Boasting over 20 years in the international financial sector and with $11 billion in assets under management, We Family Offices is one of the gems of the wealth management sector, both in the international and in the U.S. domestic markets. Santiago Ulloa, Founder and Managing Partner of the Miami and New York based firm, tells us about the specialized work they carry out for their clients. This interview was published in the last printed number of Funds Society America’s magazine for readers of the US Offshore market.
The current environment forces us to be swift in our decision making and to adapt to a future that does not necessarily have to be negative, but that will probably be different. In this unusual year of 2020, We Family Offices is maintaining its agenda: focusing on a comprehensive wealth vision for the families it serves.
“In addition to investments, we address how decisions are made, family governance, that is: we manage family wealth as if it were a company, using strategy, planning, controls, minutes of meetings, among other things,” explains Ulloa.
These months of lockdown and forced social distancing have been an opportunity to have a closer relationship with clients: «We have realized that traveling is not absolutely essential and that in fact you are able to talk with all the family members at once more often.»
We Family Offices is a small company in terms of client numbers, but important in terms of assets: “We currently work with approximately 80 families, but we advise, or provide support to, investable assets in excess of $11 billion,” says Ulloa.
Latin America has a clear potential for attracting high income clients, due to the complex political situation in many countries and the families wanting to organize and sort themselves out. “We are more focused on providing an excellent service than on growing. Fortunately, we always acquire new clients each year, but if there are more than 5, that´s already too many,” says WE’s managing partner.
«We focus on organic growth and are currently not seeing any purchases. We see the opportunity of independent advisors who understand the challenge of serving their clients from a small structure, but, in any case, the most important thing for us is to have a common culture and vision. If that doesn’t work, we prefer to let that opportunity go,» he adds.
The Future of the Wealth Management Industry
If one were to cite a key factor of change in the wealth management industry, Ulloa would highlight the consolidation of entities due to a more complex regulatory framework and high operating costs. But the biggest challenge in the sector is transparency, since currently, «there are no gray areas, it’s all either black or white».
The firm mainly serves clients in the U.S. domestic market and families throughout the Spanish-speaking region, but also serves the European and Asian zone. First and second generation businessmen «with a long term vision and a desire to do things right» are part of the company’s profile.
Ulloa believes that the Latin American offshore industry «will always exist because many families do not trust the governments of their countries and always want to diversify their assets in secure environments. What will continue to change is the way in which this is approached. In general, the region is suffering a significant geopolitical deterioration, with poverty growing and with populist models based on that difference in income. You can do good for these countries by helping them grow, educating and giving opportunities to those at the bottom. If they don’t, they will be contributing to the demise of the ruling classes”.
ESG Factors and Investment in Alternatives
In its quest for excellence, We Family Offices also has the means to be at the forefront of investment policy. Thus, the team has been working for over five years to integrate ESG factors into portfolios, «an approach of alignment with family values» that goes through a complex and detailed process of dialogue. «It is possible to have well-made portfolios, both in public and private markets, that do as well or better than those that do not apply ESG factors. There are not many institutions that do this, but we have committed to team building and seeking out opportunities and it is working very well,» explains Ulloa.
The Financier believes that the number of independent advisors supporting the families will continue to increase: «We have been saying for more than a decade that we must separate the factory from the product, from the distribution and from the advice. You can’t have everything in the one basket because it creates conflict”.
The WE team is currently managing the demand for alternative assets, such as private equity, real estate or hedge funds «with a lot of patience and by reviewing hundreds of options that come to us all the time, you end up being able to identify what you are really interested in and spend time on those opportunities in order to get to know them in depth and, if it makes sense, invest in them», explains Ulloa.
Roboadvisors have a place for the firm’s small clients, but in the case of large estates, a much broader global vision is needed, which involves fiscal planning, succession, and issues such as governance in decision making.
Investing in Technology and Human Capital
For Santiago Ulloa, the difference between We Family Offices and its competitors is its human team, «both in the investment area, as well as the family advisors with a wealth of experience, the legal and fiscal support team, administration, consolidation and quality control. It is a unit which operates in a coordinated manner, under a common culture of service and of always putting the client’s interests ahead of ours».
Currently, the company’s greatest investment in effort and money is its investment in technology and in the improvement of the team, which consists of 47 people distributed between the Miami and New York offices.
Ulloa believes that the client wants transparency and access to good investment opportunities with a minimum conflict of interest. They want advisors they can trust and who will not be perceived as suggesting or recommending anything in their own interest.
In the coming years, tax increases are most likely to occur and it is important to be prepared in this respect: «In the United States, analysts agree that regardless of who wins, there will be tax increases, although perhaps that change will be faster with the Democrats,» says WE’s founder.
Whatever the scenario, being prepared, being flexible and staying on course on the essentials is the way forward for We Family Offices.
