PARTNER RESPONSIBLE
Marcin Frank
Partner
Co-founder of Zwyrtek Group. Specialises in M&A transactions, succession, family foundations and advisory for private and family businesses.
Full profile (available in Polish)Private and family businessFamily Office
Family Office.
Integrated support for business owners and business families in managing assets, succession, ownership governance and the coordination of all key advisers. We help build a model of working that supports the family not only today, but across future generations.
We do not build another organisation. We create a model of cooperation in which the owner gains a single partner responsible for coordinating taxes, law, succession, the family foundation, accounting, reporting and cooperation with external experts.
Manifesto
The Family Office of the future will not be bigger. It will be smarter.
For many years, the wealthiest families built their own Single Family Offices.
Over time, however, many of them found that they had created yet another enterprise requiring management.
- New employees.
- New systems.
- New costs.
- New obligations.
- New risks.
- New processes.
Instead of managing assets, the family and long-term value creation, they started managing the organisation that services the assets.
That is why the modern Multi Family Office model is gaining ever greater popularity worldwide.
It does not consist in hiring more specialists.
It consists in intelligently integrating the best experts around a single family and a single ownership model.
Single Family Office
Why is the classic Single Family Office ceasing to be the optimal solution?
High costs of maintaining an in-house team.
Ever-growing regulatory requirements.
Cybersecurity and protection of the family's data.
The need to maintain the family's own IT systems.
Difficulty attracting and retaining experts.
Competence conflicts within the organisation.
The absence of a single, coherent picture of the assets.
The growing complexity of succession between generations.
In practice, many families conclude that professional coordination of the best specialists delivers far more value than building yet another organisation from scratch.
Philosophy
We do not build another organisation. We build an ecosystem.
A modern Multi Family Office does not replace all advisers.
- It does not compete with the law firm.
- It does not compete with the tax adviser.
- It does not compete with the bank.
- It does not compete with the accounting office.
- It does not compete with the investment adviser.
Its role is to coordinate all these competencies around the owner and their family — including in the context of business advisory and M&A transactions.
The family gains a single partner responsible for the whole cooperation and for the consistency of the decisions taken.
Model
What does a Multi Family Office really do?
Family
- Ownership strategy
- Family foundation
- Succession
- Governance
- Taxes
- Law
- Accounting
- Reporting
- M&A
- Real estate
- Risks
- Insurance
- Banks
- Educating the next generation
- Philanthropy
- Coordination of advisers
One partner. One plan of action. One point of accountability for coordination.
Distinction
Family Office is not wealth management.
The bank is responsible for financial products.
The law firm is responsible for legal matters — see our legal advisory.
The tax adviser is responsible for taxes — see our tax advisory.
The accounting office keeps the books.
The investment adviser is responsible for investments within the scope of their authorisation.
A Family Office, on the other hand, looks at all these areas at the same time.
The role of a Family Office is to coordinate the entire ecosystem of ownership decisions and the cooperation of all specialists.
Disclaimer: Zwyrtek Group does not provide regulated investment advisory or asset management services requiring the relevant licences. In such areas we work with licensed partners, while remaining responsible for coordinating the whole process.
Comparison
Single Family Office or Multi Family Office?
| Area | Single Family Office | Modern Multi Family Office |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | High fixed costs — team, office, systems. | A flexible cost model matched to the scope. |
| Access to experts | Limited to the specialists employed. | Access to a broad network of leading advisers. |
| Scalability | Difficult — requires recruitment and investment. | Easy to expand the scope as needed. |
| Flexibility | Limited by the team's structure and competencies. | High — the model is matched to the family's current situation. |
| Cybersecurity | Responsibility rests entirely with the family. | Standards provided by specialised partners. |
| Technology | The need to implement and maintain in-house systems. | Access to the proven tools of partners. |
| Reporting | Dependent on the in-house team's competencies. | A single, coherent reporting model coordinated by the partner. |
| Compliance | Full organisational responsibility rests with the family. | Cooperation with regulated entities within their areas. |
| Access to specialists | A handful of in-house experts. | A broad ecosystem of sector and industry advisers. |
| Coordination of advisers | Often left to the owner or the company's CFO. | A single partner responsible for coordinating the whole. |
| Governance | The need to build the family's own governance model. | Support in designing and implementing family governance. |
| Quickly scaling up expertise | Requires recruiting new people. | Immediate access to the expert needed. |
Who it's for
For owners, business families and successors.
A family office organises ownership matters once the assets, the company and family decisions start to require a separate management model — independent of day-to-day operations.
Owners of family businesses
When the company, private assets and family decisions start to become intertwined.
Families ahead of succession
When successors need to be prepared, assets organised and rules for using the assets defined.
Entrepreneurs after selling a business
When the proceeds of a sale need protection, reporting and a reinvestment plan.
Families with a family foundation
When the foundation needs organisational, tax, legal and reporting support.
Owners with dispersed assets
When assets span companies, real estate, investments, receivables and personal assets.
Management boards and shareholders
When the owner's private affairs need to be separated from the costs and resources of the operating company.
Signals
When a family office starts to become necessary.
A family office rarely appears as a result of a single formal decision. More often it is the response to signals that no one had previously pieced together.
- 01
Private, corporate and family assets are starting to mix.
- 02
The owner's affairs are being handled by employees of the operating company.
- 03
The family is considering a family foundation.
- 04
The company is preparing for succession or a sale.
- 05
There is no single report showing assets, risks and liabilities.
- 06
Advisers work in isolation and give inconsistent recommendations.
- 07
The next generation is starting to take part in decisions.
- 08
Tax, legal, family or reputational risks are growing.
Scope
Scope of cooperation.
We tailor the scope of the family office to the owner's and the family's actual situation. We act as an integrated coordinator, combining ownership, tax, legal, succession and organisational advisory.
Diagnosis of assets and structure
We organise the picture of assets, liabilities, companies, real estate, family relationships and ownership risks. We build a single, coherent picture of the family's financial situation — the starting point for all subsequent ownership and succession decisions.
Family office model
We help decide whether an in-house, outsourced, hybrid or coordination model is the right one. We match the solution to the scale of the assets, the number of advisers and the family's real appetite for building its own organisation.
Family foundation
We analyse whether a family foundation makes sense, design the structure and link it to family governance. We treat the foundation as one element of a broader ownership architecture, not a separate goal in itself.
See: Family foundationSuccession and family governance
We help define roles, decision-making rules, the involvement of successors, payout mechanisms and family communication. We support building family governance that survives generational change and helps avoid conflicts between heirs.
Tax, law and ownership structure
We coordinate matters relating to companies, assets, flows and ownership liability. We combine a tax and legal perspective with the family's long-term strategy and the protection of private assets.
Reporting and administration of assets
We help create a model showing assets, liabilities, flows and decisions. The owner receives an organised picture of the family's, the companies' and the investments' situation — without having to collect data from multiple advisers separately.
Separating private assets from the company
We limit the tax, legal and organisational risks arising from mixing private and business matters. We organise the relationships between the owner, the family and the operating company in a way that facilitates future succession or the sale of the business.
Coordination of advisers
We coordinate the work of tax advisers, lawyers, accountants, notaries, banks and regulated entities. The owner stops being the sole point of coordination and gains a single partner responsible for the consistency of the entire model.
Coordination of investments and external partners
We help owners coordinate cooperation with banks, law firms, investment advisers, insurers, auditors and other specialists. We do not replace their expertise — we ensure the consistency of the entire operating model.
Process
From diagnosis to an operating model.
We work in a small team led by partners. The cooperation proceeds in stages, with clearly defined outcomes at each of them.
- 01
Diagnosis
We analyse the structure of assets, companies, liabilities, advisers and ownership decisions.
- 02
Risk and objectives map
We identify tax, legal, succession, family and operational risks.
- 03
Target model
We design the scope of the family office: responsibilities, reporting, relationships with advisers and an implementation plan.
- 04
Implementation
We help implement the structure, documents, processes, the family foundation, reporting or the outsourcing of functions.
- 05
Ongoing support
We can act as the partner coordinating taxes, law, accounting, reporting, succession and ownership decisions.
Risks
Is the operating company handling the owner's affairs?
In many family businesses, the owner's private affairs are handled for years by the accounting department, the CFO, assistants or lawyers of the operating company. At first this seems convenient. Over time, however, it can create tax, legal, organisational and transactional risks.
Mixing private and business costs.
The risk of deemed profit distributions or challenged costs.
Company employees having access to sensitive private information.
Conflict with minority shareholders.
Difficulties when selling the company.
A lack of continuity of service after the transaction.
A family office helps separate these areas and create a model in which the operating company does not finance or organise the owner's private affairs without clear rules.
Family foundation
Family office and family foundation.
A family foundation can be an important element of the ownership structure, but on its own it does not replace a family office. The foundation answers the question of how to hold and pass on assets. A family office also answers the question of who, and how, coordinates decisions, reporting, taxes, law, payouts, the family and its advisers.
See: Family foundationSafety
A clear division of responsibility.
A family office requires a distinction between ownership, tax, legal and organisational advisory and regulated activity. We do not present this service as portfolio management of financial instruments or as investment advisory where that would require the relevant licences.
In regulated areas we work with the appropriate entities holding the required licences, or we help the owner coordinate the work of such advisers.
Effect
What the owner and the family gain.
- 01
A single picture of assets, liabilities and risks.
- 02
A clear division between private, family and operating assets.
- 03
Less siloed advice and fewer contradictory recommendations.
- 04
Better preparation for succession, the sale of the company or a family foundation.
- 05
Greater control over costs and liability.
- 06
A model of working with advisers that doesn't require the owner to coordinate everything alone all the time.
- 07
The owner stops being the coordinator of all advisers.
- 08
Greater transparency of ownership decisions and an easier sale of the company.
- 09
Organised family relationships and greater tax and organisational security.
- 10
A single partner responsible for coordinating the whole ecosystem.
Perspective
The future of Family Office in Poland.
The Polish market is maturing rapidly.
More and more entrepreneurs are preparing for succession.
Family foundations are being established.
The number of families managing significant assets is growing.
There is a growing need for professional management of the relationships between the family, the business and the assets — including in the context of private and family businesses.
The biggest challenge of the coming years will not be tax optimisation alone. It will be managing the complexity of the family, the assets, the liability and the cooperation of many specialists.
That is why we believe the future belongs to modern Multi Family Offices, which integrate the competencies of many experts around a single business family.
Partner responsible
Partner responsible for this practice.
Related
See also.
Private and family business
Ownership advisory — succession, asset protection, family office and the sale of a company.
Go to pageFamily foundation
A family foundation as a tool for succession and long-term asset management.
Go to pageTax advisory
Ongoing and project-based tax advisory — including ownership and succession matters.
Go to pageLegal advisory
Legal support for owners, families and companies — ownership structure and family governance.
Go to pageCase studies
Selected advisory projects of Zwyrtek Group — succession, family foundation, transactions.
Go to pageFamily office — article (available in Polish)
An article by Marcin Frank: when the owner of a business should organise the management of family assets.
Go to page
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
A family office is an integrated model for coordinating a business family's assets — it combines ownership, tax, legal, succession, reporting and organisational decisions in a single point of accountability.
No. What matters is complexity — the number of companies, asset classes, family members and advisers — not the sheer size of the assets. In a multi-family office or outsourced model, a family office can serve either a single family vehicle or an extensive capital group.
Private banking focuses on financial products and the banking relationship. A family office takes a wider view — of the asset structure, succession, taxes, law, reporting and the family's long-term interest. A bank may be one element of the ecosystem, but it does not replace independent coordination.
No. A family foundation is a legal vehicle that can be part of a family office structure. A family office is a model of management and decision coordination — it may include a foundation, but does not replace it.
When the assets are significant but do not justify building a full in-house office, the family needs tax, legal, accounting and succession coordination, and the owner wants to limit fixed costs while retaining flexibility.
Mixing private and business costs, tax risks (including deemed profit distributions), a lack of confidentiality vis-à-vis employees, conflicts with minority shareholders, difficulties when selling the company, and a lack of continuity of service after the transaction.
Zwyrtek Group provides support in ownership, tax, legal, organisational, succession and coordination matters. We do not present this service as portfolio management of financial instruments or as investment advisory requiring a licence. In regulated areas we work with the appropriate entities.
We start with a conversation with the owner about objectives, the family situation and the asset structure. We then prepare a diagnosis and a risk map, and propose a family office model tailored to the family's actual situation. We work in a small team led by partners, with full confidentiality.
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