Creating a family office in Russia

There’s a running joke among Russian financiers: “Who created the first family offices in Russia? Why, the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the Emir of Qatar, of course!” Well, to be honest, there just might be some truth to that. In recent years, the Russian Direct Investment Fund has practically become the groundskeeper for a lot of money from these countries, which they chose to invest in Russian raw materials, high-tech industries and tourism. So, you see, sometimes it’s just like the saying goes: “There’s a grain of truth in every joke!”

Ever since first-generation Russian businessmen started going on vacation, the creation of family offices has become a bit of a problem, a problem Russia seeks to solve quickly. Family office services are provided by both banking institutions and law firms, as well as trust management companies. Since the financial sector has been developing at a faster pace for many years, many qualified consultants, both Russian and foreign, work in this area. Many of them now actively participate in the creation and management of family offices.

So, let’s get to the good news then, shall we? First of all, by creating a family office in Russia, you get to enjoy some advantages, one being that Russian law does not allow the use of simple trusts, but requires the placement of assets transferred for trust management to qualified depositories, which carry out further independent control of your assets.

Yet another good thing is that creating a family office in Russia pretty much benefits from the stability of the Russian political system, which is politically and economically resilient against foreign influences.

Just as important is the high legislative protection from claims of third parties of assets transferred to trust management, and the high confidentiality level for the owners. For many people, these factors may be even more important than just having lower taxes in offshore jurisdictions.

I bet right now you’re thinking: wait a minute, is that it? just safety benefits? That’s all I get? Well, of course not! Russian specialists in family offices can offer you a qualified and high-level service that can cover not only the financial sector, but also other aspects of your family’s life, such as buying and caring for your property, and even handle the PR and JR of your family business! 

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