigour.

At Broadwings, we believe a well-structured Family Office is more than an administrative entity. It is a custodian of vision, values, and legacy—tailored to each family’s journey and aspirations.

🤝 Considering a Family Office?

We partner with families at various stages—whether you're assessing readiness, setting up governance frameworks, or seeking to digitise an existing office.

If you're exploring what a Family Office could look like for your family, we’re here to help you design a structure that is agile, resilient, and future-ready.