Program Description

Building and operating a Family Office takes more than money: it takes vision, structure and clear rules. The first part of this module covers the complete construction of the family office: the mindset shift from spending wealth to managing it as productive capital; domestic, international and hybrid structuring models; legal forms — trust, holding company, operating company; the levels of sophistication across Single Family Office, Multi-Family Office and embedded office; talent and key functional areas; base currency and multi-currency management; the full menu of instruments, from ETFs and bonds to FIBRAS, CKDs, CERPIs and private equity; and comprehensive risk management.

The second part, held in person, addresses what holds wealth together: family governance. Family council and investment committee, protocols and the Family Constitution, intergenerational succession planning with trusts and foundations, NextGen education programs, conflict prevention and resolution, the choice of onshore and offshore jurisdictions, global compliance with FATCA/CRS and AML/KYC, and philanthropy and impact investing as a social legacy.

The faculty combines two worlds: Luis Seco, professor at the University of Toronto, director of RiskLab and partner at Sygma Analysis, and Jorge Fabre, director of the Instituto de Alta Dirección Anáhuac and founder of Mexico's Centro de Excelencia en Gobierno Corporativo. Here you learn to create the family enterprise that will manage the wealth, with its own policies, risk controls and a governance framework that preserves harmony and purpose across generations.

General Objective

Understand how to create, structure and manage an effective Family Office, and how to establish solid family governance that ensures the preservation and growth of wealth across generations. Upon completion, participants will master the operational aspects required to set up a Family Office — legal structure, staffing, financial instruments and risk management — and the best practices of Family Governance: family councils, protocols, succession planning and conflict resolution to maintain harmony and shared objectives in families of significant wealth.

Learning Objectives

01Structure a Family Office by evaluating jurisdictions, legal forms (trust, holding company, operating company) and domestic, international or hybrid models.
02Determine the appropriate level of sophistication — Single Family Office, Multi-Family Office or embedded office — with cost-benefit analysis.
03Design the Family Office organization: key roles such as the CIO, tax and legal experts, and compensation schemes aligned with the family's interests.
04Define the base currency, manage multi-currency portfolios and decide which asset classes to manage in-house and which to outsource to specialized managers.
05Establish comprehensive risk policies: limits by asset class, geography and counterparty, complemented by insurance and wealth hedging.
06Implement solid family governance: family council, investment committee, protocols and a Family Constitution with formal decision-making processes.
07Plan intergenerational succession through trusts, family foundations and NextGen mentoring and financial education programs.
08Ensure global regulatory compliance (FATCA/CRS, AML/KYC) and balance privacy with transparency before the authorities.

Why Take This Program

International faculty: Luis Seco, professor at the University of Toronto, director of RiskLab and partner at Sygma Analysis.
Jorge Fabre, director of the Instituto de Alta Dirección Anáhuac, founder of Mexico's Centro de Excelencia en Gobierno Corporativo and senior advisor at Morrow Sodali.
Blended format: 4 Virtual Live sessions on building and managing the Family Office, plus 2 in-person sessions on governance and legacy.
6 sessions and 12 hours, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm Mexico City time, in August 2026.
A compendium of best practices for professionalizing the management of significant family wealth.
Covers the full cycle: legal structure, talent, instruments, risk, governance, succession, compliance and philanthropy.
Analysis of real cases: family offices that preserved harmony versus families that lost everything to conflict.
Global view of jurisdictions: Switzerland, Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Delaware/Wyoming and the United Arab Emirates, with their pros and cons.
Applied design of a Family Constitution, family council, investment committee and contingency plans.
A module of the Executive Program available as a standalone course, aimed at private wealth bankers, HNWIs and business-owning families.

Syllabus — Key Topics

Wealth as a productive fund, not an expense: professionalizing the administration of the family fortune
Structuring the Family Office: jurisdictions, trust, holding company and operating company
Levels of sophistication: Single Family Office, Multi-Family Office and embedded office
Human resources and key areas: CIO, managers, tax, legal, philanthropy and aligned compensation
Base currency and multi-currency management in globally diversified portfolios
Investment instruments: ETFs, funds, FIBRAS, REITs, CKDs, CERPIs, private equity and direct co-investments
Comprehensive risk management: limits by asset class, geography and counterparty; insurance and hedging
Introduction to family governance: SFO vs. MFO and the consequences of poor governance
Family Council and Investment Committee: composition, roles and formal decision-making processes
Family protocols and the Family Constitution (Family Charter): mission, values and governance rules
Estate planning and intergenerational succession: trusts, family foundations and NextGen mentoring
Conflict management and family continuity: mediation, real cases and contingency plans
Global structuring: onshore/offshore jurisdictions and FATCA/CRS, AML/KYC compliance
Philanthropy, impact investing and social legacy from the Family Office

Faculty

Luis Seco — Partner, Sygma Analysis; profesor, Universidad de Toronto; director de RiskLab · Jorge Fabre — Director, Instituto de Alta Dirección Anáhuac (IADA)