Chapter 7 of Running a Family Office Under $100M
You need advisors. That's not controversial.
What's less obvious: having advisors isn't the same as having a team. Most founders I talk to fall into one of three camps.
Too few. Still using the accountant who did their startup's books, a solicitor they found on Google five years ago, and whatever investment platform they signed up for in their twenties. The advisors haven't scaled with their wealth.
Too many. Accumulated specialists over time without pruning. Two wealth managers (because switching felt awkward), an accountant and a tax advisor (not sure which does what anymore), three lawyers for different things, an insurance guy who calls twice a year. Nobody coordinating. Lots of fees.
Wrong ones. Advisors who are fine for regular high earners but don't understand founder situations. The wealth manager who's never seen a cap table. The accountant who doesn't fully understand how carried interest works. The estate solicitor who's only done standard wills.
The goal is a small team of the right people who actually talk to each other. Sounds simple. Rarely happens by accident.
Who You Actually Need
At the £5–50M level, the core team is smaller than you'd think. Four roles matter. Everything else is situational.
Tax Advisor
Probably the most important relationship and the one where quality varies most dramatically.
Not someone who just files returns. Someone who thinks about structure, timing, planning. Who calls you in October to discuss moves before year-end. Who understands the difference between founder situations and normal high-earner situations.
The gap between a good tax advisor and an average one can be worth hundreds of thousands over time. Consider what's at stake: income tax rates at 45% above £125,140, capital gains at 24% for higher-rate taxpayers, dividend tax at 39.35% at the additional rate. The difference between extracting value one way versus another compounds dramatically.
I've watched founders stick with their startup accountant out of loyalty, not realising that person had no idea how to handle their post-exit complexity. By the time they switched, they'd made structural decisions that were expensive to unwind—holding company structures that didn't optimise, pension contributions they could have maximised earlier, EIS relief they missed entirely.
Finding a good one: ask other founders who've been through exits. The Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) have private client groups but you might get lost in the machine. Look for firms with dedicated private client or entrepreneurial tax teams. Boutique firms specialising in entrepreneurs and private clients often provide more attention. Either can work—what matters is whether they understand your situation and proactively bring ideas.
Expect to pay £300–500 per hour for senior tax advisors at quality firms. That sounds expensive until you realise a single well-structured decision can save tens of thousands annually.
Estate Solicitor
Handles wills, trusts, powers of attorney, succession planning. You need them intensively at setup, then periodically for reviews.
Most founders delay this entirely. Feels morbid, not urgent, easy to postpone. Then something happens and the family is left with a mess.
The numbers make this concrete. The inheritance tax nil-rate band is £325,000—frozen since 2009 and locked until at least 2030. Add the residence nil-rate band (£175,000 if you leave your home to direct descendants) and a couple can potentially pass on £1 million tax-free. But IHT is charged at 40% on everything above these thresholds.
On a £15M estate, poor planning could mean an IHT bill exceeding £5 million. Good planning—using trusts, lifetime gifts, business property relief where available—can reduce this dramatically. HMRC collected £7.5 billion from IHT last year, and that figure keeps growing as frozen thresholds meet rising asset values.
The quality issue here is different from tax. Bad estate planning isn't obvious until it's too late. The documents look fine. They're just not optimised, or they don't reflect your actual situation, or they miss opportunities.
Find someone who specialises in high-net-worth clients. General practitioners who do estate work as part of a broader practice often lack depth. Look for STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) membership—it signals specialisation in this area. Ask how many clients they have at your wealth level. If you're their biggest client by far, you probably need someone else.
Investment Advisor or Platform
This is where it gets murky because "investment advisor" means different things.
At one end: a self-directed platform where you make all decisions. Interactive Brokers, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown. Low cost, full control, no guidance.
At the other end: a full-service wealth manager who handles everything, charges 1%+ of assets, and provides planning alongside investment management.
And everything in between. Robo-advisors. Fee-only financial planners who give advice but don't manage money. Discretionary managers. Non-discretionary managers.
The fee landscape matters here. UK wealth management fees typically range from 0.5% to 1.5% of assets under management (AUM) annually. On £10M, that's £50,000 to £150,000 per year—before underlying fund costs. The industry average sits around 1%, which the Kitces research confirms as the median AUM fee.
At higher wealth levels, tiered structures become available. Many firms reduce percentages as assets grow—0.75% on the first £5M, 0.50% on the next £5M, and so on. Some offer flat fees, which can be dramatically better value: a £40,000 annual fee on £10M is 0.4%, far below the typical 1% AUM model.
What you need depends on how much you want to be involved. If you enjoy managing investments and have time, you might just need a good platform. If you want someone else handling it, you need a manager. If you want advice but retain control, a fee-only planner might be the fit.
It is also important to understand who does what in the
Regulatory backdrop: In the UK, anyone providing regulated financial advice must hold an FCA-approved Level 4 qualification (like the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute) and maintain a Statement of Professional Standing renewed annually. Chartered Financial Planner status requires additional Level 6 qualifications plus five years' experience. You can verify any advisor or firm on the FCA's Financial Services Register.
No universally right answer. But be clear about what you're getting and what you're paying for it. The person at your private bank who calls themselves your "advisor" is often a salesperson for the bank's products. They can “recommend” products but it’s up for you to decide if to invest in it or now. That's not the same as independent financial advice.
Insurance Broker
Reviews your coverage and places policies. Liability, property, life, maybe D&O if you're on boards.
Most founders are underinsured relative to their wealth. The policies they had at £500K net worth don't make sense at £15M. Liability coverage especially—if you have real assets, you need real protection.
High-net-worth liability cover is essential but often overlooked. Personal umbrella policies—excess liability cover that sits above your home and motor insurance—typically start at £1 million and can extend to £10 million or more for high-net-worth individuals. The cost is surprisingly low relative to the protection: roughly £300–500 annually for £1 million of coverage, with each additional million adding perhaps £75–100.
For a founder with £15M in assets, liability cover of at least that amount makes sense. Your home insurance liability limit might be £500,000; your car insurance similar. A serious incident could result in claims far exceeding those limits—and in UK litigation, your personal assets are at risk.
Find an independent broker who works with multiple carriers, not a captive agent for one company. They should review your full situation annually, not just call when policies renew.
Situational Additions
Beyond the core four, you might need specialists depending on your situation.
International tax specialist if you have meaningful cross-border complexity. Your general tax advisor might handle basics but international gets technical fast. Treaty interpretation, foreign tax credits, reporting requirements—this is specialised knowledge. The new residence-based IHT rules from April 2025 (replacing the old domicile system) have made this even more complex for internationally mobile founders.
Corporate solicitor if you're still doing deals, investing actively, or have business interests beyond personal wealth. Different skill set from estate work.
Immigration solicitor if residency, citizenship, or international mobility matters to your planning.
Property specialist if real estate is a significant part of your portfolio. Current rental yields vary dramatically by region—5.6% UK average, but 7.9% in the North East versus 3–6% in London. Someone who understands the tax implications (mortgage interest relief limitations, Section 24 changes) and structuring options is valuable.
Add these as needed. Don't build an army preemptively.
What Good Actually Looks Like
Credentials matter less than you'd think. Someone can have impressive qualifications and still be wrong for your situation. What actually differentiates good advisors:
They push back. Average advisors nod along and do what you ask. Good advisors tell you when you're wrong. If you've never had an advisor disagree with you, either you're always right (unlikely) or they're not doing their job.
A founder wanted to set up an elaborate offshore structure he'd heard about at a conference. His tax advisor could have just implemented it and billed the hours. Instead, he spent an hour explaining why it wouldn't actually save tax given the founder's residency and the UK's stringent anti-avoidance rules, and what simpler approach would work better. That's the advisor you want.
They're proactive. They call you with ideas, not just responses. "I saw this and thought of your situation." "There's a deadline coming up we should discuss." "The rules changed on this—here's what it means for you."
If you only hear from advisors when you reach out or when they're billing, something's off. The Autumn Budget announcements, the pension changes coming in 2027, the frozen IHT thresholds until 2030—a good advisor should be reaching out about these things proactively.
They admit limits. Nobody knows everything. Good advisors say "that's outside my expertise, let me connect you with someone who specialises in this." Average advisors stretch into areas they don't really understand because they don't want to lose the work.
They coordinate. They're willing to talk to your other advisors. They think about how their advice interacts with other parts of your situation. They don't operate in isolation.
They respond. Not instantly—they have other clients. But within reasonable timeframes. If getting a response routinely takes a week, you're not a priority.
The Coordination Problem
This is the thing that kills most advisory setups.
You have good people. Each does their job competently. But they don't talk to each other. Each optimises their piece without seeing the whole picture.
Tax advisor recommends a structure. Estate solicitor doesn't know about it, so the estate plan doesn't reflect it. Investment manager puts money somewhere that creates tax complications nobody anticipated. Insurance broker has no idea what entities you've created, so coverage has gaps.
I've seen this repeatedly. Smart founders, good advisors, suboptimal outcomes because nobody's coordinating.
Three ways to address it:
You coordinate. This is Model A from Chapter 2. You're the hub. You make sure information flows, schedule joint calls, ensure everyone knows what everyone else is doing. Works if you have time and inclination. Falls apart when you get busy.
Someone else coordinates. This is Model B—the Virtual Family Office. You hire a coordinator or use a service that takes responsibility for making your advisors work together. Costs more but frees your time. Typically £10,000–30,000 annually for coordination services, but can save multiples of that in caught issues and optimised decisions.
Fewer advisors who do more. Some advisors offer integrated services—tax and investment, or wealth planning that spans multiple areas. Reduces coordination burden but concentrates risk if the relationship goes wrong.
Whatever approach, somebody needs to think about how all the pieces connect. If that somebody is nobody, things will eventually fall through cracks.
The Incentive Question
Worth understanding how your advisors get paid. Not to be cynical—but incentives shape behaviour.
Hourly billing means they earn more when things take longer. Not necessarily bad—complex situations take time. Typical rates for senior professionals: £300–500 per hour for tax advisors, £250–400 for solicitors, £200–350 for financial planners. Be aware of scope creep.
Fixed fees align better in some ways. They're incentivised to be efficient. But might rush if the fixed fee doesn't match actual complexity.
Assets under management (AUM) means they earn more as your portfolio grows. Generally good alignment. But they won't volunteer that you should pay off your mortgage or buy property instead of investing more with them. At 1% on £10M, that's £100,000 annually—a significant incentive to keep assets under management rather than deploy them elsewhere.
Commissions on products means they earn when you buy things. Insurance brokers, some investment advisors. Creates obvious conflicts—what they recommend might not be what's best for you. The FCA's retail investment advice review has pushed the industry toward fee-based models, but commissions still exist.
Retainers provide predictable income for ongoing relationships. Works well for advisory relationships where you want access without transactional billing.
None of these is inherently bad. But know how each person gets paid and consider how that shapes what they recommend. If advice feels like it's leading toward something that makes them money, think carefully.
Red Flags
Some signals that an advisor relationship isn't working:
They never disagree with you. Either you're the smartest person in every room, or they're not adding value.
You don't understand what they're recommending. Good advisors explain until you understand. If you feel confused after multiple conversations, either they can't communicate clearly or the strategy is more complicated than necessary.
They're slow to respond and hard to reach. You're not a priority. That might be fine for some relationships, but core advisors should be accessible.
They resist talking to other advisors. "That's not really my area" is fine. "I don't think we need to involve anyone else" when coordination clearly matters is a flag.
They push products from their own firm consistently. Maybe those products are best. Maybe the internal incentives are driving recommendations. Ask about alternatives outside their firm.
Turnover in who you deal with. You signed up for the senior partner; you're now handled by someone junior. This happens at larger firms. Ask who your day-to-day contact actually is before you commit.
They charge for everything. Quick questions generate invoices. Routine check-ins get billed. Some firms culture this way. Decide if that's worth it.
They're not FCA-registered (when they should be). Anyone providing regulated financial advice in the UK must be on the FCA Financial Services Register. Check before you engage.
How to Fire Someone
Relationships go stale. Needs change. Quality declines. Sometimes you just hired wrong.
Switching advisors feels awkward. There's relationship history, maybe personal connection. You don't want confrontation.
But keeping the wrong advisor because switching is uncomfortable is expensive. Not just in fees—in suboptimal advice, missed opportunities, accumulating problems.
How to do it:
Don't explain more than necessary. "We've decided to make a change" is enough. You don't owe a detailed justification. Getting into reasons invites argument.
Give reasonable notice. Professionals expect transitions. A few weeks to hand over is standard courtesy unless something egregious happened.
Get your documents. Make sure you have copies of everything before you switch. Tax returns, estate documents, investment records. You own this information. Request your complete file in writing.
Line up the replacement first. Gaps in coverage create problems. Have the new relationship established before you end the old one.
Don't burn bridges. Professional world is small. The advisor you fire might be the only expert in something you need later. Be polite even if you're frustrated.
How Many Relationships?
Founders sometimes ask: how many advisors should I have?
Wrong question. The right question: do I have coverage for the things that matter, without so many relationships that coordination becomes impossible?
At £5–15M: probably 4–6 relationships. Core four plus maybe one or two specialists.
At £15–30M: maybe 5–8. More complexity justifies more specialisation.
At £30–50M: potentially 6–10. But at this level you probably need someone coordinating.
These aren't prescriptive numbers. Just rough sense of what's typical. You can have three advisors who cover everything you need, or twelve who still leave gaps. Count matters less than coverage and coordination.
Building From Scratch
If you're starting fresh post-exit, sequence matters.
Tax advisor first. Time-sensitive decisions, immediate complexity, biggest impact if wrong. Before your first tax year-end post-exit, ideally.
Estate solicitor soon after. Not urgent day-to-day but important to establish before something unexpected happens. The £325,000 nil-rate band and £175,000 residence nil-rate band won't plan themselves.
Investment relationship as you start deploying capital. Don't rush this—interviewing several options is worth the time. Compare fee structures explicitly: AUM versus flat fee versus hourly. Ask what's included.
Insurance broker to review coverage within the first six months. Gaps here are invisible until something goes wrong.
Additional specialists as needs emerge.
Take your time with each hire. Meet multiple candidates. Ask how they work with other advisors. Check references—not the ones they give you, but founders in similar situations who've worked with them.
A good team takes a year or more to assemble properly. That's fine. Better to build slowly with the right people than rush and end up with the wrong ones.
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