Wednesday, October 3, 2007

PBT to Partake in Private Family Office Forum



Private Family Offices ~ West Coast to Welcome over 45 Private Family Offices

Strategic Research Institute presents it's Private Family Offices -- West Coast forum, October 10-11, 2007 at The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay in California. This forum is the industry standard for Family Offices seeking high level discussions of investment strategy and portfolio construction within the alternatives space.

Sessions include discussions on strategies and opportunities in the alternatives space as well building relationships, issues of succession, family risk management, trends in philanthropy, debt instruments, and 130/30s.

Editor's Note Regarding 130/30s:
U.S. money managers have accumulated nearly $30 billion in newly popular 130/30 Strategies. A 130/30 strategy goes 130% long and 30% short.
In these strategies, the firm shorts a certain percentage of the portfolio, but those short positions are balanced with extra long positions so the overall portfolio has full market exposure.

Analysts and consultants said the market for these strategies is in such early stages that no one firm dominates. Prime brokers that handle accounts for institutional investors engaging in 130/30 or 120/20 strategies estimate as much as $60 billion is already invested in them. “It’s a better way to run money and it will become a large and accepted part of the money management scene in the next five to 10 years,” said Paul Quinsee, chief investment officer of the core U.S. equity group that manages JPMorgan’s 130/30 strategies. For an excellent overview on 130/30's go here.



Confirmed Private Family Offices include:

Bacchus Capital; The Bakal Company; Braverman Family Partnership; Cornerstone Holdings, LLC; Granite Creek Partners, LLC; Humphrey Enterprises; J & T Roush Family LLC; K.T. Family Trust; Laddent Group; Laird Norton Co. LLC; Loeb Partners; Mantucket Capital Management; Massey, Quick and Co., LLC; Pacificor, LLC; Pay By Touch; PrideCo Capital Management; PRISM Family Office; Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.; SkyBridge Capital; Space Center Ventures; Terrapin Partners, LLC; Trailhead Advisors, Inc.; Twin Chimney Inc.; The Zar Fund Group LLC; Zen Investments LLC.

For more information about the event click here.

Editors Note 2: A family office is a private company that manages investments and trusts for a single wealthy family. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth, often accumulated over many family generations. A family office can cost over $1 million to operate, so the family's net worth usually exceeds $500 million. Recently, some family offices have accepted non-family members.

The first noteworthy family offices in the United States were formed during the late 19th and early 20th century as a result of the tremendous wealth created during the Industrial Revolution. Four of the most well known of these are the Robert Pitcairn, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Phipps and Andrew Carnegie families, who made their fortunes in railroads, glass, oil, and steel, respectively.

More recently the term "family office" or multi family office is used to refer primarily to financial services for relatively wealthy families. The family office invests the family's money, manages all of the family's assets, and disburses payments to family members as required. The office itself operates just like a corporation, with a president, CFO, CIO, etc. and a support staff. The officers are compensated as per an arrangement with the family, usually with overrides based on the profits or capital gains generated by the office. Often, family offices are built around direct real estate or equity investment, professionally managing a large portfolio of real estate or stocks, often both. In addition, a more aggressive and well-capitalized office may be engaged in private equity placement, venture capital opportunities, and real estate development.