Summary
Barron’s highlights a major shift in wealth management as RIAs expand into family office services. Aquilance CEO John Carey weighs in on why even sub-UHNW (HNW) families are demanding more—and how RIAs can rise to meet them.
The Family Office Gold Rush, and What It Reveals About the RIA Evolution
When Barron’s published its October 2025 feature, “More RIAs Are Trying to Serve as Family Offices for the Ultrawealthy,” it captured a defining moment in the evolution of wealth management. Written by veteran reporter Charles Paikert, the article reads less like breaking news and more like a temperature check on an industry in transition.
Across the United States, advisory firms are trying to meet the demands of a new kind of client: one who expects an integrated experience that blends finance, governance, and lifestyle. Barron’s cites data from Altrata’s World Ultra Wealth Report 2025, showing that the number of Americans with more than $30 million in net worth has grown by 21 percent in a single year, now totaling nearly 200,000 individuals controlling more than $22 trillion in assets. Those numbers explain the gold-rush tone: the pool of ultrawealthy families is expanding, and their expectations are expanding with it.
The story chronicles how major players such as Corient and The Pritzker Organization are buying or investing in multifamily offices to gain scale and capability. Corient’s acquisitions of Bristlecone Advisors and Northeast Financial Consultants, along with Pritzker’s minority stake in Wellspring Family Office, serve as high-profile signals that this market segment is becoming a strategic frontier. According to Barron’s, roughly 800 RIAs now describe themselves as offering family-office services, a 30 percent increase over the past decade.
Yet Paikert’s reporting also highlights the challenge behind the opportunity. Industry experts warn that the operational demands of serving ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families are intense: constant service expansion, margin pressure, and a shortage of experienced staff make it difficult for most RIAs to deliver the integrated model those families expect. Family-office consultant Jamie McLaughlin tells Barron’s, “Most don’t have the resources to provide the services ultrawealthy clients need.”
A Broader Definition of “Family Office,” and Carey’s Take on What Comes Next
Within that landscape, Barron’s turned to John Carey, CEO of Aquilance, for perspective on how the definition of “family office” itself is changing. Carey noted that the desire for concierge-level support no longer stops at the top of the wealth pyramid. Families with five to twenty million in assets, once considered “down-market”, are now seeking many of the same capabilities once limited to the $30 million-plus tier.
“The secret is out,” Carey told Barron’s. “Sub-UHNW families do want family-office services. Over the last two years, we’ve onboarded a significant increase in firms working with clients with less than $20 million in net worth.”
That single quote reframes the conversation. It suggests that family-office thinking is cascading downward, becoming less about exclusivity and more about infrastructure: centralized payables, cash-flow visibility, coordinated bookkeeping, and integrated lifestyle management that advisors can deliver sustainably.
Barron’s lists the spectrum of services these families now expect: estate planning, risk management, record-keeping, philanthropy, education, household payroll, and guidance on major purchases such as property, art, or aircraft. Increasingly, it also includes health and wellness programs, travel coordination, and concierge-style assistance that simplify daily life for busy families.
Carey’s inclusion in the article underscores Aquilance’s position in that story. By serving as an operational partner to RIAs, Aquilance allows advisory teams to meet the rising demand for financial reporting, and concierge bill payment without losing focus on advice and relationship management. In the context of Paikert’s reporting, Carey’s comments are not a marketing aside, they’re an example of how technology and service design are reshaping what “family office” means in practice.
The article closes on a thoughtful note: if everyone claims to offer family-office services, what truly defines one? As Wellspring CEO Michael Novak told Barron’s, clients want “a one-phone-call solution.” For that promise to be real, firms need disciplined systems, specialized partners, and a commitment to both precision and care. That’s where Carey’s viewpoint fits so naturally. Aquilance represents the bridge between aspiration and execution and the infrastructure that turns the gold-rush excitement into a sustainable operating model.
What are family office services for HNW and UHNW households
Family office services are a comprehensive suite of financial, administrative, and lifestyle solutions designed for high-net-worth/ultra-high-net-worth (HNW/UHNW) families and the advisors who serve them. According to Barron’s, the term now covers everything from bill payment and bookkeeping to next-level coordination, with demand rising sharply as more RIAs look to “move upstream” into the family office space (Paikert, Barron’s, Oct. 2025).
At their core, these services centralize bill payment, personal bookkeeping, cash flow reporting, and multi-entity accounting, ensuring clean data, faster close cycles, and stronger oversight through verified approvals, fraud controls, audit trails, and reconciliations. But that’s only the foundation.
Barron’s notes that modern multifamily offices are now expected to provide an “array of specialized services” that go far beyond finance, including household employee payroll/staffing, estate coordination, risk management, governance, philanthropy, health and wellness programs, lifestyle management, and even assistance with major purchases such as homes, art, aircraft, or yachts.
In other words, family office services have evolved into a fully integrated ecosystem that connects every dimension of a family’s wealth and well-being. These services:
- Manage complexity, from trust structures to household staff and multi-entity payables.
- Support personal priorities, including wellness, travel, and education planning.
- Preserve continuity through role-based approvals, secure data management, and clear record keeping.
- Enable insight via consolidated reporting and holistic visibility across entities and generations.
As Barron’s observed, HNW and UHNW families increasingly seek “a one-phone-call solution”: a partner who can coordinate every operational, financial, and personal task within a trusted framework. For advisors and RIAs, that expectation creates both opportunity and risk. Opportunity to deepen relationships, and risk of overextending without the operational discipline required to sustain them.
That’s why Aquilance partners with advisory firms to provide the operational backbone for true family office services, combining the financial rigor RIAs require with the concierge-level responsiveness HNW and UHNW families expect.
The UHNW Institute describes a broad, integrated scope that moves beyond investments to include governance, education, philanthropy, and risk management, supported by reliable operations. For RIAs, this is a service system, not a marketing label.
What are the real risks, and how to mitigate them
Scope creep: Clients add tasks without new fees. Mitigation, define service levels and use flat retainers for non-investment work. Outcome, protected margins and timely delivery.
Fraud and payment error: Vendor changes, phishing, and manual entry. Mitigation, out-of-band verification, dual approvals, payment limits, and bank-level controls. Outcome, reduced fraud and fewer errors.
Capacity and hiring: True family office work needs specialists and repeatable workflows. Mitigation, partner with an operational platform rather than building every function in-house. Outcome, faster scale, lower fixed costs.
Barron’s highlights how clients demand more for the same fee, which strains margins if firms do not set clear scopes and controls. Use documented workflows, service catalogs, and change orders for any new work.
Advisor use cases and multi-entity complexity
Advisors can expand services without new headcount. Outsource the heavy operations, keep the relationship and planning leadership.
- Multi-entity household: Personal, trusts, and an LLC with property. Aquilance handles coding and inter-entity allocations, you keep the planning front.
- Operating business with separate vendors: Centralize payables, maintain clean cost buckets for planning and tax.
- Trust and property mix: Map trustees and signers to approval tiers, record every action for audit.
What is multi-entity bill payment, and why it matters
Multi-entity bill payment is the practice of coding payables and receipts to the correct entity, such as personal, trust, partnership, or LLC, so that reporting, approvals, and tax files reflect reality. This prevents messy books and delays, and supports cleaner planning outputs.
How do approvals work in HNW and UHNW bill payment
Approvals route by amount, vendor risk, and role. Trustees, signers, and family office staff can have different limits. Clear routing prevents bottlenecks and reduces fraud exposure. The UHNW Institute emphasizes role clarity and governance as part of the model.
Mini matrix, entities and approval approaches
| Entity type | Typical approvers | Notes |
| Personal | Family member, advisor | Small thresholds, fast routing |
| Revocable trust | Grantor, trustee | Trustee sign-off for larger items |
| Irrevocable trust | Trustee, co-trustee | Strict limits, full audit trail |
| Partnership or LLC | Manager, CFO, advisor | Project coding and capex review |
| Foundation | Board officer, program lead | Grant controls and restricted use |
FAQ
What did Barron’s report, in plain terms?
Strong HNW/UHNW growth, more RIAs offering family office services, rising demand for operational help such as bill payment, and a wave of acquisitions that build capacity.
Why are family office services hard to scale?
The work is bespoke and time consuming. Without standard workflows and clear scopes, margins shrink. Tech helps, but process and controls matter more.
Where should an RIA start?
Start with payables, bookkeeping, and cash flow reporting. Create an approvals matrix and a monthly close pack. Measure accuracy and time saved.
How do I price without getting hurt by scope creep?
Use flat retainers for operational services, with a defined catalog. Add change orders for new tasks.
How does Aquilance help an advisor serve multi-entity households?
We stand up the operating model, from vendor intake to month-end close, with role-based approvals and a full audit trail. You lead planning and client strategy. The result is fewer errors and clearer cash-flow reporting.
Conclusion
Family office services promise growth, yet success requires process, controls, and a partner model that avoids scope creep. With Aquilance, advisors can offer bill payment, personal bookkeeping, cash-flow reporting, and multi-entity accounting that clients can trust, supported by clear approvals and audit trails. To explore a pilot, request a discovery call.
About Aquilance:
Aquilance is run by a team of executives with deep financial services expertise, as well as a dedicated employee base with 10-year-plus tenures at Aquilance. Our team is deeply devoted to providing the ultimate white-glove service to the families and advisors we partner with. The longevity of both client relationships and employee tenure underscores our dedication to client needs and commitment to their continued success. This is equally beneficial for financial advisors, tax accountants, estate planning attorneys, and other professionals who rely on these services to advise clients.
Aquilance provides transparency into family finances through personal bookkeeping and securely managed bill pay using proprietary technology and best practices, multi-entity accounting across a family’s trusts, holdings, and investment entities, including complex partnerships, and may also include payroll services, assistance with insurance review, and much more.
Each client family is paired with a dedicated relationship manager and team to manage onboarding and design of a personalized roadmap for long-term success. This team-based, tech-enabled approach ensures nothing sis missed, offering clients and their professional advisors a comprehensive view of their financial matters. All of this is underpinned by a level of personalization that is deeply ingrained in the firm’s 37-year history.
