Advisory · Family Offices
Family Office Advisory Services for Luxury Assets
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A collection review is not transaction advice or ongoing asset management. First agree what the report is for, what evidence it covers and who will read it. The family office keeps its own financial, legal and tax advisers.
What inventory problem do family offices face?
A family office may know its share portfolio well but hold less current information on personal assets. Watch values, yacht invoices or art insurance records may sit in an old spreadsheet. Start by checking what records exist, when they were last reviewed and what is missing.
Missing records can matter when an estate is settled, an insurance claim is made or an asset is sold. A defined review should identify the gaps before a deadline. First confirm who can do that work and what evidence is needed.
Why treat passion assets as a fifth asset class?
Collections, aircraft and yachts may need their own ownership and cost records alongside financial holdings. A family office can set rules for buying, valuing and selling them, for who can make decisions, and for passing them to heirs. One provider may not cover every service. Confirm who is responsible and available for each asset type.
A collection review asks three questions: what evidence is available, who is responsible for the asset and which experts are needed? Collector-watch valuation remains available. Broader work needs an accepted written scope that names the outside providers and their roles. We do not provide regulated fiduciary advice.
What could a family-office review cover?
A proposed review might specify an asset register, document gaps and acquisition or authentication questions. Watch valuation and collection reviews remain available under their published terms. Any work across other categories requires confirmed acceptance, relevant expertise and an agreed reporting standard before instructions.
If continuing work can be accepted, an annual collection strategy needs its own agreed scope and review schedule. The plan would state what to buy, keep, insure, document or sell.
- Portfolio inventory and review: agree which assets, value dates, evidence sources and update schedule a register should cover.
- Documentation audit: list the logbooks, provenance files, papers, receipts and title records. Note what is missing and what can or cannot be reconstructed.
- Acquisition and authentication policy: written buying rules that state which checks must pass, which documents are required and who approves a purchase
- Insurance questions: agree which values and condition records the appointed insurer or adviser needs, and who will review them.
- Succession readiness: identify collections, aircraft and vessels, their records, valuation dates and possible sale routes; a plan must not imply a ready buyer.
- Next-generation briefings: heirs who will inherit a collection deserve to understand it before they own it
Keep advisory and transaction work separate
Passion Asset Advisory separates watch valuation and collection reviews from a purchase or sale mandate. Broader advice needs acceptance and a fee agreed in writing. The execution partnership page describes a possible arrangement, not confirmed non-watch services.
What to request in the written scope
- Written findings with evidence attached: comparables, gaps, costs, recommendations
- Confirm the evidence and document format required by auditors, insurers and estate counsel
- Agree a named contact and response times, with a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) from the first conversation
- Agree the advisory work and its fee in writing before work begins
Frequently asked questions
How does this fit alongside our existing family office?
Passion Asset Advisory can review a defined gap in the family’s collector-watch records or valuation evidence. Ask whether any broader passion-asset scope can be accepted and how it would report to the office. Existing financial, legal and tax advisers retain their roles; a proposed partnership does not replace them.
Do you take custody or represent us?
For accepted family-side work, we represent that side only. We do not take custody of its assets. Any coordination with specialists must be expressly covered by the accepted written scope. We do not provide regulated fiduciary advice.
Family Offices
Bring the fifth asset class up to office standard.
Describe the holdings and the question the office needs answered. Confirm which watch review or broader scope can be accepted, the necessary evidence, fee and timing before giving instructions.