Ultra-high-net-worth families expect to be catered to with a batch of deluxe services. Sometimes, these are unusual.
At Geller, a large multi-family office and a Dynasty Network firm, this means everything from doggy therapy to lending museums their precious art to securing a Golden Visa for retirement in Europe, among a host of other lifestyle management and financial concierge services.
"We know everything about these families. It's such an intimate relationship. So it's not unusual for us to be their first call for any type of issue they might face," Mona Manahi, head of Personal CFO Services, tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview, wherein she discusses 17 such services.
Geller's main lines of business include investment management, strategic wealth planning, tax advisory and Personal CFO Services. The firm had about $6 billion in assets under management and another $3.7 billion in assets under advisement as of Dec. 31, according to its latest Form ADV.
"We don't serve as a personal assistant; we provide financial concierge services — anything that…[has] a significant financial element that needs support," Manahi says.
Here are excerpts from our interview:
THINKADVISOR: Please describe Personal CFO Services.
MONA MANAHI: When a family gets to a certain level of wealth, their assets are themselves a business. And just like any business, that requires a CFO.
Personal CFO Services are for the client's personal financial life.
Why is it important to offer lifestyle management and concierge services to ultra-high-net-worth clients?
Considering the size of their lives, they have many needs. We don't serve as a personal assistant — we provide financial concierge services: anything that relates to navigating transactions that may not be routine to their life but that have a significant financial element that needs support.
What's an example of lifestyle management?
When a client wants to enter into a luxury home lease somewhere exotic, they reach out to us. We'll manage the application process, liaise with the brokers and get the account set up all the way to completion.
How do you help owners of collectible vehicles?
I have a client who was passing a Lamborghini dealership one day and called me. He said, "I just saw this very unique color, one-of-a-kind Lamborghini that I want to buy. But I'm leaving the country — so can you work with the dealership to get it purchased, insured, registered and have it in my driveway by the end of the week?"
I said, "Certainly."
Do you come to the rescue when clients have problems concerning their cars?
One family called and said that while they were moving their luxury vehicle to a different state, the transport company took a sharp turn — and the vehicle fell off the transport.
We helped arrange for the insurance and handled the entire situation.
What's one particularly memorable odd request?
A client's dog needed special meals because it had a medical condition — IBS, as I recall. They asked us to help them identify a few options and then set up a subscription.
Another family engaged a therapist for their dog because it seemed to be reacting [badly] to their newborn baby.
They asked us to onboard and facilitate payments to the therapist they selected.
Do you help hire dog-walkers and arrange for doggy daycare?
Yes. A family might need someone to walk their dog, put their pet in daycare or [board them] on a long-term basis when they're on vacation.
I imagine you help in hiring and firing household employees too. Right?