Family offices have long served the wealthiest of the wealthy, the dynasties sitting on heaping fortunes that need management and detangling.
Now, the 2% want in.
Across the country, wealth management firms are rushing to offer asset management, tax planning, philanthropy and concierge services to a growing segment of American families with net worths between $10 and $500 million.
Los Angeles – whose entertainment, real estate, software and manufacturing industries create “new money” on the regular – is no exception. The number of California residents making more than $50 million more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, the most recent Department of Finance data shows.
One local firm looking to fill that need is Santa Monica-based Angeles Wealth Management, whose first-ever acquisition is a response to a rise in high-net-worth families seeking wraparound help.
In January, 15-year-old Angeles Wealth took a team of advisers at boutique firm XO Capital under its wing to launch a family office affiliate. Chief Executive Jonathan Foster described Angeles Family Office as a “Goldilocks” solution – not too big, not too small – for most of its affluent clients.
“We found that, for our core group of families in wealth management, there were these ancillary needs around management that were not being met properly,” Foster said. “With the addition of family office knowledge, we can check the box for almost anything.”
AFO will bring on the XO Capital co-founders, Adam Stern and Jason Oclaray as chief executive and president, respectively.
“Launching AFO is about building on a strong foundation and expanding what we can offer the families we serve,” Oclaray said.
Family offices typically integrate investment and general money management with executive services ranging from building a philanthropic plan to responding to a family member’s health crisis to managing the construction of a vacation home.
Globally, family offices oversee more than $3 trillion in assets, according to a 2024 Deloitte report, and are positioned for growth given an expected $124 trillion wealth transfer in the U.S. by 2048.
As demand for family offices expands, talent remains expensive, and the cost of a full-service team can quickly grow unmanageable for a family with assets of under $1 billion. Offices working with several families under one roof have sprouted up for this wealth category.
The multi-family office scene in L.A. is under-resourced, Foster said, which he believes gives AFO – with its grounding in wealth management and investment solutions from its $46-million-AUM affiliate Angeles Investment Advisors – a leg up.
As Angeles Wealth branches out with an eye on unmet market needs, recently appointed chief growth officer Jonah Cave is driving inorganic growth efforts. Foster created the role for Cave, who joined in November from Dallas-based multi-family office CH Investment Partners.
Under Cave, strategic partnerships and acquisitions like the XO Capital deal will build on existing growth, including Angeles Wealth’s ten-fold increase in AUM since 2018. Taking advantage of unexpected opportunities and responding to market gaps has been key to Angeles Wealth’s expansion, Foster said.
“I have no plan,” he said. “I just have a direction.”