The needs and objectives of family offices are becoming increasingly diverse, stretching far beyond just wealth and investment management. High net worth (HNW) families today are looking for more complex assistance with their family affairs, and often that falls under the umbrella of ‘concierge services’.
These families are often managing assets, interests and residences across multiple jurisdictions, which requires sophisticated and professional coordination as much as technical expertise. Here, Hawksford Private Client Director Zara Campbell explains how concierge and luxury services are evolving and how service providers need to adapt to support shifting family office needs…
Q: Concierge services have been around for some time, but how has this area of professionalism evolved in line with the needs of HNW families?
Zara Campbell (ZC): Within a family office context, ‘concierge’ goes far beyond lifestyle assistance. Nowadays, it increasingly refers to a highly personalised coordination service that sits alongside core fiduciary and governance support. It’s about anticipating client needs, managing complexity, finding solutions and acting as a central point of contact across a client’s wider ecosystem.
Over time, the concept has evolved from transactional support into something much more strategic and relationship led. As clients’ affairs have become more global and interconnected, concierge services are no longer standalone. They are integrated into a broader, holistic offering that prioritises discretion, continuity and long-term trust.
Q: What services specifically do professionals see themselves offering under the banner of concierge?
ZC: In line with the expected breadth of family office services, a concierge offering can span a wide spectrum of personal and practical support for HNW families. This can include areas such as relocation, immigration coordination, education and healthcare arrangements, and the day-to-day management of family residences or assets. Alongside this, more traditional services such as travel, events and hospitality remain important but are typically just one component of a broader service model.
Given the range of expertise required for this sort of work, a strong network of advisers is a real asset to the quality of advice. Increasingly, concierge is about coordinating all elements seamlessly, often working with a trusted network of advisers and providers to deliver a fully integrated experience tailored to the family’s needs.
For our Family Office team, this often means going above and beyond to support clients where and when they need us. That might include accompanying a client overseas to view properties they are considering purchasing, connecting them with trusted legal advisers to resolve sensitive employment matters, or guiding them through the immediate aftermath of a stressful incident, such as the vehicle recovery or insurance process after a car accident.
These are all recent examples that reflect the true value of concierge support: practical, responsive assistance that gives clients confidence that someone they trust is on hand to help.
Q: How do professionals ensure they keep their services bespoke and high quality?
ZC: The key to success is delegation and trust – as a family office services provider we understand the importance of expanding our network of specialist contacts to ensure our clients receive the highest quality output within the required timeframe.
There is certainly a growing trend towards outsourcing elements of concierge to trusted third parties, while retaining the oversight and control which our clients place their trust in. This reflects both the increasing breadth of client needs and the importance of offering best-in-class expertise across different areas, rather than trying to deliver everything internally.
Q: Where is demand for concierge services coming from?
ZC: Demand for concierge and lifestyle services continues to grow in regions with increasing concentrations of international wealth, particularly where clients have globally mobile lifestyles. Markets with strong cross-border connectivity and established professional networks tend to be well suited to this model.
Many of the concierge requests we see, for instance, come from clients in the Middle East, and this continuity is really a reflection of the strong, long-standing relationships we have built in the region. It’s about building trusted relationships – clients often turn to people in our team who they have known and trusted for many years – sometimes for more than two decades. This trust means they feel comfortable coming to us with very specific or unusual requests, knowing we will look for a practical, tailored solution, including reaching out to the right people to work with us on a specialist task.
Q: Are there any particular challenges family offices face as concierge continues to evolve?
ZC: Challenges can typically arise in jurisdictions where regulatory complexity, infrastructure limitations or access to trusted providers can make seamless delivery more difficult. This is all the more reason that having a strong global network becomes critical to maintaining service quality and overcoming obstacles.
It is our role to make things as easy as possible for our clients, and that includes having a problem-solving attitude when faced with restrictions and challenges.
Q: How do concierge services fit into Hawksford’s overall family office proposition?
ZC: The concierge element of our work is really important in terms of deepening client relationships because it embeds us into the day-to-day realities of a family’s life, creating regular, meaningful touchpoints that go beyond periodic reporting or transactional interactions across both personal and financial matters. This helps build trust and familiarity over time, positioning us as a long-term partner.
It’s why concierge is not offered as a standalone service but forms part of our broader family office proposition. Our focus is on providing highly personalised support, with a single point of contact who understands the family’s needs and can coordinate across our global network and external advisers.
HNW families are increasingly managing assets, interests and residences across multiple jurisdictions, and that requires coordination as much as technical expertise. As their lives become more and more complex, clients value responsiveness, flexibility and a genuinely tailored service experience more than ever – and for that reason, concierge services are likely to become an increasingly important part of what we do.
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