"We Found the Cutest Faux Family Office!"

What do you do with a great marketing strategy? You run with it!

Rachel Silverman of The Wall Street Journal surveys the results in Family Office Hunting:

A family office traditionally was a small company built solely to manage the fortunes of a super-rich family, like the Rockefellers. A dedicated staff not only managed money, it also typically provided a variety of softer services, such as arranging vacations and personal security, and educating family members about their wealth.

But in recent years, as investment firms scramble to serve the growing ranks of very wealthy people, the family-office landscape has gotten crowded. Rich families now face a confusing array of options, ranging from banking behemoths to tiny boutiques and technology startups that are all hoping to cash in on the family-office cachet.

As a marketing aid, the family-office concept is a godsend. This service model shows wealthy families there is more to coping with their wealth than investment management. They need – and should be happy to pay for – a package of coordinated services.

Can these services be provided at full potency by organizations not under family control?

Will the faux-family-office concept self-destruct by moving down-market too fast?

Or will this attractive model for serving wealthy families prove so compelling that it reshapes the financial-services industry?

All comments or theories gratefully received.