Family Offices: Setup, Strategy, and Evolution w/ Justyn Volesko

At the Beyond Wealth Summit, the conversation around “Family Offices: Setup, Strategy, and Evolution” centered on a fundamental shift in how ultra-high-net-worth individuals are thinking about managing complexity, not just wealth. Justyn Volesko, Partner & Co-Head of Family Office at Cerity Partners, emphasized that the decision to establish or join a family office is less about hitting a specific net worth threshold and more about the growing intricacy of a client’s financial life. “The decision isn’t solely triggered based on an amount of net worth,” he noted. “It is triggered based on the complexities of the needs of the client.” As wealth expands across investments, entities, and generations, so too does the need for coordination, strategy, and time reclamation.

At its core, Volesko framed the family office as a central command center—“the spoke in the middle of the wheel” or “air traffic control tower”, designed to unify what is often a fragmented advisory ecosystem. Too often, he explained, clients rely on multiple advisors operating in silos–CPAs, estate attorneys, wealth–each optimizing for their own lane without a cohesive, top-down strategy. The result is inefficiency at best and costly blind spots at worst. “It’s not about being able to provide each of these services,” he said. “It’s really about integrating all of that.” This integrated approach, particularly when applied to tax strategy, can unlock significant value. Volesko pointed to tax optimization as one of the most overlooked opportunities, noting that many clients are “paying taxes that don’t necessarily need to be paid” due to a lack of coordinated planning.

The conversation also highlighted key inflection points that drive families toward a family office model. Often, the catalyst is reactive (a liquidity event, dissatisfaction with an advisor, or a planning failure) but increasingly, it’s proactive, driven by a desire for simplicity, control, and strategic alignment. Volesko also addressed the evolving landscape between single-family and multi-family offices. While single-family offices offer bespoke, 24/7 attention, they come with significant cost and operational burden. In contrast, a well-structured multi-family office can deliver comparable personalization with added advantages: shared insights across families, access to a broader investment ecosystem, and the ability to aggregate capital for better deal terms. “We strive to provide that single family office experience in a multi-family office setting,” he said, pointing to both efficiency and enhanced opportunity.

Beyond structure and strategy, the discussion turned to the human dimension of wealth, particularly as a historic generational transfer reshapes priorities. Volesko underscored the importance of next-generation education and intentional legacy planning, noting that wealth transfer presents “a potential opportunity for things to go very right, or very wrong.” From early financial literacy to preparing heirs for visibility and responsibility, family offices are increasingly tasked with shaping not just financial outcomes, but values. This extends to philanthropy, where aligning charitable vehicles with a clearly defined mission is critical. “It provides an opportunity to leave a legacy for future generations,” he said, emphasizing the role of structured planning, from trusts to letters of wishes, in ensuring that both capital and purpose endure.