The Institutionalization of Family Offices in Brazil

Abstract

This study identifies identify the organizational characteristics of family offices (FOs) in Brazil. This article was developed through a content analysis of 22 interviews conducted with persons involved in 13 different FOs, two family enterprise executives, and one private banker. The study’s relevance relates to changes in Brazil’s economic structure, which have principally been caused by an increase in companies going public and in merger and acquisition transactions. These changes have contributed to increasing the volume of resources available for investment by families that retain control of the affected organizations. These families have begun to search for mechanisms to preserve their private property within the structure of FOs. This study also revealed that MFOs seek to provide multiple business families with differentiated services within their areas of activity. However, one must question the extent to which these organizations simply take advantage of the FO concept for marketing purposes. In contrast, SFOs are primarily established by Brazilian business families to separate company affairs from family matters, thereby increasing the professionalization of the family business. Moreover, because of the complexity of tax-related issues in Brazil, certain families create SFOs because they wish to optimize their tax statuses. The desires to resolve questions of succession and to implement financial resource management also motivate the creation of FOs in Brazil.