When the phone rings, we answer the call.

Family office services team responds to clients’ challenges with custom solutions

Throughout Kaufman Rossin’s 60th anniversary year, you’ll see viewpoints in this space from firm members sharing how our Joy at Work culture translates into our commitment to client relationships and service. You’ll see how that Joy has helped us create very special professional and personal lives.

That’s absolutely true for our Family Office Services group, which is probably the most diverse group in the firm. Let me tell you how we built this amazing team.

I come from a Big Four tax background, where some of my clients were high-net-worth families. Their tax returns were quite complex with a myriad of investments and real estate holdings. I learned a lot about investments in researching them for tax treatment.

One day the phone rang.

It was a friend, recommending me for a CFO role in a single-family office. Single-family offices typically serve one family, managing financial matters and more. I started with them two weeks later and soon after assumed the President/COO role when the person in that position transitioned out. I worked for the family for almost 15 years, and it was time for a change.

I took a role with an accounting firm to start their family office practice in Dallas. They’d been talking to me about it for several years, and I finally made the jump. That’s where I learned the family office outsourcing model. Here’s the model: instead of hiring and managing professionals directly in a single-family office, high-net-worth families benefit from a more diverse team of specialists by engaging an outside firm. You get more capabilities, with less management hassle. But just one year later, that firm was acquired by larger firm. I was concerned about continuing in Dallas since it was a new and undeveloped location.

And then the phone rang again.

A recruiter was trying to fill a family office position in New York, but I wasn’t interested in New York. “Would you consider moving anywhere else?” she asked. “A great firm and near the ocean,” I said, “but not California.” My then fiancée and I flew to Miami in February 2014 to interview with Kaufman Rossin. The firm had significant high-net-worth clients who would benefit from family office services, and I had the experience to grow this new practice. Plus, Kaufman Rossin seemed like a place where I’d be happy.

I accepted an offer in March, married my wife in May, and we moved to Miami on June 1. Obviously it was quite a whirlwind five months!

We’ve formed a very special team.

Almost 10 years later, our family office practice is

a team of 26. Probably the most diverse department in the firm, team members come from everywhere. We make big things happen for our clients and have fun doing it.

Our processes are unique, so we have the best results hiring detail-oriented, tech savvy, hardworking people, training them from the transaction level up, and promoting from within. The more time they spend in our department, the more they learn and take on. Many have gone back to school or continued their education in accounting and finance to learn more about the theory and practice.

Our clients keep calling with challenges – and the team delivers.

Wealthy families have a lot going on, which keeps us at the top of our game. Their assets and investments are extensive and complex. Clients typically have liquid and illiquid investments that require management and consolidated reporting.

Their unique situations keep us rising to the challenge. For example:

•  Clients have extensive real estate holdings, both residences and investments. Team members have helped clients buy and sell all kinds of properties, and worked directly with general contractors to help build several multi-million dollar homes and a polo club!
• They own all types of collectibles: art, wine, jewelry, guns, and more. One client collects Hermès purses; another owns one of the biggest private map and stamp collections. These items need to be catalogued, stored, tracked, moved, repaired, valued, insured, and more.
• They have planes, yachts, and lots of cars. They are always buying, selling, and changing their holdings. Most professionals don’t get to travel to visit client sites in their private planes…but sometimes we do!

We apply our experience and proven methods to create seamless, secure, organized, personal information and processes to meet each family’s accounting, finance, and operational needs.

It’s a joy to work with these people.

When I started my career, I never imagined how much joy I’d find helping these fascinating clients manage their personal and financial lives. I know this for sure – working with my amazing team is a joy every day. When the phone rings, it’s a new challenge we take on together.

Todd Kesterson leads the family office practice at Kaufman Rossin, one of the top 100 CPA and advisory firms in the U.S. He can be reached at tkesterson@kaufmanrossin.com.