Family Business Office

What Family Business Office does

Family Business Office (FBO) is a private, multi-client family office advisory firm founded in 1982 by attorney Richard Watts and headquartered at 1602 E. Fourth Street, Santa Ana, California. The firm provides comprehensive family office services to high-net-worth families — including estate planning, investment analysis, business strategy, succession planning, wealth transfer, entity structuring, and conflict resolution — acting as a central coordinator and direct representative within each client's household. Its core differentiator is a proactive rather than reactive advisory approach: FBO identifies and addresses family and business issues in advance, integrates into the center of all family matters under continuous engagement, and evaluates, curates, and coordinates a decades-built network of specialized professionals spanning attorneys, accountants, investment experts, estate planners, HR specialists, aviation/maritime/family/employment law practitioners, and charitable giving specialists.

The firm's business model is a subscription-style recurring revenue arrangement: clients are retained on a predetermined annual fixed fee paid monthly, with no additional hourly billing, and the contract is a continuing agreement terminable by either party at any time. FBO serves clients regionally from Orange County / California and nationally, acquiring new business through direct inquiries and the founder's reputation as a published author, speaker, and national-publication contributor — there is no formal marketing apparatus, no technology platform, no mobile or web application, and no API or integration surface. The firm is founder-owned and operates with 3-5 core staff (including Richard Watts as Founder/President, Lisa Harer as Executive Administrator with 40+ years of service, and Anne Justus with 20+ years), with no institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no M&A history. The 'Family Business Office®' name is a registered trademark.

Name

Family Business Office

Legal name

Family Business Office

Website

https://fbo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Family Business Office is a Santa Ana, California-based family office advisory firm founded in 1982 that serves high-net-worth families nationally through fixed-fee annual retainers, providing proactive conflict resolution, wealth management, succession planning, and coordination of a curated network of specialized professional advisors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Family Office Advisory Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Other Individual and Family Services (62419)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAEAAAI

Family Office Advisory (Single/Multi-Family)

Financial & Insurance/Financial Advisory, Brokerage & Intermediation/Investment Advisory & Financial Planning

Keywords

• Family office advisory
• Estate planning
• Wealth management
• Succession planning
• Conflict resolution

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Ana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Family Office Advisory Services: FBO generates revenue through a predetermined annual fixed fee arrangement paid monthly on a retainer basis. This continuous retainer model provides clients with access to services without concerns about extra billing, enabling proactive rather than reactive advisory services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Family Business Office is a multi-client family office advisory firm that provides high-level management of family business enterprises, conflict resolution, estate planning, investment analysis, and business strategies to high-net-worth families on a fixed annual retainer paid monthly. The firm acts as the family's representative, proactively identifying and resolving issues before they escalate, and coordinates a decades-old network of specialized professionals (attorneys, accountants, estate planners, family law, aviation law, maritime law, charitable giving specialists) to deliver integrated solutions.

Product overview

Family Business Office (FBO) is a single, unified family office advisory service rather than a platform with separate modules. It provides comprehensive family office advisory services to high-net-worth families, offering ongoing management, conflict resolution, and coordination with professional networks including attorneys, accountants, investment experts, estate planners, and various specialists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Family Office Advisory Services Comprehensive family office advisory service for high-net-worth families, providing high-level management of family business enterprises, confidential issue identification and resolution, and proactive conflict recognition on a fixed annual retainer paid monthly. FBO acts as the family's representative and integrates into the center of all family matters and concerns.
• Estate Planning Services Estate planning advisory delivered through FBO's coordination of specialized estate planning professionals as part of the firm's overall family office advisory engagement with high-net-worth families.
• Investment Analysis Services Investment analysis advisory coordinated with FBO's network of investment experts as part of the firm's family office advisory engagement with high-net-worth families.
• Business Strategies Advisory Business strategies advisory provided to high-net-worth families for managing their business enterprises, coordinated through FBO's network of specialized professionals including business consultants.
• Conflict Resolution and Succession Planning Proactive conflict recognition and resolution, along with succession planning support, delivered to high-net-worth families as part of FBO's family office advisory engagement, leveraging the firm's network of family law, employment law, and other specialists.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Network of Professional AdvisorscoreOthersFBO has built a network of specialized professionals including attorneys, accountants, investment experts, estate planning firms, human resource specialists, aviation law, family law, employment law, maritime law, and charitable giving specialists. These professionals have been selected over decades to provide expert service in their respective fields. FBO maintains ongoing connection between clients' issues and this network of highly skilled professionals, ensuring all family matters are handled by the most competent and accomplished individuals or firms.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Direct peers

• GenSpring Family Offices: GenSpring provides multi-family office services to UHNW families, including investment management, wealth planning, and family advisory. Like FBO, it sells a coordinated, retainer-style advisory experience to wealthy families rather than discrete transactions.
• Pitcairn: Pitcairn is a multi-family office serving multiple generations of HNW families with integrated wealth advisory, family governance, and next-generation education services — comparable to FBO in its family-centric, multi-generational advisory approach.
• Bessemer Trust: Bessemer Trust is one of the largest multi-client family office advisory firms in the U.S., serving ultra-high-net-worth families with integrated investment, wealth planning, and family governance services — a closely comparable model to FBO, though at significantly greater scale.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: Mariner Wealth Advisors is a national RIA and multi-family office platform offering integrated wealth advisory, estate planning, and family office services to HNW and UHNW clients — overlapping FBO's target market and advisory offering, but at a larger institutional scale.
• Wilmington Trust (Wealth Advisory): Wilmington Trust's wealth advisory division serves UHNW families with multi-family office services including investment management, fiduciary, estate, and family governance services — directly comparable in mission and client profile to FBO.
• Abbot Downing: Abbot Downing is Northern Trust's multi-family office brand providing integrated wealth management, advisory, and family office services to UHNW families. It directly competes with FBO's retainer-based advisory model, though it offers a broader investment platform and national footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Brown Brothers Harriman (Wealth Management): BBH's Wealth Management division serves UHNW families with a relationship-driven advisory model including investment management, estate planning, and family office services. It overlaps FBO's advisory role but as part of a much broader private banking and asset management franchise.
• Corient: Corient is a national wealth management firm offering integrated advisory, investment, and family office services to UHNW clients. Comparable to FBO in client profile and integrated advisory model, though significantly larger and tech-enabled.
• Northern Trust (Wealth Management): Northern Trust provides wealth management, trust, and family office services to UHNW families globally. It competes with FBO in the UHNW advisory space but operates at massive institutional scale with a broad banking, custody, and investment platform.

Emerging players

• Carson Wealth: Carson Wealth (part of Carson Group) serves HNW and UHNW households with holistic wealth advisory including estate, tax, and family office services. Overlaps with FBO's advisory focus but operates primarily through a growing national advisor network rather than a single boutique firm.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Family Business Office