Creative Planning has published a comprehensive guide to family office investment services, aimed at ultra-high-net-worth families evaluating whether such structures make sense for their wealth. The guide, written by Paolo Ferretti, CFP, and last updated June 25, 2026, outlines the range of services available through family office platforms and how they differ from traditional wealth management.
At a high level, Creative Planning describes a family office as a dedicated platform that manages the financial, investment and often personal affairs of a wealthy family under one roof. The firm's family office investment services typically include strategic asset allocation, portfolio management, cash-flow planning, tax planning, estate and trust design, and family governance support, all tailored to specific family goals and values.
The guide emphasises that instead of relying on multiple advisors who may not be talking to one another, a family office can bring together a coordinated team focused on preserving and growing family wealth over multiple generations. For many families, Creative Planning notes, that means access to bespoke investment solutions, exclusive investment opportunities and luxury asset management that would be difficult to source or oversee alone.
Creative Planning highlights several advantages of family office services beyond a typical investment advisory relationship, particularly for families whose balance sheets include multiple entities, operating businesses or complex trust structures. The firm points to comprehensive wealth management as a key benefit, where investments, tax strategies, estate plans and philanthropic efforts are coordinated under a single umbrella so decisions in one area support rather than undermine the others.
On the investment side, the firm describes its approach as moving beyond off-the-shelf model portfolios. Creative Planning states it can build a tailored asset allocation anchored to a family's long-term goals, risk tolerance and time horizon while thoughtfully incorporating factors like cash-flow needs, concentrated positions and illiquid holdings. The guide also notes that wealthy families often value discretion, and a family office can centralise sensitive financial information and reduce the number of external parties with access to data.
Creative Planning's platform addresses family governance support, helping families design structures such as family councils, investment committees and decision-making frameworks to reduce conflict and keep members aligned around shared goals. The firm also points to access to exclusive investment opportunities as a differentiator, noting that with greater scale and specialised expertise, a family office may access co-investments, private funds, direct deals and other opportunities not typically available through traditional retail channels.
On succession planning, the guide states that for many high-net-worth families, one of the biggest reasons to consider family office investment services is to improve the odds that wealth successfully transfers to children, grandchildren and beyond. Creative Planning describes effective succession planning as going far beyond naming heirs in a will, involving tax-efficient structures, clear governance and intentional education of the next generation.
The firm outlines that a family office or family office-style advisory team can help families design a clear succession plan, which might include structuring trusts, family limited partnerships, buy-sell agreements and other tools to support wishes while managing estate and gift taxes. Creative Planning also emphasises integrating family governance into wealth transfer through frameworks such as family constitutions or charters that outline values, roles and decision-making processes to guide future generations, especially when multiple family members share ownership of assets.
Creative Planning notes that wealthy families often hold assets through operating companies, investment entities and structures across multiple jurisdictions, adding layers of complexity to coordination. The firm's family office wealth management solutions are positioned as bringing together investment management with in-house tax, estate, business and philanthropic specialists under a single coordinated strategy to support family wealth preservation.