Publications
Publications
- October 2022
- HBS Case Collection
To SFO or Not To SFO: The Tolman Family Selects a Family Office Strategy
By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Victoria Alvarez-Arango, Grace Headinger, Mili Sanwalka and Anna Yuan
Abstract
Peter Tolman, a first-generation investment professional, debated which family office strategy to adopt for managing his family’s assets. As the sole steward of his family’s wealth, he sought to conserve and grow his family’s wealth for him, his wife, and his two very young sons. However, being left unsatisfied with large multi-family offices’ template-based approaches to managing intergenerational wealth, he sought out a more liberal investment philosophy tailor-made for his needs and wants. What was the best path forward for allocating his family’s wealth? Should he establish a single-family office, pursue another multi-family office, or devise a new hybrid approach? What implications would his precedent-setting decisions hold for his children’s futures?
Keywords
Family Office; Investment Strategy; U.S.; Canada; Family Business; Financial Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Diversification; Management; Financial Services Industry; United States; Canada
Citation
Cohen, Lauren, Hao Gao, Victoria Alvarez-Arango, Grace Headinger, Mili Sanwalka, and Anna Yuan. "To SFO or Not To SFO: The Tolman Family Selects a Family Office Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 223-021, October 2022.